Funeral music finder

The piece nations reach for on days of mourning — grief carried with great dignity.

Slow-building strings; give it the full nine minutes or use an excerpt under a slideshow.

Familiar and gentle as people find their seats.

A piano and a single violin, perfectly still — space to breathe.

A cello gliding at its own pace; often played live.

Steady and consoling; suits the entrance of the family.

Unadorned piano that asks nothing of the room.

Solo violin, tender without words.

Steady and consoling; suits the entrance of the family.

Sung or instrumental; the Bach/Gounod setting is the other one your musician may assume.

A single soprano line asking for rest.

The one hymn nearly every room can sing without a sheet.

The evening hymn of holding on — a funeral standard for over a century.

For a congregation that sings; builds to real height.

Ancient words, quiet confidence.

The melody says what the words repeat: going home.

The great gospel funeral hymn; Mahalia Jackson sang it at Dr. King's funeral.

The piece nations reach for on days of mourning — grief carried with great dignity.

Slow-building strings; give it the full nine minutes or use an excerpt under a slideshow.

A piano and a single violin, perfectly still — space to breathe.

A cello gliding at its own pace; often played live.

Sung or instrumental; the Bach/Gounod setting is the other one your musician may assume.

A single soprano line asking for rest.

Solo violin, tender without words.

The evening hymn of holding on — a funeral standard for over a century.

For a congregation that sings; builds to real height.

Written out of loss; the story behind it is often told at the service. Search the full title — a modern worship song shares the shortened one.

An old-country favorite for an older generation's service.

The contemporary Catholic staple, drawn from Psalm 91.

Ancient words, quiet confidence.

Soft and personal — 'and He walks with me' — a graveside favorite.

Sung in Carousel to comfort a young widow, which is exactly the job it does here. It is also a football anthem, so a room full of Liverpool supporters will sing it back to you.

Gratitude instead of grief — the most-chosen modern farewell.

The ukulele medley; softer than either original.

Somewhere better, somewhere next — said gently.

The melody carries the room even when the verses are only half-understood. Read them first — they are about doubt and a love coming apart, and an instrumental setting keeps the melody without them.

Written for his son; chosen most often for a life cut short.

Cassidy's version is the one played at services.

A small, sure voice saying it was love.

The grand farewell; the title does the work even for non-Italian speakers.

For honoring the person who did the raising.

The thank-you song — for the steady one who never asked for credit.

One word that is also the whole eulogy.

Sorrow told to stand up straight.

For a life lived on its own terms, and one of the most-played funeral songs there is. Worth knowing before you commit: it is a song about self-reliance, which sits oddly in a service built around faith or a family's shared grief.

The Irish farewell; bring tissues regardless of ancestry.

Comfort in plain words a whole room can hum.

A promise of carrying and being carried.

A British favorite above all others — Britons have voted it the song they most want at their own funeral. It never took hold the same way in the States.

Written for his grandmother; the details are ordinary on purpose.

Time, change, and getting older — for a parent or a guide.

Farewell as a gift; Parton's original is the gentler reading.

Sung directly to the person who is gone.

A modern memorial song that spread service to service.

Chosen again and again for young people's services.

For the friend whose absence is the loudest thing in the room.

Country's great funeral song. Gill began it after one death and finished it after his brother's, and sang it at services for years before it was ever released.

Cassidy's live recording — one voice and a guitar, and among the most-chosen farewells there is.

A wartime promise that has outlived its war; the older generation will know every word.

Slow, sung softly, and one of the most-requested songs at American services.

Love as a seed under winter snow — plain enough for anyone in the room to follow.

The great gospel funeral hymn; Mahalia Jackson sang it at Dr. King's funeral.

The hymn attached to the Titanic and to President McKinley's funeral; solemn, and it carries its history with it.

Contemporary Christian, and among the most-chosen American funeral songs of the last twenty years.

The one hymn nearly every room can sing without a sheet.

Sung in Carousel to comfort a young widow, which is exactly the job it does here. It is also a football anthem, so a room full of Liverpool supporters will sing it back to you.

The melody says what the words repeat: going home.

Gratitude instead of grief — the most-chosen modern farewell.

The ukulele medley; softer than either original.

The grand farewell; the title does the work even for non-Italian speakers.

One word that is also the whole eulogy.

Sorrow told to stand up straight.

For a life lived on its own terms, and one of the most-played funeral songs there is. Worth knowing before you commit: it is a song about self-reliance, which sits oddly in a service built around faith or a family's shared grief.

Comfort in plain words a whole room can hum.

A British favorite above all others — Britons have voted it the song they most want at their own funeral. It never took hold the same way in the States.

Farewell as a gift; Parton's original is the gentler reading.

Chosen again and again for young people's services.

Walking out toward light — the gentlest possible send-off.

For an exit planned as a celebration; ask the family before choosing grin over gravity. The words also make a specific evangelical claim about who reaches heaven, which will not fit every family in the room.

A celebration-of-life exit with a wink — only when the family has asked for exactly that.

Cassidy's live recording — one voice and a guitar, and among the most-chosen farewells there is.

For the larger-than-life one. It plays as a tribute rather than a lament, which is often the point.

A wartime promise that has outlived its war; the older generation will know every word.

Bluegrass and jazz-funeral both claim it; an exit that sends people out lighter than they came in.

The hymn attached to the Titanic and to President McKinley's funeral; solemn, and it carries its history with it.