An old Benny Andersson track to die for
September 25, 2008
Statistics produced after a study of music played at Swedish funerals put Benny’s Tröstevisa at #1.
The statistics are based on music played at over 5,000 funerals and from website kyrkomusik.se run by the organist Hans Agrell in Gothenburg. Agrell plays the organ at 400 funerals a year in the Lundby church on Hisingen.
The unusual survey’s findings have appeared on Swedish news site realtid.se
For people choosing an instrumental piece to be played at their funeral, Benny’s Tröstevisa (which roughly translates as ‘show of consolation’) from his November 1989 solo album is the favourite ahead of classics by Evert Taube and JS Bach.
For songs with lyrics, Bridge Over Troubled Water and Time To Say Goodbye were the top choices.
If you’re a non-Swedish speaker like me, you recognise the tunes immediately but not the titles – this article sent me scurrying for my copy of November 1989 to hear Tröstevisa – and the verdict is VERY MOVING!
Great title for this thread 😉