All Souls Day/Dia de los Muertos

It's All Souls Day tomorrow (Nov 2), so here are the winners of the Funeral Music competition. Five winners are picked, the best entry was by Enrique. Read his story below, the others are here.

Somehow I have to admit that it's kind of strange for me to think about the music at my funeral, since I won't be able to live the experience (I just thought before about donating my organs). Perhaps I would prefer to leave that decision to the people still alive, so that they can play whatever suits them better. But well, I felt challenged by the question, and as I remembered Ángel Pantoja's funeral, I tried to imagine myself kind of dead... so here I am.

Now, because you refered to the Día de muertos and maybe also because I'm Mexican, I came out with something in Spanish. Rebekah del Rio's cover of Cryin' (Llorando in Spanish) fits not only a David-Lynch-film, but would also suit a funeral, specially if it takes place on the Día de muertos. Rebekah's cover is far more sad than Roy Orbison's original song. And the (a capella) opera-style of her cover makes it even simpler, which would be the perfect counterpoint for the exuberant and bursting Día de muertos or a traditional Mexican funeral.

And out of the blue (the association was due to your reference to accordeon, the instrument played by Julieta Venegas) I thought it would also be nice to have a song called Ilusión and indeed this very version with featuring Marisa Monte .

Marisa Montes was part of Tribalistas. The name Tribalista comes from "tribe", because the people of the band were concerned with the individualism of nowadays. Is there anything more individualistic than death besides birth? No way. And still, for the rest of people still alive, it signifies a moment of strong cohesion. It's kind of a vital oxymoron.

If you listen to this song thinking about "life" as the gone "illusion" which is meant, then it makes perfect sense within a funeral. Also, the strings and flutes of this version share the very melancholy of the Portuguese language (at least for us, no native speakers).

Mais oui! Julieta Venegas is one of those girls who makes you sigh. It seems to me that she looks a little bit between Alizée and Melissa Mars.

¡Feliz día de muertos! À plus!

Rebekah del Rio - Llorando
Julieta Vengas & Marisa Monte - Ilusión