![]() Iain Chalmers director, UK Cochrane Centre, Oxford Richard Strauss's Metamorphosen (preferably in the septet version) would remind me what a lousy place the world is Mendelssohn's Octet would remind me that the idealism and energy of young people are reasons for continuing to hope that future generations will make a better job of things than my generation has done. The BMJ's challenge means that I will now append to my existing advance directive my choice of music to die to! I like bass-heavy string ensembles (quintets and upwards). I realised many years ago that things may not work out that way, however, and signed up as a life member of the Voluntary Euthanasia Society. I would like to die in my sleep of “natural causes”-at home and with no preamble. Lisa A Bero associate professor, department of clinical pharmacy and Institute for Health Policy Studies, University of California, San Francisco, United States Some people might wish to be immortalised for their outstanding achievements, but I just want to be 2 kool to be 4-gotten by my friends. The other choice, “2 Kool 2 be 4-Gotten,” makes me laugh. The first, “Sweet Old World,” is serious because it describes all the things we will miss when we leave the world-a touch, a smell, a sound, some very ordinary things. To die to? I want two different songs by Lucinda Williams. It's about having someone come into your life whom you love more than you ever thought possible. We used to sing this song to my daughter when she woke up at night as an infant. This is an inspirational song about learning not to want material things, but to hunger for truth and justice.įor the parents I would choose “Wicked Game” by Chris Isaak. ![]() To be born to? For the child I would choose “All That you Have is Your Soul” by Tracy Chapman. Michael Baum professor emeritus of surgery, University College London The Hebrew translates as “The holy law is a tree of life to they who grasp it.” My name also means tree, and the song would remind me of the fruit and branches left behind, which secure a degree of genetic immortality. To die to? “Etz chaim hi lamahazikim bah,” the beautiful melody sung by the cantor as the Torah scrolls are returned to the ark on the Sabbath. To be born to? Handel's Water Music, which is full of tunes that would accompany the breaking of the waters. Jeremy Anderson director, Centre for Clinical Effectiveness, Monash University-Southern Healthcare Network, Melbourne, Australia It seems inevitable that my passing will be marked in similarly tasteful fashion-perhaps the immortal Peter Sellers' song, “They're Digging up Grandpa's Grave to Build a Sewer”? When I was a boy, my aunt, then a radio announcer, declined my request to play this tune on air. At least we didn't hit “D.I.V.O.R.C.E” until mother and daughter were well into recovery. ![]() The lyrics seemed appropriate (“sometimes it's hard to be a woman”), but the chorus left something to be desired (“stand by your man”). On a good day my wife acknowledges a sneaking regard for Tammy (“five husbands and 15 abdominal operations, honey”) Wynette. The scramble to the hospital allowed time only for a rummage in the glove compartment of our car, which provided a battered copy of Twenty Golden Country Greats as the sole musical accompaniment to the birth. Unfortunately Zoe's parents were less well organised. Discarded tapes of Vivaldi's Four Seasons littered the delivery suite. My daughter, Zoe, now aged 9, arrived after a long labour. The reality in our family has been more prosaic. Presumably, therefore, they deserve a soundtrack to match. Some believe that birth and death are life defining moments. We asked a range of contributors which music they would choose at either end of life. But music can be a birth or death companion. People say that birth and death are lonely events as you are the only one experiencing them at that very moment.
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