Young@Heart

I didn't get to see it in theaters, but Young@Heart * was shown this past week as part of the Independent Lens series on PBS. It documents a little bit of the lives, rehearsals, and performances of a group of senior citizen singers. All members are 70+ years of age by requirement. (I believe the average age was given as 82.)

Chorus director Bob Cilman makes the comment at one point that when his group sing these more modern rock songs you can really HEAR the words and I realized that that's a large part of what I love about their performances. So many times in modern music I have a hard time distinguishing at least some of the lyrics here and there. But these "old" people really make them stand out and by doing that in conjunction with their own unique interpretations, they give the songs new life. (Personally, I'm not a Bruce Springsteen fan—I like maybe a handful of his early hits—but I love the Y@H version of "Dancing In The Dark.") If their technique is perhaps off a little here and there, so what, they more than make up for it in pure infectious spirit.

The film is quite funny at times, but you laugh WITH the performers (not AT them) as they try to learn these new-fangled tunes. They put a lot of work into it, but at the same time, you can tell they're having fun (even though they may grumble occasionally). There are some quite moving and poignant performances along the way as well.

I highly recommend the film, especially to anyone who loves music.

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* This is the film's promotional page and as such I don't know if some of the links and references there may be slightly dated. Here's what appears to be the current site for the Y@H chorus itself.