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If you have ever been to a traditional funeral, you have probably noticed hymns playing in the background or someone may have even sung a hymn during the actual service. Hymns are very popular at funerals, but do you know why?

Music has an uncanny way of expressing how we feel when we are dealing with grief. By expressing our feelings, certain songs tend to be soothing and comforting when we are feeling at our lowest. In addition to that, hymns tend to be familiar to people, even those who rarely step foot inside a church.

But more pop songs are being used at funerals these days in place of hymns or even in addition to hymns. Here are some of the most popular songs played at funerals:

Wind Beneath My Wings – Better Midler
Candle in the Wind – Elton John
How Great Thou Art
It Is Well With My Soul
Tears in Heaven – Eric Clapton
Amazing Grace
Rock of Ages
Go Rest High on that Mountain – Ricky Skaggs
…and several others.

Do you see a song on this list that you would want played at your funeral? What song would you like played or sung at your funeral?

One of the major problems that funeral directors and grieving families have had to deal with in recent years is the group of people from a “church” in Kansas that protest at funerals. For months, they have been showing up at funerals for soldiers who gave the ultimate sacrifice and others who have been in the service of this country in some form or another. They protest because they say those people are dying because God hates America.

A recent court case brought the church to trial, however, saying that their speech was not protected under the First Amendment as it constituted “hate speech.” After losing the case, a federal appeals court overturned the decision, saying the church has a right to protest regardless of how unpopular their message is.

“Our speech, on our signs and our Web sites, is public speech,” explains Margie Jean Phelps, the daughter of Reverend Fred W. Phelps, Sr., the pastor of the Westboro Kansas Church. “It’s not on private matters. It’s on public issues, so it’s protected.”

For now, it seems like funeral cars and mourners are going to have to dodge these protestors. They do have the right to speak their mind in the United States, even if it is a despicable message.

In a time when layoffs are imminent and people are worried about where their next paycheck is coming from, the funeral services industry seems to be a secure place to work. That’s exactly what Alan Willoughby thought when he struggled to make ends meet from his job at the used car lot.

Even though he was 50 years old, Willoughby decided to go back to college to study the science and business of death. He isn’t alone, either. There has been a surge of students interested in this field in recent years as more people are looking for a field that will always be needed in the community.

The salaries for funeral directors are not particularly lucrative, but they are secure and decent. According to the latest estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, funeral directors made an average of nearly $60,000. Even if that’s a cut in pay for some people, the security of the industry makes up for it.

The surge in interest in the funeral industry is nothing new, though. This seems to happen every time there is a financial dip. According to Stephanie Kann, the program director at Worsham College’s Mortuary Science program in Illinois, interest in this field historically spikes when the unemployment rate hits eight percent. There was a 20 percent increase this year over last year. Will there be an even larger surge if the unemployment rate doesn’t get better? We’ll have to wait and see.

Over the past several months, it seems like funeral homes have been getting more and more bad press. There was, of course, the funeral home that is reported to have cremated bodies that were supposed to be buried, in order to save expenses, and there have been many other incidents in recent days.

For example, there is the Boston funeral home that is accused of reselling caskets. The funeral manager is reported to have removed a woman’s body from her casket at the grave site, and then removed the casket and sold it to another person.

In South Carolina, there is a story that is even more disturbing. There, funeral home personnel are accused of actually cutting the legs off of one of the deceased in order to fit the six foot seven inch man into a casket.

In times like these, it is important to remember just how important a reputation of integrity and honest is for a funeral director. The vast majority of funeral directors don’t engage in these horrific practices, and it is unfortunate when one bad apple brings such a cloud of disrepute on an entire industry.

Honesty, transparency and integrity are essential qualities of any successful funeral home or funeral director.

There is no denying the impact that Michael Jackson had on the world of music, and one funeral home in Pittsburgh has even hosted an event dedicated to the “king of pop.”

On Thursday, July 2, the Coston Funeral Home in East Liberty held a memorial service for Michael Jackson. Fans of the star arrived in droves, singing, dancing, and shedding tears.

The event, according to many in attendance, helped to comfort guests as they mourn the loss of this icon. While Michael Jackson may be gone, his music and his memory will live on in the hearts and minds of his fans.

The funeral home will hold a second memorial tribute for Michael Jackson on July 10, 2009.

One of the given facts about funeral cars is that they use a lot of gas. There’s really no way of getting around it, you’re not going to get great funeral mileage in a hearse. Adding to the problem is the fact that manufacturers, for the most part, have turned a blind eye to the funeral industry.

One company in Japan, however, may be about to change that. There is a hearse company in Japan who intends to bring Green technology to the funeral car industry. The company, Lequios, is building a hearse based on the Toyota Prius hybrid vehicle as its base. The hearse is designed for families who want to be environmentally conscious, even when it comes to funeral considerations.

It is expected that the fuel economy for this particular funeral car would be as much as 49 miles per gallon.

When most people think about funeral cars, they don’t think about a customized flashy car. However, there is now a website devoted to the hearse driver, both in and out hof the funeral industry. For a different take on funeral cars, visit the Hearse Driver website at http://www.hearsedriver.com.

While you’re here, you’ll find all sorts of things. There are pictures of funeral cars, customized hearses, and plenty of odd and interesting pictures. There’s also a calendar of hearse-related events. You can find a classified ad section where hearse sellers and buyers can connect. There is even an introduction to the hearse driving community where you can learn the lingo.

There are plenty of ways to interact, as well. There’s a guest book, a bulletin board, and the “twisted opinion” where you can vote on various topics.

In a tough economy, funeral directors are searching for ways to cut costs on funeral expenses. As with other industries, the funeral world has faced increasing costs of supplies, fuel and other expenses. Fortunately, there are several areas funeral directors have been able to cut costs without cutting services.

One way to cut costs has been in vehicles. More and more, funeral homes are holding off on buying new hearses. The average hearse costs $80,000, and the resale value is minimal.

Another cost cutting method has been through simple things like in-house laundering of the sheets and towels used to move bodies.

In addition, funeral equipment costs have been cut, too. Sheet metal urns are now selling more than copper or bronze urns. Coffins that are stained mahogany are replacing coffins made of solid mahogany.

Funeral homes are also bringing lawn and landscaping services in house, as well as switching to compact fluorescent light bulbs.

Ultimately, there are many ways a given funeral director may be able to cut costs while still insuring quality funeral services.

When you think about a cemetery, you rarely think controversy. People don’t mind having one in their neighborhood; Cemeteries are relatively quiet, as neighbors go, and they’re unobtrusive.

However, a funeral home is, in the minds of some folks in Arlington Heights, a very different prospect. There is a funeral home that hopes to move its business into a cemetery in that town, and neibhgors are complaining.

The primary reason people are complaining is that they say the funeral home is “a constant reminder of death,” according to a local news story. Locals are also worried, however, that overflow traffic from the home would wind up blocking the narrow street that it will be located on. Some homeowners are concerned about flooding problems, or about how the funeral home’s presence would affect their housing values.

The Arlington Heights Village Board will have to give final approval before ground is broken on the new funeral home.

Baby boomers have, as a generation, been known for bucking trends. Even at the end of life, baby boomers are making their own statements about how things should be. Even funerals for baby boomers can feature more and more unique and nontraditional elements.

Many funerals today, for example, may feature musical performances and less traditional music. In some cases, eulogies by family members and friends are even starting to replace the traditional funeral sermon delivered by clergy.

It’s not uncommon, today, to find a video of the deceased being played on a wide screen LCD TV next to the open casket. In some cases, the funeral director is becoming as much an event manager as he is a funeral director.

Some baby boomers choose specific themes for their funerals. For example, they might have an Old West funeral, complete with a covered wagon instead of a hearse and a barbecue dinner after the funeral. The only real limits to these funerals is the imagination of the person planning the funeral. In many cases, boomers are planning their funerals ahead, specifically so they can design the event.

Whether this trend of individualism and self-expression, even in death, will continue with the next generation remains to be seen. One thing is sure, however: this generation wants to go out with a boom, rather than a whimper.