Disco Gal Comes Clean

It occurred to me yesterday while trudging through the snow to the grocery store (because our car is on “respite” again from working) that Tuesday’s post might have misled you. You may believe the quoted disco lyrics gave you insight about my taste in music.

But you’re WRONG! Let me explain.

First, the lyrics were appropriate to the subject matter.

Second, the songs were drifting through my head because my husband and I had just watched Young[at]Heart, a documentary on the senior choral group of the same name. [Blogger won't let me use the symbol for at, hence all the brackets.] These elderly yet spunky singers perform new (often slower) arrangements of rock, R&B, and punk tunes backed by a few superb instrumentalists. The DVD includes music videos of the Young[at]Heart Chorus performing the Donna Summer and Bee Gees songs I quoted.

The magic of the film is the audience. For some audience members, it’s the first time they’ve ever understood the lyrics to half the songs. For all audience members, the music of Jimi Hendrix (“Purple Haze”), Sonic Youth (“Schizophrenia”), James Brown (“I Feel Good”), The Clash (“Should I Stay or Should I Go?”), and David Byrne (“Road to Nowhere”) takes on entirely new dimensions.

Yet what’s most interesting to watch are the reactions of the audience and how they change over the course of the concert. Younger generations may roll their eyes initially, or reveal embarrassment at the unseemly pairing of geezers with classic rock, or just laugh. But by the end of the show, every generation reaches the same conclusion, many with tears in their eyes. Even the audience of prison inmates.

Everyone feels a message of hope. A message that life does go on and we owe it to ourselves to make the most of it. That no matter how bad circumstances may seem now, or how many ways we’ve screwed up, there’s a second chance ahead if we’re willing to take it.

So if you’re in need of a pick-me-up, rent Young[at]Heart. It will give you some real insights about the human condition.