Music Ideas???

[DragonYoga]

I've looked at the other threads, and I'm still pretty much clueless. I'm sorta afraid to ask my closet-redneck FH what songs to play at our wedding and I will be asking my family and friends as well for ideas.... But I was wondering what you guys thought were the best songs... say, the top 3 in your opinions?

thanks!

[swtdl11552]

Do you mean the top 3 wedding songs as your dance songs?? Or the top 3 to get the crowd going? Top 3 Father/Daughter songs?? What are you looking for hun??

[Marge129]

Originally Posted by swtdl11552

Do you mean the top 3 wedding songs as your dance songs?? Or the top 3 to get the crowd going? Top 3 Father/Daughter songs?? What are you looking for hun??

Ditto. Top 3 for what??

[Complicated Woman]

Dragon, have you always been deaf or do you have a point of reference if we're talking about country music, rock, etc?

[DragonYoga]

I was born deaf, but I love listening to music anyway. Top 3 for each category maybe? *feeling overwhelmed* lol! Just, no country, please?

[DragonYoga]

Originally Posted by swtdl11552

Do you mean the top 3 wedding songs as your dance songs?? Or the top 3 to get the crowd going? Top 3 Father/Daughter songs?? What are you looking for hun??

I had no clue there were Father/Daughter songs...! I'm realizing just how LITTLE I know about music...! At my friend's wedding last year, while she was at the altar with her DH, a friend of hers signed a song I don't remember what. Is this common, and if so, which songs would you girls recommend? I love 5 for Fighting's "100 Years" but I doubt THAT would be totally welcomed...

[Marge129]

This is what I used for my ceremony:
Seating of Mothers- Parents Prayer (I don't know who it's by)
BM processional- Canon in D (by Pachelbel)
Bride- Trumpet Voluntary (by Purcell)
Unity Candle- One Hand, One Heart (by Bernstein)
Recessional- Wedding March (by Mendelssohn)

FOr the reception, there's usually the "first dance" which is the bride and groom. Then there can be a Father/Daughter dance, a Mother/Son dance, and a bridal party dance. None of these HAVE to be done.

I used "It's your love" by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill for the first dance and "Unforgettable" for the Father/Daughter dance. I think me ex danced with his Mom to "The perfect fan" by the backstreet boys.

Another goody is "At Last"

Does this help a little???

[birdie]

Not to hijack the thread, just to add to it... I've been trying to come up with a song for the father/daughter dance too. The mother/son dance will be at the same time so we need something that's universally parent/child appropriate. "Unforgettable" is a good one, thanks Margie but if FH doesn't approve, does anyone else have any ideas?

It's kind of an unusual song, but "The Luckiest" by Ben Folds is one of my favorites and it's so sweet, it makes me cry thinking of my FH. I highly reccommend it for reception time.

As for ceremony music, I'm at a loss for it as well.

[breezy]

A few ideas and ALOT of variety... don't know your style

Grand Entrance Song-"Let's Get It Started" by Black Eyed Peas

Frank Sanatra "Fly Me to the Moon"
Shirelles "Then He Kissed Me"
Nora Jones "Come Away with Me"
Beatles "I Saw Her Standing There"
Beach Boys "Wouldn't It Be Nice"
The Cure "Just Like Heaven" and "Love Song"
The Supremes "It's in His Kiss"
THE TEMPTATIONS - MY GIRL
MALE VOCAL - A SONG FOR MY DAUGHTER
ALABAMA - HOW DO YOU FALL IN LOVE
AMY GRANT - FATHER'S EYES
BETTE MIDLER - WIND BENEATH MY WINGS
BILLY JOEL - LULLABYE (GOODNIGHT, MY ANGEL)
BOB CARLISLE - BUTTERFLY KISSES
ELTON JOHN - CAN YOU FEEL THE LOVE TONIGHT
ERIC CLAPTON - MY FATHER'S EYES
FLEETWOOD MAC - LANDSLIDE
FRANK SINATRA - THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT
KENNY ROGERS - THROUGH THE YEARS
KIPPI BRANNON - DADDY'S LITTLE GIRL
LOUIS ARMSTRONG - WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD
MARIAH CAREY - HERO
NAT KING COLE & NATALIE COLE - UNFORGETTABLE
PAUL ANKA - THE TIMES OF YOUR LIFE
PEABO BRYSON & CELINE DION - A WHOLE NEW WORLD
ROD STEWART - HAVE I TOLD YOU LATELY (THAT I LOVE YOU)
STEVIE WONDER - ISN'T SHE LOVELY

Father/Daughter Dance
"My Little Girl" by Tim McGraw
"Let Them Be Little" by Billy Dean
MALE VOCAL - A SONG FOR MY DAUGHTER
AMY GRANT - FATHER'S EYES
KIPPI BRANNON - DADDY'S LITTLE GIRL
LOUIS ARMSTRONG - WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD
MARIAH CAREY - HERO
NAT KING COLE & NATALIE COLE - UNFORGETTABLE
Donny Osmond "Whenever You're In Trouble" (I love this song!!!)

[TheaterDiva1]

Originally Posted by birdie

Not to hijack the thread, just to add to it... I've been trying to come up with a song for the father/daughter dance too. The mother/son dance will be at the same time so we need something that's universally parent/child appropriate. "Unforgettable" is a good one, thanks Margie but if FH doesn't approve, does anyone else have any ideas?

It's kind of an unusual song, but "The Luckiest" by Ben Folds is one of my favorites and it's so sweet, it makes me cry thinking of my FH. I highly reccommend it for reception time.

As for ceremony music, I'm at a loss for it as well.

For our father/daughter dance, we had "Sunrise, Sunset" from Fiddler On The Roof. It could work for mother/son as well.

And our wedding song was "Just The Way You Are" by Billy Joel.

Actually Birdie (and DragonYoga and anyone else who might be interested), we have our entire playlist (ceremony and reception) on an Excel spreadsheet. If you guys PM me your e-mail addresses, I can send it to you.

[Complicated Woman]

Birdie, I love "The Luckiest"! I also really liked Gracie for dancing with my dad...it's kind of waltzy, I think.

Anyway, I thought of using "The Luckiest" too, but I don't think Tom (FH) would really like it too much.

I made him listen to it once and when Ben Folds got to the verse where he talks about being born 50 years before her, Tom just looked at me wide eyed and said, "Ummm, where is he going with this???"

!

[DragonYoga]

Got all the song titles written down, PM'ed you, TheatreDiva (thanks!) and I'm gonna scoot to find the lyrics for "The Luckiest"

I love just about anything except most country music. I like Amy Grant, but that's about it. If a song's especially good, I'll like it. But most country seems to be about hard livin' all being sung by rich hicks... I donno.

[Complicated Woman]

Here are the lyrics:

Originally Posted by Ben Folds: The Luckiest

I don't get many things right the first time
In fact, I am told that a lot
Now I know all the wrong turns, the stumbles and falls
Brought me here

And where was I before the day
That I first saw your lovely face?
Now I see it everyday
And I know

That I am
I am
I am
The luckiest

What if I'd been born fifty years before you
In a house on a street where you lived?
Maybe I'd be outside as you passed on your bike
Would I know?

And in a white sea of eyes
I see one pair that I recognize
And I know

That I am
I am
I am
The luckiest

I love you more than I have ever found a way to say to you

Next door there's an old man who lived to his nineties
And one day passed away in his sleep
And his wife; she stayed for a couple of days
And passed away

I'm sorry, I know that's a strange way to tell you that I know we belong
That I know

That I am
I am
I am
The luckiest

[DragonYoga]

OOOO CW That *is* a sweet song! BTW, luv yer quote!

[birdie]

Gosh, I get goosebumps just reading those lyrics, CW! "The Luckiest" and "Forever and Ever, Amen" by Randy Travis are our two choices for our first dance. Rob really likes to 2-step so "forever and ever, amen" would be a fun, unusual song for the first dance and it's just a great song too that really says great things. But "The Luckiest", i don't know, I just love it a lot and it really says something to me. I love the part about the old couple--oh, all teary-eyed!

Another great song Dragon is "the promise" by Tracy Chapman. It may have already been mentioned though. But I really like that song too--It was my good friend's first dance at her wedding!

[DragonYoga]

Ooooo thanks Jill! Definetely will check it out... I'll listen to the songs with my FH and pick with him.

[Kim&Bob2004]

Ashely,

The BM walked into Loch Lamond, a Scottish love song. Hauntingly beautiful.

The piper walked into something Scottish (I left it up to him!)

I and my brother (who gave me away) walked into a song I think (trying to remember the spelling, Ann could correct me maybe???) Mira's Wedding played on the pipes.

During a Honor Rose Ceremony, after the Lord's Prayer, (I gave roses to all the women that were important to me and my life, those that had influenced me through out the years) Wild Mountain Thyme was played from a CD.

After the first reading, a poem written for Bob and I by a dear friend, I had Alison Krause (sp) and her song (kind of blue grassy) "When you say nothing at all."

Then during the Bible signing (we did this instead of the unity candle) we had a wonderful Irish Tenor singing Amazing Grace. It was beautiful and all the guest joined in, on the tape you can hear them all singing.... it was truly lovely!

For the recessional we had the piper lead us all out to Scotland the Brave.

Before the ceremony our flutist (she played a Baroque flute)/pianist played a variety of keltic/celtic (is there a difference??) music.

We didn't have dancing, we just had a "High Tea" after wards.

If we would have our first dance would have been to our song, a jazz ballad by Dexter Gordon, Darn that dream..... not really weddingish---- but our song. Nice, slow and sexy.

[Kim&Bob2004]

Here are the lyrics to when you say nothing at all, I still get teary eyed when we listen to her CD and dance... (yes we dance together in our living room! )

It’s amazing how you can speak right to my heart
Without saying a word you can light up the dark
Try as I may I could never explain
What I hear when you don’t say a thing

The smile on your face lets me know that you need me
There’s a truth in your eyes sayin’ you’ll never leave me
The touch of your hand says you’ll catch me if ever I fall
You say it best when you say nothing at all

All day long I can hear people talking out loud
But when you hold me near, you drown out the crowd
Old mr. webster could never define
What’s being said between your heart and mine

The smile on your face lets me know that you need me
There’s a truth in your eyes sayin’ you’ll never leave me
The touch of your hand says you’ll catch me if ever I fall
You say it best when you say nothing at all

The smile on your face lets me know that you need me
There’s a truth in your eyes sayin’ you’ll never leave me
The touch of your hand says you’ll catch me if ever I fall
You say it best when you say nothing at all

[Robyn Lynn]

They played that at the wedding reception(first dance) my fiance and I went to the day he proposed

[wynelle]

Kim- I was always taught that Loch Lomond wasn't a love song as much as a death song. Two Scots were in a battle; one took the "high road" home (or life) and the singer took the "low road" (death) which is why he would never see his true love again, by the banks of Loch Lomond.

[Kim&Bob2004]

When picking Scottish music for our wedding I researched Loch Lamond and found that it was sang by a husband to his beloved wife during the Jacobite uprising in Scotland (more than one source, though I can't recall where right now). My parents also sang the song together when they were first married. It was their song, I even remember them singing it together and teaching it to my brothers and I.

Ann says that it is a song traditionally done at Scottish weddings also.

Sorry if the song for a wedding offends, but I felt the beautiful Scottish folk song set the right mood and everything.

[wynelle]

email us: thistle@npr.org


"Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond:" What's Behind the Song?
This article first appeared in the September 2001 Thistle & Shamrock Newsletter.

Loch Lomond
In thinking of a song for Halloween, the cheery "Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond" may seem like an unlikely candidate. But when you look into the background of the verses, written at the time of the 1745 Jacobite rising in Scotland, it emerges as a good candidate for a mention at this time of year.

First of all, you need to know that in Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Brittany, some people still hold onto the old Celtic belief that if you die away from your homeland, you return by an underground spirit route called The Low Road.

In 1745 the Scottish Jacobite army was in retreat following its invasion of England. As they approached the border, several of the walking wounded could struggle no further and fell back from the rest of the troops in Carlisle, just south of Scotland on the English side. Unfortunately, many were picked up by English soldiers, and were thrown into Carlisle jail.

Written during this period in history, the song tells of two Scottish prisoners in those dreadful circumstances. One was to be set free, and the other to be executed for his part in the Jacobite rising against the Hanovarian king. The two prisoners' release and execution were timed for the same hour.

The freed man would travel home to Scotland the conventional way, tramping wearily for many miles by The High Road. The condemned man, travelling with the speed of a spirit by The Low Road, would be transported instantly at the moment of death, arriving home first. So...

You'll take the high road
And I'll take the low road
And I'll be in Scotland afore ye
But me and my true love will never meet again
On the Bonny Bonny Banks of Loch Lomond.

Most people hear these verses as a simple celebration of the landscape to which the song has brought worldwide fame. And most singers have given it a jaunty interpretation, including the American jazz singer Maxine Sullivan, who had a hit with the song in the 1940s.

Wouldn't verses imagined to be the last words of a condemned man be more effectively sung as a lament? If anyone knows of a version of this song which seems to match its origins, do let us know.


Copyright 2004 NPR and Fiona Ritchie


LOCH LOMOND and BEN LOMOND

Our distillery is near the southern end of Loch Lomond where the River Leven carries its waters through Alexandria on the six mile journey to the River Clyde at Dumbarton. Loch Lomond is the largest loch (lake) in the UK. It is 24 miles long, 5 miles wide, up to 600 feet deep and it has 38 islands. The loch and its surroundings would figure high in any list of the world's most beautiful places. The scenery is fantastic so, if visiting, bring plenty of film for your camera (or memory cards for your digital!)

The large island in the centre right of the picture at the top of our website is Inchcailloch, known locally as the burying island. Some say this is because it has a graveyard on it, others because it looks like a body on its back.

The Loch is watched over by Ben Lomond, a mountain 3,192 feet high (973 metres). Since the foot of Ben Lomond is not much above sea level it appears to be a much higher mountain, although the many hill walkers who climb "the Ben" will disagree with this! There is a path from Rowardennan on the eastern side of the loch that will take you all the way to the top. Even if you are fit you should allow about four or five hours (up and down) for this climb.

Bonnie Prince Charlie's SoldiersThe famous song about Loch Lomond is reputed to be about two of Bonnie Prince Charlie's soldiers who were captured after the rising in 1745.

Jailed in Carlisle, one of the soldiers was to be executed and the other released.

The ghost or spirit of the dead soldier would make its way home to Loch lomond on the "low road" before the soldier who was released. He would have to take the long way home over the hills and mountains, or the "high road".

I love this song, but my ex-husband (who learned to play the pipes while living in Scotland as a child and plays them professionally now) always told me this version of the song. All my reference, including old 33rpm piper band liner notes confirm my ex-hubby's statement. Have listed two Internet references here. It *is* a love song, but about the love of a man who was executed for his part in the Jacobite uprising and was transported by the "Low Road" (death) home to the Lochs.

[Robyn Lynn]

Those are the verses to that song???? I heard that on the Brady Bunch once!!! LOL Just the first 3 verses. But I never heard it anywhere else.

Cool, now I know the tune.

And that would be lovely at a wedding. Lovely tune.

[Kim&Bob2004]

Wynelle, well we had two funeral songs, or what people might call that, we had amazing grace too..... A lot of people think that is only for funerals and not weddings. My brother always did call a wedding a stand up funeral.

If I can ever find where I found my information again I will let you know. I wish I could let you all hear how it sounded on the flute, it was truly beautiful.

[wynelle]

I'm sure it was beautiful on the flute, very haunting and light.

Did you know that Newton who wrote Amazing Grace was a mate on a slave ship? When the ship almost went down in a storm, and most of the slaves died, he found grace and went on to write literally hundreds of some of our most beloved hymns?