An alternative soundtrack for Maggie Thatcher’s funeral

In death as in life, Margaret Thatcher inspires endless controversy. The former prime minister was buried today at St. Paul’s Cathedral, and even the hymns chosen for the service have sparked debate — never mind the lavish trappings of the ceremony itself. One of the hymns — "I vow to thee, my country" — apparently has surprising feminist overtones, which has the good folks at the Economist pondering questions of deep theological import:

As prime minister, Mrs Thatcher pointed out that in the hymn, the kingdom of God’s numbers are said to increase "soul by soul"—in other words, through the salvation of individuals and not social classes or communities. 

But she probably did not realise the full import of the line that follows: a form of words that is considered of great significance in feminist readings of the Jewish and Christian tradition. "And her ways are ways of gentleness and all her paths are peace" is a quote from a passage in the Book of Proverbs, in which Wisdom is personified as a female divine figure. The word "her" does not refer to the heavenly homeland, but to a lady called Wisdom. Jewish and Christian theologians have long wondered how this can be reconciled with monotheistic belief in a Deity who (if He has any gender at all) is usually regarded as masculine.

Let’s just say this isn’t a question we’ve spent much time thinking about here at FP. But it did get us wondering what an alternate music selection for Maggie Thatcher’s funeral — one picked by her fiercest critics — might look like. And you thought "Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead" was scathing.

Elvis Costello, "Tramp the Dirt Down": A track in which Costello dreams of dancing on Maggie’s grave. He may finally get his wish.

Morrissey, "Margaret on the Guillotine": If nothing else, Maggie being led to the guillotine with handbags and all à la Marie Antoinette sounds like a promising movie premise.

Pink Floyd, "Fletcher Memorial Home": In which Floyd imagines Maggie living out her final days in the company of her good friend, Augusto Pinochet.

Robert Wyatt, "Shipbuilding": A Costello cover, this song will probably go down in history as the greatest song written about the Falklands War.

Sinéad O’Connor, "Black Boys on Mopeds": Using the killing of a young black man as a symbol of police violence, O’Connor accuses Thatcher of being no different than the Chinese autocrats who ordered the Tiananmen Square massacre. It is one of the more brutal indictments of Thatcher’s England you’ll ever hear.