Best man - Singing a song

Ascii

Looking to add a little twist to an upcoming wedding in which I am best man. Instead of the traditional speech I am thinking I might substitute most of it by singing a song. Its not gonna be the kinda wedding where you can tell the usual crap stories of ex birds and strippers on the stag etc...want to try and do something a little different, yet original and entertaining.

I was at a wedding a long number of years ago in England and the best man sang the following

[HTML]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6eE3ydPdDc[/HTML]

with a few lines substituted and it went down a treat. The whole room was singing it together at the end of the speech.

Need you smart people to suggest a song to sing. If I get the right song, I will get a recording of it and a friend can remove the lyrics to leave me with the music that I can have it playing in the background to sing to to keep the timing and keep me in tune.

And before any smartass says it I wont sing "thorn in my side" by Eurythmics.

Suggestions please please ??

Faith

I'm not sure I get this. Are you planning to sing your speech, as in sing thanking everyone, complimenting the bride etc, or just sing a random song rather than making a speech?

GalwayGirl26

Have you run this by the bride and groom? That would be your first step anyway.

Some one of the lads in McFly (Tom Fletcher) did this for his wedding; it was lovely. The right amount of humour and appropriate for the occasion. Look it up. But bear in mind he is a professional singer/songwriter......

Ascii

Faith wrote: »

I'm not sure I get this. Are you planning to sing your speech, as in sing thanking everyone, complimenting the bride etc, or just sing a random song rather than making a speech?

Sorry Faith
Prob explained that badly. Not singing the thank yous. I will say the couple of thank yous, bride looks great etc etc. Brother is happiest i have ever seen him etc etc. "And instead of talking more I am going to sing this song which I feel really sums the two of you up etc"...and then i break into song. :D

Faith

It's definitely a unique idea, but make sure you check with the bride and groom about how they feel first. If they're happy with it, great! But many B&Gs might be uncomfortable with the idea and would prefer you didn't do it.

It will either go really well, or it'll be excruciatingly awkward!

Is it a comedic song you want to go for, or a serious one? If it's a serious song, I think it would be more appropriate during the ceremony. If it's a comedy song, choose carefully!

pooch90

Oh I dunno, I think, as a guest, I would be cringing.

tastyt

It's your funeral. Disaster written all over this!!

gypsylee

I think its a great idea. Speeches can be so longwinded and cringy that this would be a welcome change.

Sorry, no help on the choice of song but something upbeat would be good.

Jellybaby1

Great song, great group, great voices, on that video. Could go really well.
Or could go really badly. If, and its a big IF, you can write a great song which is relevant to the bride and groom. if you have a great voice, if you have great music to play alongside you, then it could work. But, and its a big BUT, if you don't, and can't, and won't, then I shouldn't.

Having said that. Long boring speeches are a pain.

berrecka

I was at a wedding a few years ago, where a good friend of the bride did something like this. It was a really simple melody, and she put her own (pretty funny) lyrics to it.
She had also organised a bit of a flashmob, having given rattles, tambourines etc to about 1/5 of the crowd, who were scattered at different tables all over the room. They all stood up after the first verse, and repeated each line the girl sang, shaking their instruments - eventually the entire wedding was singing along, and roaring laughing.
Was great craic

lazygal

Are you trying to be funny using the Thorn in my side song or similar? I wouldn't do this. I don't think a best man's speech is the place for any snarky comments about anyone. I've cringed hearing some speeches with references to balls and chains and the bride finally tying a man down to commitment. Singing from anyone but the band is not really my cup of tea.

Ascii

lazygal wrote: »

Are you trying to be funny using the Thorn in my side song or similar? I wouldn't do this. I don't think a best man's speech is the place for any snarky comments about anyone. I've cringed hearing some speeches with references to balls and chains and the bride finally tying a man down to commitment. Singing from anyone but the band is not really my cup of tea.

most deffo will not be singing "thorn in my side"...merely bringing humour to the thread.

stickybookmark

I think it's a great idea OP. Anything different is good, so many speeches are same-same.
I was at a wedding where the best men did this, now they are known messers. There was 2 best men and they did a rap holding up masks of Jedward over their faces at the same time. I can't even remember what it was about but people would have expected nothing less from these 2. There's no way they would have run it past the groom either. Oh they also did a speech to shame the groom first as well though!
Hmm as for a suitable song though.

Maybe a bit cheesy but at least with the brotherly theme:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmL3m2zcoOI
Or 'he ain't heavy he's my brother'

You can't sing anything that comes across as an ode to the bride, but you could sing a general song about love such as 'All you need is Love' by the Beatles.
To be honest the kind of songs that are usually sang at wedding ceremonies or as first dance would be first port of call to get ideas I'd say - plenty of sites with them.

Addle

VIDEO: Irish lad's best man speech is going down as one of the best

http://www.independent.ie/videos/have-you-seen/video-irish-lads-best-man-speech-is-going-down-as-one-of-the-best-31196981.html
:D

blackbird 49

Addle wrote: »

http://www.independent.ie/videos/have-you-seen/video-irish-lads-best-man-speech-is-going-down-as-one-of-the-best-31196981.html
:D

Seen this today on facebook very good and certainly something different

skallywag

I think that your idea has merit OP.

The traditional Irish format is growing so stale in general, and anything which deviates from the norm in a positive way is going to be highly appreciated, both by guests and newlyweds alike. I'm sure that you may find some who pride themselves on cringing at anything outside of the norm, but for each crank I would wager you will have nine others who will be in your corner.

seamus

So, as others have said here, this is one of those things that will either blow everyone away or turn everyone away.

If you're very comfortable singing in public, and if you can actually sing (and sing well), then you can be onto something. But you also have to get the setting right. An unaccompanied song (a capella) requires a careful arrangement - most songs sound awful without accompaniment unless the song is rearranged to suit it, and some songs just cannot be done a capella.
If you want to do it accompanied, avoid using a backing track at all costs. Live accompaniment is essential.

And ultimately, practice it, and do it multiple times in front of at least one other person you can trust to give you an honest opinion. Ask them for honest feedback on whether they think it will sound great, or if people will be squirming in their seats waiting for it to end.

stickybookmark

People squirm in their seats for a bad best man's speech as well. Happens all the time! At least let them squirm for something a bit different! The accompaniment is the one thing alright, it would sound great if you could sing and play guitar (could you ask one of hte wedding guests to accompany you on guitar OP?) however your idea of the backing music with words removed isn't bad either. I mean yeah it'll be cheesy as hell but it's a wedding, it's meant to be a cheese-fest

Enigma IE

Something like this OP. Absolutely excellent. That said, you probably would need to be comfortable singing/playing in front of other people.

Pumpkinseeds

I think it's a really bad idea. It's unusual and tbh, it's stealing the brides thunder. All everyone should be focusing on is the bride and groom, not the best man. It's like those videos you see of priests/guests singing and hogging all the attention. I wouldn't appreciate it and I doubt many brides would. I think you should just stick with the traditional speech. Running it past the bride and groom puts them in an awkward positition if they really don't want you to do it.

tastyt

Pumpkinseeds wrote: »

I think it's a really bad idea. It's unusual and tbh, it's stealing the brides thunder. All everyone should be focusing on is the bride and groom, not the best man. It's like those videos you see of priests/guests singing and hogging all the attention. I wouldn't appreciate it and I doubt many brides would. I think you should just stick with the traditional speech. Running it past the bride and groom puts them in an awkward positition if they really don't want you to do it.

Agree with this. It's not " best man day " . Don't be a hero, keep it short, be genuine and complimentary to the bride and if you have a funny story or two throw it in.

FunLover18

gypsylee wrote: »

I think its a great idea. Speeches can be so longwinded and cringy that this would be a welcome change.

I think short and sweet would be a more welcome change.

bjork

Keep you speech short (way under 5 mins)
Never mind with singing
Sit down and eat your dinner

zzfh

bjork wrote: »

Keep you speech short (way under 5 mins)
Never mind with singing
Sit down and eat your dinner

lol,this..

perfectisthe

Singing is a bad idea.

Prepare your speech properly, resist the urge to wing it. Keep your speech short, 3-4 minutes. Tell a couple of jokes but keep them fairly clean. Don't embarrass the groom, and definitely do not bring up previous relationships (this actually does happen! My brothers best man brought up his previous marriage). Be sincere.

Giving a best man speech is pretty easy, you'll never have a more receptive audience. They want you to succeed and they want to laugh at your jokes.

skallywag

perfectisthe wrote: »

Don't embarrass the groom...

I take it you meant to write don't embarrass the bride? Surely having a cut off the groom is part & parcel of any half decent best man speech.