30 Day Challenge: Day 24 – A song that you want to play at your funeral

A few years ago, my sister told me that she wanted Staind’s “Epiphany” to play at her funeral and while it’s a strange thing to ask of a 15 year old, I didn’t really question it.  I’m not sure if it at all made me think about what song to play at my funeral, but I never really found “the song.”  For a while, I thought it might be an S Club 7 song just because funerals are so dull and I thought it would be a fun way to remember me.  Obviously (maybe not so obvious to some), I grew out of my S Club 7 phase.

[I will finish this tomorrow.  Had a crazy day today.]

Both Sides Now — Joni Mitchell

A few minutes ago, I watched/heard this song and inexplicably started crying.  And not just little tears, but pretty big that both my eyes had completely welled up.

This version of “Both Sides Now”, written and performed by the fabulousness that is Joni Mitchell, always gets me.  Perhaps it’s because I associate this song with the scene in Love Actually when Emma Thompson’s character is crying in her bedroom after figuring out her husband has given a necklace to someone else that makes me cry.  Perhaps it’s a combination of that and the introspective, contemplative, regretful-sounding lyrics and the arrangement of strings that elevate the song to the way it is.  Or maybe I just happen to cry easily.

Whatever the case, “Both Sides Now” is one of my all-time favourite songs, particularly this version (the original version is much different in the music and the way it is performed and almost feels like a different song altogether because it comes off differently emotionally).  Here’s a live version where Joni sounds almost like she’s lip-syncing because it’s so close to the recording — but of course you can tell she’s not.  She’s just amazing.