If you’re planning a funeral or remembrance service for a baby, you might want to include music. We’ve gathered some songs for a baby’s funeral to help you. Some are written by artists who’ve experienced child loss. Others are taken from children’s films and shows. Hopefully, they can provide comfort, or can help you share how you’re feeling without having to say anything yourself.
Popular songs for a baby’s funeral
Beautiful Boy – John Lennon
This song was released by John Lennon and Yoko Ono on their album Double Fantasy. The song starts with him comforting his son, Sean, from a nightmare. But it goes on to talk about how much he loves his son and the joy he has given him. It’s slow and has a lullaby-feel, making it an appropriate choice of song for a baby boy’s funeral.
“Close your eyes
Have no fear
The monster’s gone, he’s on the run
And your daddy’s here
Beautiful, beautiful beautiful
Beautiful boy.”
Tears in Heaven – Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton wrote Tears in Heaven after losing his 4-year old son, Conor. In an interview with ABC News, he talks about how writing the song helped him feel a sense of healing after his loss. “I almost subconsciously used music for myself as a healing agent, and lo and behold, it worked... I have got a great deal of happiness and a great deal of healing from music.” The song talks about children passing to a peaceful place without tears, as well as the importance of staying strong and carrying on in the face of loss.
“Beyond the door
There's peace, I'm sure
And I know there'll be no more
Tears in heaven.”
Disney songs for a baby’s funeral
Baby Mine – Betty Noyes (from Dumbo)
Baby Mine is a song from the 1941 Disney classic, Dumbo. In the film, it plays while Dumbo’s mother, Mrs Jumbo, cradles baby Dumbo in her trunk through the bars of her circus cage. The song is a slow, calm lullaby and talks about how parents and children have an unbreakable bond, even when separated.
“Baby mine, don't you cry
Baby mine, dry your eyes
Rest your head close to my heart
Never to part, baby of mine.”
Remember Me (Lullaby) – Gael García Bernal (from Coco)
Another popular Disney song for a baby’s funeral is Remember Me, from the 2017 film Coco. This Disney Pixar film focuses a lot on family and legacy. Remember Me plays throughout, so there are a few different versions. But the lullaby version by Gael García Bernal is slow, peaceful and places more focus on the lyrics. It talks about the importance of remembering those we love, even if we can’t be with them anymore.
“Remember me though I have to say goodbye
Remember me, don't let it make you cry
For even if I'm far away, I hold you in my heart
I sing a secret song to you each night we are apart.”
Goodbye May Seem Forever – Jeanette Nolan (from The Fox and the Hound)
This emotional song is taken from Disney’s 1981 film The Fox and the Hound. In the film, the song plays when Tod the fox’s mother drops him in the forest for his safety. But the lyrics make it a good choice of Disney song for a baby’s funeral. It talks about the big impact someone can have on your life, even if they were only able to be in it for a short time. It also focuses on the warmth and lasting nature of shared memories.
“We met, it seems, such a short time ago
You looked at me, needing me so
Yet from your sadness
Our happiness grew
And I found out I needed you too
I remember how we used to play
I recall those rainy days
The fire's glow
That kept us warm
And now I find, we're both alone
Goodbye may seem forever
Farewell is like the end
But in my heart is a memory
And there you'll always be.”
Funeral songs for a miscarriage or stillborn baby
Small Bump – Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran wrote Small Bump for a close friend who experienced a miscarriage 4 months into her pregnancy. The lyrics talk about the connection you can have with a baby before they’re born and how you can lament the life that they didn’t get to live. It also speaks about how you can’t find answers for why lives are sometimes taken away so soon.
“'Cause you were just a small bump unborn
For four months then torn from life
Maybe you were needed up there
But we're still unaware as why.”
Heartbeat – Beyonce
As part of her HBO documentary Life Is But a Dream, Beyonce opened up about her miscarriage with husband Jay-Z. “About two years ago, I was pregnant for the first time. And I heard the heartbeat, which was the most beautiful music I ever heard in my life… I picked out names, I envisioned what my child would look like. I was feeling very maternal.” Sadly, at a later checkup, the couple were told that there was no longer a heartbeat. Beyonce wrote this song about miscarriage to share the pain and sense of longing that you might experience when faced with the loss of a child.
“I guess love just wasn't enough for us to survive
I swear, I swear, I swear I tried
You took the life right out of me
I'm so unlucky I can't breath
You took the life right out of me , me , me , mee
I'm longing for your heartbeat
Heartbeat, heartbeat.”
Bigger Than The Whole Sky – Taylor Swift
The words to Bigger Than The Whole Sky have a lot of listeners wondering whether this Taylor Swift song is about miscarriage. You might find that you’re able to relate to the lyrics, particularly the chorus, which we’ve included below. The slow melody makes it a suitable choice of funeral song for a baby or to say goodbye to a miscarried baby.
“Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye
You were bigger than the whole sky
You were more than just a short time
And I've got a lot to pine about
I've got a lot to live without
I'm never gonna meet
What could've been, would've been
What should've been you
What could've been, would've been you.”
Beam Me Up – P!nk
Beam Me Up is another choice of song to play at a baby’s funeral. P!nk wrote it for a friend who experienced the loss of a baby. When describing her album on Spotify, P!nk said that this song “deals with the loss of a loved one, a loss of a child… it’s very, very, very, very personal." The lyrics speak about how you might imagine another universe where the loss didn’t happen and the longing you might have to see your child again.
“There's a whole other conversation going on
In a parallel universe
Where nothing breaks and nothing hurts
There's a waltz playing frozen in time
Blades of grass on tiny bare feet
I look at you and you're looking at me
Could you beam me up,
Give me a minute, I don't know what I'd say in it
Probably just stare, happy just to be there holding your face
Beam me up,
Let me be lighter, I'm tired of being a fighter, I think,
A minute's enough,
Just beam me up.”
Carry – Tori Amos
Tori Amos’ album The Choirgirl Hotel focuses on the miscarriage she experienced three months into her pregnancy. In an interview with Wall of Sound, she spoke about how she came to write the album. “The strange thing is, the love doesn't go away for this being, this unborn child that you've carried. You can't go back to being the person you were before you carried life… I was trying to find ways to keep that communication going, so the songs started coming.” Carry talks about how her daughter will never be forgotten and how Tori will carry their connection forever.
“You will not ever be forgotten by me
In the procession of the mighty stars
Your name is sung and tattooed now on my heart
Here I will carry, carry, carry you
Forever
You have touched my life
So that now
Cathedrals of sound are singing, are singing.”
Still – Gerrit Hofsink
Gerrit Hofsink wrote Still for his grandson, who was stillborn. The song was made to support his daughter and wider family through their grief. If you find that its words help you too, you might find that it’s a suitable song for the funeral of your miscarried or stillborn baby. It talks about losing someone before you’ve had the chance to meet them and finding that you love them all the same. It also has the hopeful note that you could meet them again in the afterlife or a future life.
“Lost you before I found you
Gone before you came
But I love you just the same
Missed you before I met you
On earth we never can
But in heaven we'll meet again.”
Gone Too Soon – Daughtry
If you’re looking for an alternative song, rock band Daughtry’s song Gone Too Soon could be a good option. An old page on the Daughtry website shared the singer’s story about writing the lyrics. "The song is about realizing that today could have been the day that someone would be blowing out the candles… it just hit me pretty hard. I remember playing the demo for my brother and I turned around and he was bawling. I didn't realize that my brother's wife had suffered a miscarriage years before. It was a pretty emotional moment." The song considers the life that might’ve been lived under different circumstances.
“Who would you be?
What would you look like
When you looked at me for the very first time?
Today could have been the next day of the rest of your life
Not a day goes by that I don't think of you
I'm always asking why this crazy world had to lose
Such a ray of light, we never knew
Gone too soon yeah, yeah, yeah.”
Photo by Tommy Diner on Unsplash.