wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

Comments

• [1] Brett from Long Island City March 02, 2009 - 12:11PM

  In the rec room at the nursing home where I volunteer with Alzheimer's patients, there is a poster of Singing in the Rain. It's amazing to see how there eyes light up when we make a reference to the poster or sing the familiar tune.

  
  
• [2] Pat from Bed-Stuy March 02, 2009 - 01:49PM

  My grandfather died of Alzheimer's about ten years ago, and the last coherent words he could form were all lines from Gilbert & Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance. "Stick close to your desks and never go to sea, And you all may be rulers of the Queen's Navee!"

  
  
• [3] The Truth from Atlanta/New York March 02, 2009 - 02:16PM

  Oh come on! Are you serious? RKelly??!!!

  
  
• [4] Jason from Midtown March 02, 2009 - 02:20PM

  When I was a child, I had a vivid nightmare and it had Tiffany's version of "I saw him standing there" as well as Aerosmith's "Angel."

  To this day, when I hear either of those two songs, I immediately remember the details of that nightmare.

  So music has triggered a different reality for me.

  
  
• [5] Jennifer from NYC March 02, 2009 - 02:20PM

  I am so jealous - that must have been a great show!!!!!

  
  
• [6] Shara G from NJ March 02, 2009 - 02:21PM

  I am a Music Therapy student at Montclair State University, and I have done on-site clinical work with Geriatric patients suffering from Alzheimer's, and it is truly amazing the healing powers that music possess. Patients that can't even speak full sentences or can't even remember what their own names are, can sing full songs and recall things at the mention of a title of a song.

  I am truly amazed! Good work!

  
  
• [7] Robert from midtown March 02, 2009 - 02:24PM

  I think those are lyrics from HMS Pinafore.

  
  
• [8] Mark from New Jersey March 02, 2009 - 02:24PM

  When Grandma was in the hospital, a bit disoriented, prognosis uncertain, the nurses told me, "Sing with her. Music is the last thing to go."

  
  
• [9] NYC Savoyard from NYC March 02, 2009 - 02:26PM

  "Stick close to your desks and never go to sea, And you all may be rulers of the Queen's Navee!" is from HMS PINAFORE, not THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE.

  And I'll remember that forever!

  
  
• [10] Ivey from Brooklyn March 02, 2009 - 02:27PM

  Has there been other studies with sensation, that is the five senses, how does this relationship with music differ from reactions to food or smells.

  How does this relate to that creation of identity related to music that was talked about early in the segment

  
  
• [11] Jane Lowenstein from Central NJ March 02, 2009 - 02:29PM

  I've had the experience of one song - Elvis Presley's Don't - having strong connotations for me twice in my life - dancing with my first true love back in 1958, when I was 15. And then, a lifetime later, in 2006, going to an old bar place, with my current man, and having him pick out that tune on the old jukebox, and dancing together to that same song. When I hear it now, it brings up both of those moments.

  
  
• [12] Jessica from Manhattan March 02, 2009 - 02:31PM

  My mother has alzheimer's disease. Her mother was a voice instructor and grew up surrounded by classical music. She responds most to symphonic music and classical music in general. She still has the most intuitive connection to music. Even though she doesn't always speak coherently anymore, she can hear a piece of music and spontaneously hum harmony. She echoes the sounds she hears on the street and ads rhythms to them. I would love to see a program for alzheimer's patients that involves them in making music but not what was pop music but something more inventive. My mother definitely responds better to intelligent and complex music and finds (and found) the popular music of her generation "schlocky."

  
  
• [13] Anne Spelman from He still doesn't communcate well verbally but his music memeroy is certainly inta March 02, 2009 - 02:39PM

  My Husband suffered a traumatic brain injury almost 5 years ago this summer. He lives in a nursing home in an Alzthimers area. What I wanted to share is the earliest words he spoke after his 5 week comma were christmas carols. It was fasinating. He couldn't speak but as soon as he heard the melody he would start to sing the words. Today he is marginally better. But his musc memory (I call it Peters jukebox) is working. I told him went to see South Pacific and he started to sing most all the songs from the score. So wonderful he has that memory!

  
  
• [14] Linda from NYC March 02, 2009 - 02:50PM

  As a USO entertainer for many years, an Andrew Sisters styled trio I was singing in visited many soldiers' homes and veterans' hospitals. We experienced time and time again that singing songs to Alzheimer's patients would often awaken them from months and months of complete stillness and a disconnect to the world around them. The songs were popular when these men (at 18) were going off to fight in WWII. They would suddenly move their legs, smile with eyes beaming and sing EVERY word to EVERY song. The nurses would quietly smile, compelled to tell their stories, saying things like "he hasn't moved at all in 6 months! That gentleman was on the SS Arizona when it was struck at Pearl Harbor and swam to shore." We'd learn an individual's history at each musical "awakening." It was the most moving experience I've have ever had. An for those individuals that did not "awaken" there was definitely a sense that they were connecting to the music and the soft human touch of a a hand or kiss on the cheek.

  I really enjoyed your show today remembering what that music brought to them and what they brought to me. Thank you.

  
  
• [15] Soledad Robledo from Santiago March 03, 2009 - 09:47AM

  My dear granny, who hadn´t spoken for months, lighten up when my sister was playing her piano in her bedroom. As we were applauding the performance, my grandmother said "I love this". We were astonished! Music is healing.