Arctic Monkeys: singer Alex Turner names the fun indie song that he wants to be played at his funeral

It isn’t uncommon for people to plan their funerals including the music that they want to be played, in the hopes of easing the stress for their family and friends after their death.

Alex Turner, 36, from Sheffield, told Entertainment Weekly he would want a fun-filled and energetic tune at his funeral despite it being a sombre event.

The Arctic Monkeys frontman explained why he would pick Dance Commander by American rock band Electric Six.

Alex said: “I was talking about this with the guys in the band, and ‘Dance Commander’ by Electric Six is the one that sticks.

“The lyrics on some of that s*** are brilliant. Depends what kind of funeral you want, I guess.”

Lyrics from the 2003 song read: “You must obey the dance commander, Giving out the order for fun, You must obey the dance commander, You know that he’s the only one, Who gives the orders here.”

Despite the song coming across very energetic and arguably not the perfect fit for a funeral, Electric Six singer Dick Valentine has claimed the tune was actually written from a place of sadness and loneliness.

In a Songfacts interview years ago, he said: “I didn’t know that many people in LA at the time, and I was working weird shifts like 2 pm to 11 pm.

“So I’d get off work and I was trying to stop doing music, but then I ended up writing more songs in that period than I ever did, just because I was so bored.”

He continued: “I wrote Dance Commander as a fictional story about how I wanted to withdraw like $3,000 and go to a club.

“But I was in a studio apartment at I-10, Overland, just sitting there. I had nowhere to go and didn’t have any friends and was just dreaming it.”

The Dance Commander music video features scenes of Dick dancing erratically around a house.

Watch the music video, and listen to Alex Turner’s funeral song here.

Alex’s candid admission comes after the release of Arctic Monkeys’s new album The Car, which features many songs inspired by old memories.