Funeral Playlist: "Take It with Me" by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan

By Amy Cunningham

Because the world is as good as it is and because there are soulful people online debating which TomWaits/Kathleen Brennan song would be best played at a funeral, I can guide you to this long Reddit exchange on a topic near and dear. Life’s impermanence is never far from the minds of Waits and his wife, a literate, loving collaborator. So which will it be, Shiver Me Timbers, You Can Never Hold Back Spring, No One Knows I’m Gone, or Time? All are good—if not for the funeral ceremony then for the wake or meal afterwards—but here’s my absolute favorite death contemplation/love song, a piece that came to me through an unforgettable funeral service I was privileged to work: “Take It with Me” invites us to ponder what we can take with us when we depart. “It's got to be more than flesh and bone. All that you've loved is all you own.”

“Take It With Me,” was once named the best Waits/Brennan song of all time. Here’s Rachel Price’s cover. Here’s Matthew Perryman Jones on it. And here’s a lovely rendition by Solveig Slettahjell with audience in Norway. Liner notes: “It’s a long time since I drank champagne,” (third line) was actually the last sentence spoken by Anton Chekhov. And falling asleep on “Beulah’s porch” in the fourth stanza is not a reference to an old deck swing at a friend’s country house. It’s likely alluding to myths of old and poet William Blake, who knew Beulah as the realm of the dreamy, creative subconscious.

I’ve been obsessed with “Take It with Me” for a year, and can’t stop listening to it. It comforts me greatly and leaves me wistful. Love is all there is. Be kind to those around you, and savor every moment.

Phone's off the hook
No one knows where we are
It's a long time since I drank champagne
The ocean is blue, as blue as your eyes
I'm gonna take it with me when I go.

Old long since gone
Now way back when
We lived in Coney Island.
Ain't no good thing ever dies
I'm gonna take it with me when I go.

Far far away, a train
Whistle blows
Wherever you're goin
Wherever you've been
Waving good bye at the end of the day,
You're up and you're over and you're far away.

Always for you, and forever yours
It felt just like the old days
We fell asleep on Beulah's porch
I'm gonna take it with me when I go

All broken down by the side of the road
I was never more alive or alone
I've worn the faces off all the cards
I'm gonna take it with me when I go

The children are playing at the end of the day
Strangers are singing on our lawn
It's got to be more than flesh and bone
All that you've loved is all you own.

In a land there's a town
And in that town there's a house
And in that house there's a woman
And in that woman there's a heart I love
I'm gonna take it with me when I go
I'm gonna take it with me when I go.

Amy CunninghamNovember 28, 2020