I'm put my music collection on shuffle mode and talking about the songs that come up.

I'm less interested in giving a simple review of each song than I am in the personal emotions and memories these songs conjure. I prefer to talk about music as an experience rather than something to be measured scientifically.

“Many Rivers To Cross” – Jimmy Cliff
From 12/17/01

There is a line in High Fidelity where John Cusack runs down his top five songs to play at his funeral. “Many Rivers To Cross” makes the cut. Listen to any version of the song and it is easy to see why. Listen to this live version and you might just add it to your own list.

This idea is a strange thing to me. I mean who wants to think about their own death, let alone own cut the songs that will play at their funeral?

I’ve always felt that funerals are for the living and not the dead. In a great many ways I don’t really care what music is playing at my own funeral, or what casket I have, or where I am buried. As my grandfather used to say “You can roll me up in a sheet and throw me in a ditch for all I care.” Once I am gone, what you do with my mortal coil so to speak, and how you mourn me is your choice, not mine.

Yet as I think about it, I kind of like the idea of choosing the songs that will play at my demise. I like to think of my life as one long soundtrack, and which songs to choose for the closing credits is an interesting concept. Maybe I should do a full Random Shuffle of just funeral songs.

For now we’ll come back to Jimmy Cliff. “Many Rivers to Cross” is a great freaking song. It has a wonderful mix of reggae and gospel. This live version starts out with a buoyant Jimmy Cliff asking the crowd “how ya feeling?” but quickly moves into a mournful spiritual. It is accompanied by a single acoustic guitar and some chilling piano. But it is Cliff’s own vocals that make the song so beautiful.