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Hello. It had been a respectful funeral service, you know, a few prayers, some affectionate

reminiscences, a couple of moments of meditation, and of course the awed silence

as the curtain slowly closed around the coffin.

And then came this.

Always look on the bright side of life. Always look on the light side of life.

No great surprise really to hear Eric Eudel lifting mourner's spirits at the end of the

service because after all a recent study by a chain of funeral directors found that

the life of Brian Song had overtaken Frank Sinatra's

my way as the preferred choice of farewell music, easily beating off challenges from

Abide with me, Robbie Williams and Jerry and the Pacemakers.

Now in the past of course any such choice was hardly an option.

Funeral services had a formal, prearranged character

and addressed by the vicar perhaps two or three hymns a collective prayer or two but now almost every

element prayers music readings is up for grabs well it sounds like a refreshing

freedom from ritual but of course it brings its own problems. Who is to decide on the funeral

arrangements? Should priority be given to the deceased's wishes or to the relative's desires

or perhaps to the chapel or church's traditional practices and procedures.

Well all these matters are suddenly investigated in a new research paper published in sociology

called Sociological Ambivalence and Funeral

consumption. It's co-authored by Isabel Schmegen and Louise Canning and Isabel

...