requesting assistance for music trivia about the afterlife

[mutepointe]

hey folks:

my wife & i are preparing our annual musical challenge for our family and friends, the 2009 st. valentine's day musical challenge. we finally came up with a theme "places in the afterlife." now we're researching songs that mention in the lyrics or in the title heaven, hell, limbo, valhalla, you get the idea. the songs can be any genre of music but they need to be accessible to my wife and me with no cost. we have access to an extensive collection of music in our county library. we usually include a couple of obscure songs but most songs gotta be pretty easy for our family and friends to figure out.

any suggestions?

[s1m0n]

I'll bite. I give you the great Tom Lehrer!

I am reminded at this point of a fellow I used to know who's name was Henry, only to give you an idea of what an individualist he was he spelt it HEN3RY. The 3 was silent, you see. Henry was financially independent having inherited his father's tar-and-feather business and was therefore able to devote his full time to such intellectual pursuits as writing. I particularly remember a heart-warming novel of his about a young necropheliac who finally achieved his boy-hood ambition by becoming coroner.
<moderate laughter>
The rest of you can look it up when you get home. In addition to writing he indulged in a good deal of philosophizing. Like so many contemporary philosophers he especially enjoyed giving helpful advice to people who were happier than he was. One particular bit of advice which I recall, which is the reason I bring up this whole, dreary story is something he said once before they took him away to the Massachussetts state home for the bewilderd. He said: "Life is like a sewer: what you get out of it depends on what you put into it." It's always seems to me that this is precisely the sort of dynamic, positive thinking that we so desperately need in these trying times of crisis and universal broo-ha-ha, and so with this in mind I have here a modern positive dynamic uplifting song in the tradition of the great old revival hymns. This one might more accurately be termed a survival hymn.

When you attend a funeral,
It is sad to think that sooner or
Later those you love will do the same for you.
And you may have thought it tragic,
Not to mention other adjec-
Tives, to think of all the weeping they will do.
But don't you worry.
No more ashes, no more sackcloth.
And an armband made of black cloth
Will some day never more adorn a sleeve.
For if the bomb that drops on you
Gets your friends and neighbors too,
There'll be nobody left behind to grieve.

And we will all go together when we go.
What a comforting fact that is to know.
Universal bereavement,
An inspiring achievement,
Yes, we all will go together when we go.

We will all go together when we go.
All suffuse with an incandescent glow.
No one will have the endurance
To collect on his insurance,
Lloyd's of London will be loaded when they go.

Oh we will all fry together when we fry.
We'll be french fried potatoes by and by.
There will be no more misery
When the world is our rotisserie,
Yes, we will all fry together when we fry.

Down by the old maelstrom,
There'll be a storm before the calm.

And we will all bake together when we bake.
There'll be nobody present at the wake.
With complete participation
In that grand incineration,
Nearly three billion hunks of well-done steak.

Oh we will all char together when we char.
And let there be no moaning of the bar.
Just sing out a Te Deum
When you see that I.C.B.M.,
And the party will be "come as you are."

Oh we will all burn together when we burn.
There'll be no need to stand and wait your turn.
When it's time for the fallout
And Saint Peter calls us all out,
We'll just drop our agendas and adjourn.

You will all go directly to your respective Valhallas.
Go directly, do not pass Go, do not collect two hundred dolla's.

And we will all go together when we go.
Ev'ry Hottenhot and ev'ry Eskimo.
When the air becomes uranious,
And we will all go simultaneous.
Yes we all will go together
When we all go together,
Yes we all will go together when we go.

[Innocent Bystander]

The version of "Old Time Religion" that I sing has a verse

"In the halls of old Valhalla
I'll be toasting my marshmalla
Maybe it's vulgar, trite or shalla
But it's good enough for me!"

Let me know if you find a song that mentions Sesrumnir, the Hall of Seats, where the invitation is from Freya, rather than Odin.

One of the pagan terms for the afterlife is "Summerlands". You *could* do a pastiche on the "summertime" lyric: "Summerlands, Summerlands, sum-sum-summerlands... etc"

"Heaven, I'm in Heaven,
and the cares that flow around me through the week
seem to vanish like a gambler's lucky streak,
When we're out together dancing cheek to cheek!"

Bat out of Hell, obviously...

Handels Purgatorio...?

[Innocent Bystander]

Squeeze: Take me I'm yours.
"Take me, I'm yours,
Because dreams are made of this.
Forever there'll be a heaven
in your kiss."

[fearfaoin]

we finally came up with a theme "places in the afterlife."

Well, in that case you need to call it the "St. Valentine's Massacree".

I like "Hell" by Squirrel Nut Zippers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyEos0UhwOU

A sampling of the lyrics thereof:

• This is a place where eternally
  Fire is applied to the body
  Teeth are extruded and bones are ground
  Then baked into cakes which are passed around.
  
  In the afterlife...
  You could be headed for the serious strife!
  Now you make the scene all day
  But tomorrow therell be hell to pay

[Innocent Bystander]

Oh! Oh! I found a "Purgatory" one on lyricwiki!

[djm]

Yertube is full of them:

Ain't No Heaven - DJ Champion
Immigrant Song - Led Zeppelin
If God Was One of Us - Joan Osbourne
Dirty Water - Rock & Hyde
Cosmic Debris - Frank Zappa
Devil Went Down to Goergia - Charlie Daniels
We Have Heaven - Yes
etc.

djm

[buddhu]

Highway to Hell!

[fearfaoin]

There seems to be several songs about the Elysian Fields:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elysium#In ... rary_music

Megadeth or Portishead are probably the easiest to find,
if Youtube searches are any judge.

Oh, uh...
"Heaven" by Bryan Adams

[jsluder]

Tears in Heaven -- Eric Clapton (on his "Unplugged" CD)
Take Me Home, Country Roads -- John Denver (mentions Heaven in the 1st line)
Bat Out of Hell -- Meatloaf

[djm]

How could I forget?

Heaven (a place where nothing really happens) - Talking Heads

That Lucky Old Sun (just rolls around heaven all day) - Vaughn Monroe

djm

[fearfaoin]

Apparently, there's a band called Xibulba,
but I couldn't find any songs about it.

[hans]

The Land o' the Leal:

I'm wearin' awa' Jean,
Like snaw-wreaths in thaw, Jean,
I'm wearin' awa'
To the land o' the leal.
There's nae sorrow there, Jean
There's neither cauld nor care, Jean,
The day's aye fair
In the land o' the leal.

To me ye hae bee true Jean,
Your task's ended noo, Jean
For near kythes my view
O' the land o' the leal.
Our bonnie bairn's there, Jean,
She was baith gude and fair, Jean,
And, oh! we grud'd her sair
To the land o' the leal.

But dry that tearfu' ee Jean,
Grieve na for her and me, Jean
Frae sin and sorrow free
I' the land o' the leal.
Now fare ye weel, may ain Jean!
This warld's cares are vain, Jean,
We'll meet and aye be fein
I' the land o' the leal.


Hear on album
Andy M. Stewart: The Man In The Moon

Cheers,
~Hans

[cowtime]

Highway to Hell!

YESSSSSSSSSSS
and Hells Bells

I don't know if this fits the technical "rules" but it is certainly about the theme
(and my favorite shape note song)

Idumea (and am I born to die?)
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=u50IoS2nY7I

Ralph Stanley's O Death
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=qpkdOA1LU ... re=related

[anniemcu]

Hendrix, Stairway to Heaven?