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Fatal Auto Collision Song

 With your life ebbing away, do you really want the last song you ever hear to be something you hate?
  (+109, -7)(+109, -7)(+109, -7)
(+109, -7) 		  [vote for,
against]

I’ve been concerned about this for some time. The scenario is this: I’m driving along, typically and compulsively twirling the radio dial searching for a song I like. Suddenly – Crash! Swerve! Boom! Smoking remains of the car and me...

My blood is rapidly emptying itself onto the side of the road. My vision is getting dark. This is it. Somehow the radio still works and my dying breaths are drawn while Barry Manilow’s “Copacabana” takes me off to the hereafter. “Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl,” etc., while my essence drifts away.

What an intolerable and undignified way to go! With Fatal Auto Collision Song, an audio device is wired into your car. When unsupportable body damage is done to the car, an override system goes into effect, canceling the currently chosen audio selection with the music you’d prefer to hear on your deathbed.

Perhaps Beethoven’s “Pastoral Symphony,” as in Edward G. Robinson’s “Soylent Green” death scene…

—snarfyguy, Aug 29 2001

 it's a polka, yay [hob, May 16 2009]

Last words generator http://www.halfbake...20words_20generator
Perhaps these could be synched in some way </shameless plug> [-alx, Aug 29 2001, last modified Oct 05 2004]

Yamaha News http://www.yamaha.co.uk/xg/html/h_new.htm
Look at the item "Mobile Tone?" about two thirds of the way down [mark_t, Aug 29 2001, last modified Oct 21 2004]

BBC on ECGs and mobiles http://newsvote.bbc...d_553000/553969.stm
First heart monitor / mobile phone fusion thing [mark_t, Aug 29 2001, last modified Oct 21 2004]

ZDnet on ECG / mobiles http://news.zdnet.c...0,,s2083922,00.html
And the second ... [mark_t, Aug 29 2001, last modified Oct 21 2004]

Trying to stop subway suicides http://news.excite..../08/odd-suicides-dc
Music to *stop* deaths [phoenix, Aug 29 2001, last modified Oct 21 2004]

GTKY http://everything2....x.pl?node_id=812107
"What's your favourite Getting-To-Know-You node/idea?" [jabbers, Aug 29 2001, last modified Oct 21 2004]

Another One Bites the Dust http://www.adcritic...bites-the-dust.html
The song Another One Bites the Dust suggested by nick n uit on 29 Aug used in a commercial for AIWA car soundsystems. [rrr, Dec 15 2001]

Toyoto/Sony concept car http://www.autorev....tokyo/tmc_dai.shtml
Toyoto/Sony concept car takes the driver´s pulse and measure his sweat. [rrr, Dec 15 2001]

Always look on the bright side of life. http://www.geocitie...t_side_of_life.html
A tune from "The Life of Brian" film by Monty Python's Flying Circus [furmobile, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004]

BBC News Story http://news.bbc.co....agazine/5402272.stm
News story on popular music choices for funerals [hippo, Oct 03 2006]

BANG A GONG!! http://www.youtube....watch?v=5oGcfwKN5jY
Marc Bolan died in such a crash. [r_kreher, Aug 30 2008]

Stayin' Alive http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27221281/
[hippo] was absolutely on the beat [lurch, Oct 17 2008]

"Sleep" http://www.ericwhitacre.com/main.html
Look/listen in/to the left-hand side MP3 player, it's there. [Gallus, Oct 19 2008]

Kebabs made as corpse lay nearby http://news.bbc.co....idlands/7669625.stm
Eeeewwwww.... [8th of 7, Oct 21 2008]

Who Wants to Live Forever https://www.youtube...watch?v=6c75cOL0G8I
[Dub, Feb 27 2020]

for [Dub] https://www.fatcatf....com/music_page.htm
Kids music wriitten for adults. [wjt, Feb 27 2020]

Fatal Auto Collision Songs: the Spotify playlist https://open.spotif...tm_source=copy-link
I got everything, except The Smiths because Morrissey is a racist and the music is bad [calum, Nov 03 2021]


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Annotation:







       I think a long crescendo of something -- perhaps popcorn -- in a minor key.
—reensure, Aug 29 2001
   

       Maybe, if the car could sense an impending crash, it could play something colossal, possibly Wagnerian. Then when the car collides with whatever object, it can play a scratching record sound for that comic twist -something amusing to take the edge off what would otherwise be a bit of a bummer.
—sdm, Aug 29 2001
   

       The leader of the Pack (The Shangri-Las?)
—hippo, Aug 29 2001
   

       No kiddin' huh. Once, when I was young and stupid - "Hang on, help is on its way" by Little River Band came on Radio as my dads pickup perched precariously on the lip of a dry riverbed - though I tried to get the emergency brake, brake, clutch and gas pedal along with a few angels to reverse myself out - I ended up in the sand below.

I'd choose:
In My Time Of Dyin'
by Blind Willie Johnson
—thumbwax, Aug 29 2001
   

       snarfyguy, as much as you and many others here may not care to face the reality of it, there's something much worse awaiting you *after* your "essence" "drifts away."   

       You see a light in the distance, and you're drawn irresistably toward it. As you approach, the light overpowers you, and you're suddenly standing before the "pearly gates." The gates swing open, and there he stands: Barry Manilow.   

       "...With yellow feathers in her hair and a dress cut down to there..."
—beauxeault, Aug 29 2001
   

       moonlight sonata - beethoven   

       or   

       angel - sarah maclachlan   

       i won't even mention stairway to heaven :o)
—mihali, Aug 29 2001
   

       Don't Worry (be doo doobie doo...)
Be Happy...

Alternatively, from 'Never Forget' by Take That: We've come so far and we've reached so high, and we've looked each day and night in the eye; and we're still so young and we hope for more. But remember this, we're not invincible...
—lewisgirl, Aug 29 2001
   

       "There is a light that never goes out" (The Smiths). For aptness' sake.
—-alx, Aug 29 2001
   

       "Crash" by The Primitives

("...here you go, way too fast, don't slow down you're gonna crash. You should watch - watch your stay here, don't look out you're gonna break your neck...")

Lewisgirl! - a Take That fan! And you wear Miss Selfridge knickers!
—hippo, Aug 29 2001
   

       "The End" by The Doors, for old time's sake.   

       Alternatively:   

       "Red Right Hand" by Nick Cave, to get me in the mood for where I'm going.
—Guy Fox, Aug 29 2001
   

       I have a strong sense of irony, hippo. And ssssh, we can't have everyone seeing my knickers.
right now I'm listening to Gretchen Peters, a song called 'When you are old'. brings a tear to my eye, every time.
There's always room for a bit of Take That, though!
—lewisgirl, Aug 29 2001
   

       UnaBubba, don't you just love those old fashioned girls? Just buy 'em a half dozen old fashioneds and they jump right in the back seat...
—Bonarein, Aug 29 2001
   

       [lewisgirl] Sorry I brought your knickers up... Before my office became really open-plan (we used to have my project in a separate room with lots of people and lots of shouting) our favourite working music was the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. Ah, happy days...
<on-topic>Actually, "Stayin' Alive" would be a good Fatal Auto Collision Song</on-topic>
—hippo, Aug 29 2001
   

       In addition to alx's Smiths suggestion, how about 'Girlfriend in a coma'? (I know, I know, its really serious...)
—Hans, Aug 29 2001
   

       Another One Bites the Dust
Highway to Hell
—nick_n_uit, Aug 29 2001
   

       I must have serius problems: I'd want one of the 1/2 bakery songs...
—RobertKidney, Aug 29 2001
   

       But then maybe you'd spend the time lamenting the sadly unwritten "Half A Rap"...
—-alx, Aug 29 2001
   

       Yeah! Far Away Eyes! Though I was unfortunate enough to grow up an hour north of Bakersfield, I love that song.
—thumbwax, Aug 29 2001
   

       "Dead Man's Curve" - Jan and Dean
—phoenix, Aug 29 2001
   

       "…last thing I remember -- we were flying low, and hit something in the air." from D.O.A., early 1970s release by Bloodrock. Life has a three minute drop out spike before you are helpless in dead space--so I'd select something that won't have folks instinctively reaching for the control (Udu Wudu comes to mind). Also, does anyone else feel a weee bit disconcerted by Germanic ariels? You might be cut off by a BMW.
—reensure, Aug 29 2001
   

       "Tonight is the Night I Fell Asleep at the Wheel" by the Barenaked Ladies. Of course, falling asleep at the wheel means you wouldn't be awake to hear the music.
—FakeGreenDress, Aug 29 2001
   

       Tombstone Blues --- Bob Dylan
—Susen, Aug 29 2001
   

       It strikes me that the car needs some pretty sophisticated sensors to determine which would be the best song to play. E.g. Hans's suggestion of "Girlfriend in a coma" would only be appropriate under certain, fairly obvious, circumstances, likewise FakeGreenDress's "Tonight is the Night I Fell Asleep at the Wheel" and Tafkap's "Little Red Corvette". And how would it determine which song to play if you fell asleep at the wheel and crashed into a little red corvette, resulting in your girlfriend falling into a coma?

Q: Who sung "Red Light Spells Danger"?
—hippo, Aug 30 2001
   

       <kaseykasem>After the maid cleaned out the tapioca bowls she informed myself and my lovely wife that our cat eats Cheetos cheese puffs, which reminds me - Red Light Spells Danger by Billy Ocean started out at #9 in the week of March 26 then went up to #5 the week of April 2 in 1977 on the NM Music Charts.</kaseykasem>
—thumbwax, Aug 30 2001
   

       "Once in a lifetime" - Talking Heads
—hippo, Aug 30 2001
   

       We've Got Tonight ("...who needs tomorrow?"), Bob Seger. Just because I'm wearing cowboy boots today.
—lewisgirl, Aug 30 2001
   

       alx, that was cruel... but even I thought it was slightly funny so I forgive you... actualy I was thinking of the Bubbahemian œRhapsody...
—RobertKidney, Aug 30 2001
   

       You car drivers are just so selfish. Why restrict it to cars? If you recorded your death song on tape, then had an implanted microchip to monitor your vital signs and a miniature tape player attached to your skull (just behind your ear would be a good place), you could hear it whenever your vital signs dipped below specified levels. If the player was adapted to run from your own bio-energy then you could listen to it fading out at the same rate as you were, wherever that happened to be.

beauxeault, if that's heaven what's hell like? I aint gonna be no sinner no more!

For my own death song I think I'd choose 'Give Me Just a Little More Time'.
—DrBob, Aug 30 2001
   

       [DrBob] The Birdie Song.
—hippo, Aug 30 2001
   

       you got lost, you drove too fast because you were a little bit scared and wanted to get fast out of a neighbourhood you didn't know, didn't feel comfortable in... you took a turning, you took another turning, you drove and drove... and flew off the end of an unfinished bridge, crashing to your death on the rocks below.

U2. Where The Streets Have No Name.
—lewisgirl, Aug 30 2001
   

       [lg] But it would have to be the Pet Shop Boys cover version, with "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" segued into it.
—-alx, Aug 30 2001
   

       I'm a little surprised no one has suggested "O Fortuna."
—beauxeault, Aug 30 2001
   

       can we have the Pretenders doing 'Angel of the Morning' too?
—lewisgirl, Aug 30 2001
   

       Ashes are Burning (Renaissance).
—angel, Aug 30 2001
   

       heaven - bryan adams
—mihali, Aug 30 2001
   

       "Consider Me Gone", Sting; or ...
"My Way", Frank Sinatra; or ...
"All Apologies", Nirvana; or ...
   

       I'm making light of the idea, of course. My real choices would include U2's "Bad", or Billie Holliday singing "I'll Be Seeing You". Soppy, sentimental: that's me.
—1percent, Aug 30 2001
   

       The original idea, actually, was to pre-program the music you'd like to hear upon your death, rather than the music most in keeping with the theme (of death).   

       There are lots of songs about death, but this idea allows you travel to the hereafter carried along by music that is truly meaningful to you.   

       Would you really want to spend yor last moments on Earth listening to "Tell Laura I Love Her?"   

       Although the Barnes & Barnes selection did crack me up...
—snarfyguy, Aug 31 2001
   

       In that case, I'll go for "Wish You Were Here" (Pink Floyd).   

       And that's my final answer.
—-alx, Aug 31 2001
   

       UB - So you didn't see my April 6th annotation to TPPCPPCSL? Not quite as TPPCPPC-compliant as yours though...
—hippo, Aug 31 2001
   

       Hatfield and The North had an album called: The Rotters Club.
There is a tune on that disk "Chaos at the Greasy Spoon" - put it on loop and it sounds like it may be appropriate for purgatory.
—thumbwax, Aug 31 2001
   

       Dr Bob - Your idea is closer to reality than you might suspect.
I've seen two news pieces recently about mobile phones, one saying that Yamaha are mass producing synth chips to go in the next lot of mobiles which will be able to produce a much wider range of sounds than the current space invaders style "doo da da doo da da doo HELLO".
The second was about a company that is incorporating some sort of heart monitor thingy (sorry to get technical on you) into a mobile phone for cardiac patients - the idea being that if you feel a bit odd you use the phone to take a reading of your heart and if something bad is going on it calls the ambulance for you.
So, all it needs is a little bit of "logic glue" (i.e. kludging) between the two and you have pretty much what you've described.		   

       I'd have "All the time in the world" by Louis Armstrong   

       Links provided above
—mark_t, Aug 31 2001
   

       "forever young" would have been perfect for james dean.
—mihali, Aug 31 2001
   

       Double reverse pun: Portishead - Roads. Plus it's quite an appropriate-sounding song.
—lobster, Aug 31 2001
   

       Wow! Thanks, mark_t. I've never been at the cutting edge of technology before.
—DrBob, Aug 31 2001
   

       No, Pip Pyle (ex Gong), Richard Sinclair (ex Caravan). Canterbury-based band. Some connection with Matching Mole.
—angel, Aug 31 2001
   

       [mark_t] my Sony j5 has synth music for its ring tones. It's the Japanese influence, I'm sure. I have Pachelbel's Canon as the default tune, but only because it's the fifth variation (I think), the part halfway through where it gets all jolly and skippy. Otherwise it would be naff.
—lewisgirl, Aug 31 2001
   

       I'd have to vote for a John Prine tune that goes "please don't bury me / down in that cold, cold ground, / no, I'd rather have 'em cut me up and pass me all around..."
—whatsbruin, Aug 31 2001
   

       On the subject of great death-advice music, Tom Waits wrote a song called "Telephone Call From Istanbul". My favorite lines:   

       Never trust a man in a blue trenchcoat
Never drive a car when you're dead		   

       Can't argue with that last bit of advice, can you?
—1percent, Sep 01 2001
   

       Ack! A really weird thing happened last weekend. I was driving along, flipping around the radio dial, when the piece I selected in the idea came on - Beethoven's "Pastoral Symphony" (per "Soylent Green").   

       I didn't know whether to turn to a different station, drive extra carefully or simply crash the car into the nearest tree.   

       Note: Ian Dury's pre-Blockheads band was Kilburn and the High Roads. The idea of Ian Dury singing for the Hatfields is pretty funny, though...
—snarfyguy, Sep 05 2001
   

       Believe it or not I had this conversation with a passenger when I was out driving a few months ago. They promised to flick the radio onto an appropriate station on their way into the dashboard should the unthinkable happen.
—Helium, Sep 07 2001
   

       "Damn it Feels Good to be a Gangsta," Geto Boys.
—AfroAssault, Sep 27 2001
   

       [UB]: Yay! The Manic Miner music. You could have a big foot come crashing down as well (actually, that must be the next stage, 3-d holographic video clips).
—pottedstu, Sep 28 2001
   

       This could get pretty noisy in a 50-car pileup on a freeway...   

       And what about an advanced warning device? A computer to analyze conditions around you, and if a terrible accident was about to happen, something else would play, such as... say... the theme to Jaws. I mean, it would be kind of a bummer to drive your car off a 2000 ft cliff, and have no music on the way down - I doubt the radio would work after that landing. The advanced warning would be nice though... "Buckle up, buckle up for safety. and I don't mean maybe, you'd better buckle up..."   

       What about a prerecorded President or past President of your choice saying: "And now, let us have a moment of silence for *your name here* who is about to die..."   

       I like this idea, though I would hate to ever have to use it.
—LaserBeams, Sep 28 2001
   

       maybe it can play the sirens of an ambulance giving you the hope to survive and remember there is much more to do.   

       at the background, it also plays: "i am a survivor"/destiny's child or "i will survive"/aretha franklin
—BALIKEKMEK, Sep 28 2001
   

       Ironic if the rescue services missed your cries for help hidden below the screeching of "Can't live if living is without you..."
—spider, Sep 29 2001
   

       mp9man, the idea was for the music to start _after_ the crash, not before it.   

       If you don't like the ideas in this site, don't come here.
—cp, Nov 04 2001
   

       Interesting irony in your concluding sentence, UnaBudda.   

       Perhaps you need to consider placing mp9man in the Witless Protection Programme instead of losing your rag at him?
—cp, Nov 04 2001
   

       UB re:annotation preceding the last one. what song exactly do we sing to that
—po, Nov 04 2001
   

       Back to the original idea, Alfred Bester in Golem-100 (excellent novel) half-baked the idea of little flying things that follow you around and play music. We'd just need to give them sensors for heat (fire) or the smell of blood and/or burning rubber. A flock of them could fly over the motorway system, spot likely accidents and zoom in to deliver an appropriate tune. They could be connected to a driver preference database (not sure how they'd identify you, but some vague pheromone detector or reading car number plates or something) to give you a pre-selected song, and if they found no entry they could just play the Last Post, or Hellbound by The Breeders.
—pottedstu, Nov 09 2001
   

       mp9man, does your 5000lb truck come with side impact bars for when that 24 tonne 18 wheeler side swipes you on the interstae after suffering a blow-out? You can drive defensively all you like but something will always get you. If radios and CD's are so dangerous, why are they fitted as standard equipement? Surely ROSPA would have soething to say about this. I sure wouldn't want someone with your temper following me in a 5000lb truck with 60's brakes.
—LardyBloke, Nov 09 2001
   

       No need for little, flying things, pottedstu. Just fit all lawyers with a sound system.
—DrBob, Nov 09 2001
   

       (heh) The rant above is from a guy who elsewhere says refuses to wear a helmet while motorcycling.
—snarfyguy, Nov 09 2001
   

       Hmmm... you can't type, you have bad grammar, you can't take a joke, you love to boast about your skills with anything mechanical, and if anyone suggests that these skills are not perfect, that's a mental inch off the penis right there and you must defend yourself to the death. What interesting character traits-- will you be my friend?   

       <<on topic>> I can just picture someone driving home from getting it installed, looking forward to setting their song preference, and then getting into a crash and dying to some default song-- "...The Brady Bunch, do do-do doo, the Brady Bunch..."
—Galileo, Nov 11 2001
   

       mp9man... solid old vehicles have their advantages, and their charms, but appart from that point... lighten up.   

       Read this thread with a grain of salt. People here are not idiots. Most of us, anyway. Please respect the spirit in which this conversation is being conducted.   

       As for MY choice... there was a Morphine number "Do Not Go Quietly Unto Your Grave" which was unfortunately all to appropos to the lead singer's fate...   

       Lyrics by Mark Sandman:   

       Listen young people, I'm 74 and I plan to live 60 or 70 more.   

       I been all around and I've done a few things, and I spent a few nights on the floor.   

       I did everything wrong but I never got caught so of course I would do it all over again   

       I surpised many people who'd written me off years ago, now they're way underground.   

       Nobody asked me so here's my advice to a young man or woman who's leading this life:   

       In a world gone to Hell where nobody's safe, Do not go quietly unto your grave.   

       Well I learned a few tricks and I'll learn a few more, and I got enough bullets to fight a small war.   

       Nobody asked me so here's my advice... Do not go quietly unto your grave...   

       Do not go quietly unto your grave...   

       Do not go quietly unto your grave...   

       (Ok, so maybe *I* need to lighten up, but it's such a kick-death-in-the-teeth song, that I like it!)
—Oolahboolah, Nov 11 2001
   

       Has anyone suggested Stockhausen, Harrison Birtwistle, or "Scooter & Jinx" by Sonic Youth? How appropriate to have a fatal auto collision song that sounds like a traffic accident.
—pottedstu, Nov 11 2001
   

       Play a recording of Tibetan monks chanting the way they do in their deep voices in an enclosed space. That way, you might remember to try to heed the advice given in the Tibetan Book of the Dead, and head for the strong, piercing light(s), not the pale blue light(s). Or it might alarm you enough that you'll fight to stay here for a little while longer.
—entremanure, Nov 12 2001
   

       how many lights are there to choose from? shit man, I don't want to spend my first ethereal moments being indecisive!
—lewisgirl, Nov 12 2001
   

       lewisgirl: just avoid the big red flames.
—pottedstu, Nov 12 2001
   

       Oh child of a noble family....
—entremanure, Nov 13 2001
   

       "Don't Dream It's Over" by Crowded House
—bluerowan, Nov 15 2001
   

       "Son, you're gonna drive me to drinkin' if you don't stop drivin' that Hot Rod Lincoln!"   

       "Slow down! I see spots! The lines in the road look just like dots!"   

       "I'ma gonna pass a truck on the hill ahead- (scrreeech-BANG!!tinkle) Transfusion transfusion My red corpsuckles (sic) are in mass confusion Never never never gonna speed again Pass the crimson to me Jimson"   

       Rather baked in the '50s.   

       Although I can't believe nobody mentioned 'Wipeout'...
—StarChaser, Nov 16 2001
   

       why did you have that playing in the first place?
—lewisgirl, Nov 16 2001
   

       maybe a wee bit of carl orff, just to get the emergency service a bit tentative, as if ur some mystical body - i dunno, work with me ppl!
—iain, Nov 16 2001
   

       Actually Arlo Guthrie's Motorcycle song suddenly springs to mind:   

       This song is about the time that I was ridin' my motorcycle. Going down a mountain road, at 150 miles an hour, playin' my guitar. On one side of the mountain road there was a mountain, and on the other side there was nothin' - there was a cliff in the air.   

       Now, when you're going down a mountain road at I50 miles an hour you gotta be very careful, especially if you're playin' a guitar. Especially if that guitar is an acoustic guitar. Because if it's an acoustic guitar, the wind pressure is greater on the box side than on the neck side, because there's more guitar on the box side. I wasn't payin' attention ..   

       Luckily I didn't go into the mountain - I went over the cliff.   

       I was goin' at 150 miles an hour sideways and 500 feet down at the same time.   

       I knew it was the end. I looked down, I said ''Wow! Some trip". I thought it...well I knew it was...I knew it was my last trip, and in my last remaining seconds in world,I decided to write one last farewell song to the world.   

       Put a new ink cartridge in my pen. Took out a piece of paper.   

       I sat back and I thought awhile.   

       Then I started writin':   

       I don't want a pickle
Just want to ride on my motorsickle
And I don't want a tickle
'Cause I'd rather ride on my motorsickle
And I don't want to die
Just want to ride on my motorcy ...cle."		   

       I knew that, it wasn't the best song l ever wrote, but I didn't have time to change it. I was comin' down mighty fast.   

       But as you all know, and as fate would have it, I didn't die. I landed on the top of a police car. And it died. I drove away on the road that he was on. I came into town at a screamin' 175 miles an hour, playin' the motorcycle song.   

       I came into town, I jumped off my bike, the bike went around the corner by itself, went up on the stand by itself, turned itself off.   

       I walked over to my friend. He was standin' there eatin' pickles. I said "Hi, what's happenin'?" He looked at me in the eye and said "Nothin'".   

       You gotta sing it with that kind of enthusiasm. Like you just squashed a cop...   

       I don't want a pickle
Just want to ride on my motorsickle
And I don't want a tickle
'Cause I'd rather ride on my motorsickle
And I don't want to die
Just want to ride on my motorcy ...cle."		   

       ... Actually there's more lyrics to it than that, but seems like every version Arlo sung wuz kinda different in the interpretation you might say, and this is the nearest to the one I've heard. Anyhoo, I like to think that song would spring to mind if I ever went off a mountain side.
—Guy Fox, Nov 16 2001
   

       You'd need to make sure the police sirens and the ambulances harmonised properly, and kept the rhythm.
—pottedstu, Nov 16 2001
   

       Heard "When Children Cry" by White Lion yesterday and for some reason made me think of this idea.
—barnzenen, Dec 06 2001
   

       They Might Be Giants; "The End of the Tour"
—JakePatterson, Dec 06 2001
   

       On the appropriateness meter, Bloodrock's 'DOA' would certainly be up there but my final choice would be Rockpile's 'Crawling from the Wreckage'.   

       Hey, you gotta have dreams!
—RobGraham, Dec 07 2001
   

       If one wants to be maudlin in a sort of 50-60s falsetto fashion, Last Kiss by the Cavaliers, I blieve, would work well...   

       Personally tho I'd go with one of Loreena McKennit's called, I think, Light the Candle John or somehting like... or Dante's Prayer. or something.
—Urania, Dec 07 2001
   

       RobGraham: I think that was Dave Edmunds solo (what's the difference, anyway?), but that's a *really* good one!
—snarfyguy, Dec 09 2001
   

       Lizst, "Totentanz." Might as well do it right.
—bristolz, Dec 09 2001
   

       In time for Christmas, they are re-issuing "My Sweet Lord"
—po, Dec 09 2001
   

       "Bang Bang" by B A Robertson. Or could I have "Music in 12 Parts" by Philip Glass, on the basis that even the Grim Reaper would get bored/fall into a deep hypnotic trance an hour or 2 into it?
—pottedstu, Dec 10 2001
   

       I used to live just round the corner from the tree on which Marc Bolan (of T.Rex) met his death (in a Fatal Auto Collision, of course). Twenty years on, people still tied flowers and poems to the tree (and probably still do).
It's still a very dangerous combination of hump-backed bridge and blind corner - there's an embryonic HalfBaked idea there somewhere which involves car stereos playing a quick burst of "Get It On" as a reminder when people drive past the tree...
—hippo, Dec 12 2001
   

       [snarfyguy}, I just red this idea (I realize that's kinda late), but it struck me. The thing is, two year's ago, aug 1999 I had this terrible accident with my first (and till now my last) car, a citroen 2cv. A car crossed the road from the left side, hit it, got launched and crashed into a parked car. When I got conscience again, blood was running down my face and body, the scent of wine was everywhere (very good french wine) and the discman we 'installed' was still playing... The song was Karma Police by Radiohead. I was terribly hurt (torn liver, internal bleeding, headwound), but this song kept on playing and it was kinda comforting. Despite my bad condition, I got relaxed by this song. If this idea is ever realised, I'm the first one to buy it and program Karma Police (and buy a car of course).
—BartJan, Dec 16 2001
   

       Well, it's even more unbelievable if you would see the picture of of the car after the crash... I can say, it's the most aerodynamic car i've ever seen.
—BartJan, Dec 16 2001
   

       Then you'll be a Mini Driver!
—angel, Dec 17 2001
   

       If you would use the remaining of my 2cv, you would be a Mini-driver as well!
—BartJan, Dec 17 2001
   

       "Close to the Edge" by Yes.   

       Yeah, I'm a prog rock weenie but it's a twenty minute song, and I get to keep living as long as it plays...right?
—timservo, Dec 24 2001
   

       Oh, it's gotta be Fish Heads, by Barnes and Barnes.
—RayfordSteele, Jan 01 2002
   

       Ha! I like "They're Coming to Take Me Away".
—TeaTotal, Jan 01 2002
   

       <whispers> Zoom, zoom...</whispers>
—Lucky_Setzer, Jan 21 2002
   

       My son singing me the Bob The Builder theme tune.
—goff, Jan 21 2002
   

       Anything by the Crash Test Dummies.
—LFReD, Feb 08 2002
   

       I knew someone who believed that nothing bad could happen whille a Led Zeppelin song was playing...
—MORGWOOD, Feb 13 2002
   

       freakin' at the freakers ball.....
—po, Feb 13 2002
   

       Time of your life - Green Day
—Sulla 's Ghost, Feb 22 2002
   

       "Hey look, there's my liver" - xrayTed and the Paramedics.
—xrayTed, Mar 19 2002
   

       Call me geeky, but I would just play a soundtrack me screaming for help, reading my will or my medical records.   

       "Pratical to the end"
—bing, Mar 19 2002
   

       C W McCall's Convoy
—po, Mar 24 2002
   

       Jethro Tull, A Passion Play.   

       And let me wait and hear the whole thing before I go (forty-some minutes minus the Hare Who Lost His Spectacles story in the middle... please...). It begins:   

       Do you still see me even here?
The silver cord lies on the ground
And so I'm dead
The young man said
Over the hill not a wish away
And who comes here to wish me well?
A sweetly scented angel fell
She laid her head upon my disbelief
And bathed me with her ever-smile...
—globaltourniquet, Apr 23 2002
   

       Just a thought You could sell a box with a few wires comming out and a small grill for a speaker, with instructions on fitting, with not a single thing inside .........whose going to know if it works or not. and as it won't whose going to complain.
—lendallavery, Apr 25 2002
   

       Rob d; Clubbed to Death
—Zircon, Aug 22 2002
   

       "Seasons in the sun" by Terry Jacks, or maybe the theme from "M*A*S*H" ....   

       Build the sound unit pretty much like a flight data recorder - hardened container with lots of padding. Flash memory for MP3 download of your current choice of music. Internal power supply, charged from the vehicle when idle. Triggered by the airbag system sensors.
—8th of 7, Aug 22 2002
   

       Sunday Morning, from "The Velvet Underground & Nico." It just feels right.
—calum, Aug 22 2002
   

       Probably Engel by Rammstein (lyrics translate to 'God knows I don't want to be an angel')   

       Alternatively, Si chio vorrei morire by Monteverdi. Not only is it a beautiful song but it translates to 'Yes! I would welcome death'. In either case, I'd probably be too busy singing along to worry about my life slipping away...
—madradish, Aug 22 2002
   

       Aha! But the two choirs that I attend have given me a prediliction for early music (madrigals etc).   

       I also *love* the pastoral symphony that snarfy mentioned originally.
—madradish, Aug 23 2002
   

       Apparently there's some tribe somewhere who's favoured method of doing away with miscreants is beheading. However, they have added a strange, sort-of humane, twist. The head in question is attached to a bent-over sapling so, when the neck is severed, it flys up into the air. Apparently, the intention is to make the desceased think they're ascending to heaven. (I suspect however that the real reason is to make the spectacle more interesting for everyone else involved)
Thinking along these lines; how about a nice cloud of hallucinogenic gas that sprays from the steering column/airbag and a little picture of a tunnel with a light at the end that drops from the sun shade above the windscreen. The radio could be made to play the sound of choirs of angels or valkeries or something.
there should probably be some kind of inhibitor incase you crashed in a real tunnel, whichh would obviously be more realistic than some picture.
—Zircon, Aug 23 2002
   

       You would have to have this (the original idea that is, not the light at end of tunnel thing (above)) triggered on fading life signs rather than seriousness of crash. Otherwise Volvo drivers would start using it as a hand free way to retune their stereo to something they like.   

       No Death, no ditty.
—Zircon, Aug 23 2002
   

       "Dry The Rain" -- The Beta Band (provided I survive to the crescendo).
—my face your, Jan 19 2003
   

       "Dying in the Sun" by The Cranberries. *grinn*
—xtraspecialzero, Feb 09 2003
   

       i'll have 'the song that doesn't end' from lamb chop's playalong. and i can't die until it's over.
—sambwiches, Feb 09 2003
   

       Ring of Fire by Jonny Cash
—sufc, Feb 11 2003
   

       They can't take that Away from me"- Frank Sinatra
—Pericles, Feb 12 2003
   

       There Is a Light That Never Goes Out - The Smiths...but why limit yourself to just music? With a little adaptation and a handy mobile phone your loved ones could be alerted...your final glass of Dom Perignon could be chilled and winging it's way to you. The phone could also contain some preset messages for those you love or hate so you're able to make your peace/say your goodbyes automatically whilst listening to your favourite song
—brightboy, Feb 14 2003
   

       Killed by Death - Motorhead
—chimpoid, Feb 14 2003
   

       (Brightboy)Why stop there.A last Will and Testiment texted to your nearest and dearest at the moment of your passing on to the great beyond.
—sufc, Feb 14 2003
   

       "texted," the verb; another tremor in the tectonic plates of language.
—bristolz, Feb 14 2003
   

       In case any shred of Christianity is correct, which I doubt it is, I'd choose AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" 'cause that's where I'm headin'.   

       -Brice
—bricey_wicey, Apr 23 2003
   

       most people take life too seriously anyway. One of wierd Al Yankovich's zaney polkas would wisk those dyin' blues away. Incidently, the song would probably be a parody of one of the songs that you may want to hear in the first place.
—demtangs, Apr 23 2003
   

       No more like a collection of all of them.
—demtangs, Apr 23 2003
   

       "Come What May", Moulin Rouge. Or anything from Moulin Rouge for that matter.
—igirl, Apr 24 2003
   

       That would make me *want* to die. Interesting strategy...
—snarfyguy, Apr 24 2003
   

       99 Red Balloons..
—yesto60, May 01 2003
   

       "Machine Gun" Jimi Hendrix
—infinitemotion, May 01 2003
   

       If you hit water (happens often in Holland) a special water sensor is activated to play: "Yellow submarine".
—breuk1, May 01 2003
   

       One of the main factors in *surviving* a near-fatal accident of any sort is your will to survive, and your belief you're not ready to die. In this sort of a high-pressure situation, do you really want your car to tell you you're doomed, and play the sort of music you'd like to let go during or after? It really could make a difference.   

       It's still a beautiful idea, though.
—AllenChristopher, May 12 2003
   

       Back to the main idea.   

       Nowadays a TV-screen in a car is as common as a radio. So next to sound you could add some visuals to your last moments.   

       You could play a prepared video with best parts of your live (youth, family, mistresses). You could play an adult-movie. You could play the last episode of the soap: “Onderweg naar morgen”.
—breuk1, May 15 2003
   

       I think I'd be OK with the default setting (Copacabana)...   

       no, no, I've changed my mind... Delilah!   

       Good call AllenChristopher, I'd ditch "My Way" and "Monkey Gone to Heaven" and bring on "New York New York" and "Tame".   

       .. though if the car *really* knew you were *definitely* going to die,.....
—rangelife, May 15 2003
   

       "Stickshifts and safety belts" by Cake, or (and I would quite like this one anyway, in the original spirit of the idea) "I'm beginning to see the light" by Bobby Darin.
—friendlyfire, May 15 2003
   

       Yes, genius!! I did the same thing with my CD player alarm clock, so that the first song of the day that I heard wasn't catchy, and didn't get stuck in my head.
—adr, May 28 2003
   

       'Head on Collision' by Faith No More.
—gnomethang, May 29 2003
   

       I can't drive 55 - Sammy Hagar
—nobrakes, May 30 2003
   

       Ravel please. . (and not Bolero). If I thought the hereafter resembled Pachelbel's (mind-numbingly boring) Canon in any aspect, I would dive back down to my bed of pain, and resume this life, however pointless. Ravel denotes an at-least edgy future, which is preferable to P-bels, novocained lobotomy. Wipe off the drool, squint like Popeye, and die like an explorer.
—ravart, May 31 2003
   

       "Blasphemous Rumors"-Depeche Mode "I don't want to start any blasphemous rumors but I think that God has a sick sense of humor and when I die I expect to find him laughing." Com'on this is great stuff.
—The Tick, May 31 2003
   

       Don't fear the Reaper !
—babyloon, Jun 05 2003
   

       definately Green Onions by Booker T and the MGs. go feel cool when whatever next comes up
—DalaiLama, Jun 05 2003
   

       On the same thread: I Burn for you. Never thought of Blue Oyster as funeralists, but there you go.
—babyloon, Jun 06 2003
   

       Hi everyone! When I first read the original idea, it reminded me of the last song that I heard playing from my car stereo when I was in a major accident a couple years ago. It was "Tubthumping" by Chumbawamba. The guy that pulled me out of my car thought I had been dead for quite some time (the accident was in the middle of nowhere...). When I came to in the hospital though...the lyrics "I get knocked down, but I get up again" were stuck in my head for weeks.   

       If I had a choice, it would've been "Behind Blue Eyes"-The Who.   

       I'm all for the idea....
—Teydrian, Jun 06 2003
   

       If you are going to die... what matters what song are you listening...the chances in such car accident are that if you are going to die you won't be able to hear anything. Or maybe if you could survive and you have that sound system.. after crash you'll say "fu*ing stereo shut yout fu**ing mouth up and please somebody helpme getting out of this %&#** of sh$%**!!!!!" and maybe you won't like to hear anymore that song.
—NickHunter, Jun 09 2003
   

       .... we were discussing this fine idea in the office the other day. My boss suggests a personal vocal track saying :   

       "I'm over here.... yea... in the crashed car.... go easy, I might not be too well... call an ambulance, please...."
—jonthegeologist, Jun 11 2003
   

       Help
You know I need somebody
Help
Not just anybody
Help
You know I need someone
He-e-elp.
—egbert, Jun 12 2003
   

       I can't believe "It's the end of the world (as we know it)" by REM wasn't picked...
—Cr0esus47, Jun 12 2003
   

       Pink Floyd´s Comfortably Numb !!!
—ghorta, Jun 13 2003
   

       22 seconds after I die, I want it to play "Her Majesty".
—waugsqueke, Jun 13 2003
   

       I quite like the idea of "pissing in the wind " by badly drawn boy. I'd still be concerned if it came on the radio randomly. It would appear as though the car had precognitive ability of certain doom. Ithink i'd have to pull over.
—Milo, Jun 16 2003
   

       and reflect on how I could improve my life, focussing on charitable unselfish pursuits and stuff. A real reminder of mortality if it came on the radio.
—Milo, Jun 16 2003
   

       Although I hate Copa Cabana, it would be surreal to hear it while dying, which would make it alright. Also if you picked out one of your favorite songs to be your death songs you would probably not like hearing it too much since it would remind you of your own mortality.
—jvanzand, Jun 17 2003
   

       wow so many great ideas for songs to play while dying... i should make a list... definetly 99 Red Balloons and the Safety Dance.
—meatwad, Jul 19 2003
   

       pixies-dig for fire
—davidcreede, Jul 22 2003
   

       if you guys are interested in "world" music, a good song suggestion would be "baladi," by an artist named dalida. i imagine she had the choice of her death song (since she commit suicide). great song though, i think the title is arabic for 'my country.'
—screwtape, Sep 14 2003
   

       How ironic. i just happen to go to half bakery and see a fatal auto collision posting the same day most of my friends are off morning someone who died in a fatal auto collision. lifes funny like that.   

       Besides, if i deid, i'd want "its a small world" to play. not because i like it, no, because nobody likes it. i want the people who should have saved my life to have to listen to it the whole time they're pulling my corpse out of the wreakage, thats what they get for letting me die... BWA HA HA HA HA!
—HalfwayHebrew, Sep 14 2003
   

       longest idea annotation section ever???
—dickity, Sep 14 2003
   

       hmmm, I don't know if I wan't to check them out if their any longer
—dickity, Sep 14 2003
   

       actually it probably wouldnt be that hard to program your MP3 player to go directly to a certain song on impact, while you're at it, add that same program to your cell to automatically dial 911 & next of kin along with some pre-recorded message "if you hear this..."   

       i think i would program my MP3 to *random*...i like surprises.
—kissing bandit, Sep 18 2003
   

       How about 'Always look on the bright side of life' I dont know who its by though.
—EdZ, Nov 02 2003
   

       That occurred to me.   

       The idea wasn't really an invitation for people to contribute their selections (a la, "The Coolest Names of All Time"),it just turned into that. I think the idea is appropriate for the site, which I guess is why it's still here.   

       [EdZ]: it's a Monty Python song.
—snarfyguy, Nov 02 2003
   

       I always put thought into this whenever I heard a song that reminded me of death (esp. by car accident). I would think "Hey, I like this song, I should die now..." and then I thought "wait, why die now when I can get the 'Fatal Auto collision song' and die later" I would want "Bittersweet Symphony" by The Verve playing and then "The Scientist" by Coldplay. Actually I'd just install a projector to play The Scientist video when the medics approach.   

       "Cuz it's a bittersweet symphony this life..." "I'm goin back to the start"
—Rain, Nov 11 2003
   

       .... a tossup between   

       It's a small world after all sung by the chipmunks.   

       and   

       Christine's: Boney Mahoney, she's as thin as a stick of macaroni.
—DeusExMachina, Nov 13 2003
   

       Was just thinking about this one yesterday while listening to "the night I feel asleep at the wheel" by the BareNakedLadies.
—ato_de, Nov 13 2003
   

       What, nothing by Meat Loaf? Surely he's got something appropriately histrionic... "Bat Out of Hell", or even "Paradise by the Dashboard Light", if only for the title alone.   

       Back (way, way back) about '79 or '80 the Cure had a catchy little tune called, I think, "Grinding Halt".   

       Dating myself, I know.
—bob_wong, Nov 19 2003
   

       I was reminded very sharply of this idea today. I was having chest pains, and upon calling Ask A Nurse, they directed me to Urgent Care. Said it was possible I was having a heart attack.   

       In my roommate's car on the way to Urgent Care, the first song that played was Sonny and Cher, "The Beat Goes On."   

       Wasn't a heart attack, btw.
—darksasami, Nov 19 2003
   

       "On the Road Again" by Willie Nelson.   

       I don't love the song, but the counterpoint would be marvellous.
—Crashinoz, Dec 29 2003
   

       Beautiful, when I die I want to be listening to Carbon Leaf
—Nils the TMP ninja, Dec 29 2003
   

       I am reminded of the man who launched his Volvo into a canyon and remained trapped in it for 8 hours before he was found.   

       When this was breaking news, the state-of-the-art sound system was powered by the newly released auto-reverse cassette player.   

       He listened to "Wham!" doing "Wake Me Up, Before You Go-Go" for 8 hours......He said it was ok at first, bad after a couple of hours, and torturous after that.
—normzone, Dec 31 2003
   

       "Simple Man" by Lynyrd Skynyrd or "Ramblin' Man" by The Allman Brothers or "Black Waters"(aka Funky Dixieland) by the Doobie Brothers or one of Penderecki's more epic choral pieces.
—countzero, Jan 16 2004
   

       Tip toe through the tulips.
—python, Jan 16 2004
   

       What if there is more than one person in the car? A solution may be to provide karaoke to those in the car that don't know the words. It may help keep there minds off of their loved ones, and the dashboard in their chest.
—Antioc, Jan 21 2004
   

       Hi Guys! The idea is not as bad as morbid. I'm not sure about you, but if I would certainly know I'm dying - and I would, since the Device would tell me this pretty nice way -, I would not want to hear anything rocky and groovy, nor anything utterly sad. It's not a movie, where you want to make your watchers burst out in tears, you need to stay calm, quit panic, and leave this ghostworld in a peaceful, tranquil way. You gotta make your mood for the first moments in Heaven. I'd choose Computer Love from Kraftwerk, right off the Computer world LP, believe me, better than a dose of Seduxen:)
—Jazz1934, Jan 21 2004
   

       "Always look on the bright side of life." by Monty Python's Flying Circus from "The Life of Brian" film.   

       See link for lyrics.
—furmobile, Jan 21 2004
   

       If you have a DVD player in your car, can you set this to watch a movie when you are dying?
—GenYus, Jan 21 2004
   

       Nearer My God To Thee, I think. +
—k_sra, Feb 12 2004
   

       Public Enemy's "911 is a Joke" playing on an endless loop.
—lostdog, Feb 12 2004
   

       How about an officially blessed recording of the last rites. And if you remember to only ever fill your screen wash and radiator with holy water, there's a good chance of being sprayed in the crash
—Nick Perry, Mar 08 2004
   

       That's good, [Nick].
—snarfyguy, Mar 10 2004
   

       "Dead Skunk in The Middle of The Road"... ???   

       {swerve... screech... whap}   

       OK. Maybe not.
—zigness, Mar 11 2004
   

       Or what about whatever was playing on the radio at the time, which would be so cool, because it'd provide you with a snapshot of your last sweet moments of mortality that you could carry with you into eternity... nice... very zen... mmm...
—fergdeff, Mar 11 2004
   

       with zenn there is the possibility (since the beginning of this 3 yr topic) of Manillo singing something obnoxious. i mean, really... do you want a shitty song to be the last memory you have of this earthly life for the rest of eternity?
—flamingrocks, Mar 12 2004
   

       The Love Boat theme song, man...   

       "Love, exciting and new,   

       Come Aboard, we're expecting you.   

       Love, life's sweetest reward.   

       Let it flow, it floats back to you..."   

       It will take your mind off the tragedy at hand as well as screw wildly with the heads of any rubberneckers within earshot.
—decentcat, Apr 07 2004
   

       I would myself like to hear Beethoven's 8th Symphony as I die.
—anon52, Apr 23 2004
   

       I cant believe we have gone on this long and nobody has suggested 'Worms Life' by The Crash Test Dummies
—Rattrap, May 08 2004
   

       Janis Joplin - Mercedes Benz   

       Oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz ? My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends. Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends, So Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz ?
—Fura, le brute, Jun 02 2004
   

       Perhaps if you guys had turned off the radio and paid attention you would have avoided the accident.
—PainOCommonSense, Jun 02 2004
   

       Whatever song they install in my car, it had better not be ANYTHING from "the sound of music"!   

       This would happen:   

       Dum de dum de dum (man humming)   

       "Arghh! Were going to crash!!!!" (man screaming)   

       "The hills are alive.."   

       Screech! Crunch! Ahhhh!   

       "with the sound of music"   

       man expires in car while trying to shut off radio.
—DesertFox, Jun 02 2004
   

       unfortunately in crashtime you are under stress and you do not notice what is going on your radio if it is working at all (brocken, baterry brocken, head... etc.). hope for you not to experience that.
—ing_mk, Jun 07 2004
   

       You don't want the car to be mistaken, though... immediately after a crash, the car's assumption that you'd had it might kill you:   

       "I'm alive... oh no, that's Mozart's Toccata and Fugue in D Flat Minor... cancel the ambulance..."
—david_scothern, Jun 11 2004
   

       Why stop there? There are appropriate songs for all parts of life. A few years ago I had my first colonoscopy. On the drive home, the song I heard (forget the name) had one line that repeated over and over, with an accent on a different word each time..."I did not ASK for the anal probe...I did not ask for the ANAL probe..."
—dailykos, Aug 19 2004
   

       I would want it to be the song from "Remember the Titans" that they sing at the funeral.   

       Nah nah nah nah, hey hey hey, goo oood bye.
—DesertFox, Feb 19 2005
   

       Boulevard of Broken Dreams - Green Day
—jaksplat, Feb 19 2005
   

       I seem to recall that the 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams' was originally a song for the excellent 1984 Hanoi Rocks album 'Two Steps from the Move". It's not the same song, but I just think that Hanoi Rocks always deserve a mention.
—gnomethang, Feb 19 2005
   

       Hell, I'd build my player out of a classic Nomad Muvo 128 of the indestructable sort -- can't remember how many times I dropped mine. I've got room for a whole playlist. The first half would be 'hang in there' songs and the second half 'you're screwed' songs.   

         

       In rough order:   

       Jimmy Eat World - Pain   

       Bon Jovi - Living on a Prayr   

       Sponge - Plowed   

       Fear Factory - Cars   

       REM - EOTWAWKI   

       2 (Ranting-Gryphon.com) - Jaunt   

       === transition ===   

       Offspring - Gone Away   

       Offspring - Leave It Behind   

       Rammstein - Engel (english ver.)   

       AFI - something from Sing the Sorrow, probably Death of Seasons or maybe Leaving Song pt.2   

       Blue Oyster Cult - Dont' Fear the Reaper   

       Probably finish with 2 doing 'The dragon song;' the flute part from the halfway to the end is... beautiful, eerie, and appropriate.
—Chrontius, Feb 20 2005
   

       [Susen] Tombstone Blues?   

       "Mama's in a factory, she ain't got no shoes,
Daddy's in the alley, lookin' for food,
I'm in the kitchen with the tombstone blues..."
   

       I'm guessing right now I have a 1/30 chance of this being the one for me. I guess it'd be better than Like a Rolling Stone, which would just make me cry if it were the last song I heard.
—Zimmy, Jun 18 2005
   

       "Damn it Feels Good to be a Gangsta," Geto Boys.
—Letsbuildafort, Apr 04 2006
   

       Anvilania...
—RayfordSteele, Feb 08 2008
   

       I haven't visited this idea for a while but I'm back thanks to the [Random] button!

I was trying to think of something a bit more upbeat and redolent of beginnings rather than endings and realised that "Also Sprach Zarathustra" by Richard Wagner would be ideal both for your final moments and for your funeral.
—DrBob, Aug 29 2008
   

       > I’m driving along, typically and compulsively twirling the radio dial searching for a song I like. Suddenly – Crash! Swerve! Boom! Smoking remains of the car and me...   

       If you'd pay attention to the road instead of fiddling with your radio, you wouldn't need a good-bye song, but instead a home-safely song.
—piwoslaw, Aug 29 2008
   

       Anything by Marc Bolan!!!! (Bang a Gong) Marc was terrified of cars, and knew he would die in a terrible crash. He never got his license because of that!!!   

       He was riding with his friend, and the car crashed and he died. It was a terrible crash!!!   

       BANG A GONG MARC!!!!! YOU'RE THE BEST!!!!! GET IT ON!!!!!! <link>
—r_kreher, Aug 30 2008
   

       [r_kreher] Yes, indeed - see my 12/12/2001 anno
—hippo, Sep 01 2008
   

       Absolutely brilliant!   

       I must agree with UnaBubba. I would like to drift off to Pachelbel's Canon in D.   

       My only regret that I have but one bun to give.
—MikeD, Oct 18 2008
   

       I guess I could see your point, [rcarty].   

       Slightly pertinent story: After a particularly unnerving fire-fight, I once tried to calm myself down with pachelbel's Canon on my iPod. I couldn't really groove with it though given how juxtaposed it was to my state of agitation. Eventually I pulled out the ear phones and started chain-smoking.
—MikeD, Oct 18 2008
   

       [MikeD] - if I may - I would suggest that you can't start with Pachelbel in such an instance - the music can't take you anywhere because it never drops by to pick you up. Try the final section of Disney's Fantasia (Mussorgsky's "Night on Bald Mountain" segueing into Schubert's "Ave Maria") and you might have better luck.   

       And, if any haven't, do check out that link I just put up last night - the world is lagging *so* far behind us sometimes. :D
—lurch, Oct 19 2008
   

       May I suggest Eric Whitacre's "Sleep"? It's seemingly appropriate, at least on the metaphorical level.
—Gallus, Oct 19 2008
   

       //Mussorgsky's "Night on Bald Mountain" segueing into Schubert's "Ave Maria"//   

       I will indeed, lurch. (as if posting on HB isn't blatantly indicative of having nothing better to do.)
—MikeD, Oct 19 2008
   

       "Coming back to life" ~ Pink Floyd.   

       Or "God's LHC" ~ don't even know if the people that sang the song have a band.
—4whom, Oct 19 2008
   

       // I once tried to calm myself down with pachelbel's Canon on my iPod. //   

       Try Ron Goodwin's "Battle of Britain" score.
—8th of 7, Oct 19 2008
   

       [8th] if this is anything like your last suggestion (religio medici) I will have to listen to each movement 5 times consecutively before moving on to the next and eventually hearing the piece in it's entirety 3 or 4 times before I actually understand it. Thank you, however, for the direction. The first 15 pages are really turning out to be extraordinary.
—MikeD, Oct 19 2008
   

       The "Battle of Britain" music is, shall we say, a little more "accessible". Cracking film, too .... in which the plucky Brits hold off the massed might of the Luftwaffe with (amazingly) almost no help whatsoever from the Americans (Yes, some volunteer U.S. pilots flew in the RAF during the battle).   

       Mind you, watch some more recent Hollywood products and one might (strangely) gain the impression that U.S. forces were in the thick of it all half way though the first afternoon, rather than showing up over two years after it all kicked off .........   

       But don't think the British are ungrateful.   

       They leave that sort of thing to the french ...
—8th of 7, Oct 20 2008
   

       //Organ Doner//Is that the kind they sell in dodgy kebab shops?
—coprocephalous, Oct 21 2008
   

       No, that's what they sell in the GOOD kebab shops .... you really, really don't want to know what they do in the dodgy ones ..... <link>
—8th of 7, Oct 21 2008
   

       //rather than showing up over two years after it all kicked off ......... //   

       It has been a while since I heard criticism of the U.S. for *not* getting involved. It's surprisingly refreshing.   

       //They leave that sort of thing to the French ...//   

       There are two kinds of people I can't stand; Those intolerant to other peoples culture ... and the french.
—MikeD, Oct 24 2008
   

       Satisfied Mind - Jeff Buckley
—desolationrow, Aug 18 2009
   

       + hey, I had never voted on this before...better do it before I die.
—xandram, Jun 11 2010
   

       "Happy" by Pharrell Williams.
—RayfordSteele, Mar 09 2018
   

       So many songs about dying! Screw that, I want to lighten the mood, if I'm dead anyway.   

       Baby Shark, loud on repeat.
—tatterdemalion, Jan 29 2020
   

       The worst kind of Earworm, so you can have the last laugh and breath, at the same time. {Of course, the Emergency services will have to start wearing ear-defenders, or disinfect themselves by humming or modifying their sirens to the Mexican Hat Dance} Bohemian Rhapsody, We Are the Champions and Who Wants To Live Forever.
—Dub, Feb 27 2020
   

       I just wanted to say how much I love this idea. Though it was a list, it was an amusing and entertaining one. Classic.
—blissmiss, Feb 28 2020
   

       I made a Spotify playlist of this thread [link]. I will say that if I was in a crash, I would rather die than listen to ten plus hours of the music in the list. A purgatorial experience if ever there was one.
—calum, Nov 03 2021
   

       20 years later & calum resurrects a thread in which I made a horrible generalisation about lawyers. I feel so ashamed! :(

On the internet, the past is always there to haunt you!
—DrBob, Nov 04 2021
   

       I didn't think Calum was old enough to have been baking 20 years ago. I thought he was still in diapers. But then I still see myself as 20.
—blissmiss, Nov 04 2021
   


 

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