Posts by Amy Cunningham
What Was Performed at Elvis Presley’s Service?

It’s been 42 years since Elvis Aaron Presley’s died of a prescription drug overdose in the master bath of Graceland. With the death came a need to understand the whole arc of his life: from quick, culturally transformative success to utter patheticness. It doesn’t take much research to be reminded that Presley was a mercurial, violent, paranoid man at the end, terrified of losing his reputation. His relationships with women were often coercive, abusive and terrible. How quickly he would have become a “Me Too” casualty.

Elvis’s father and agent Col. Parker staged a elaborate funeral

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Amy Cunningham
Great Funeral Music: "I Vow to Thee, My Country"

I was especially happy to hear the strains of "I Vow to Thee My Country" at the conclusion of Senator John McCain's service at the Washington National Cathedral. The original poem was set to music in the 1920s by Gustav Holst and is employed at every (no kidding) British Royal wedding or funeral (it was Lady Diana's favorite). Its lyrics are so patriotic that progressive members of the British clergy find them offensively nationalistic, but it was a great choice for the heroic senator and I confess to gasping with glee and relief when I recognized it, watching the televised service intently as the casket and family walked sadly but victoriously down the aisle. 

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