Music can save your life...

This is an amazing film about the power of music in bringing joy and pleasure to folks who have found no other way to access those feelings. A funny quote from one of the researchers involved in these studies sums it up, "Music can bring people who are really out-of-it, back into It."
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?desktop...XuCE7LeQ&gl=US
On YouTube titled,"Old Man In Nursing Home Reacts To Hearing Music From His Era"

I cried with joy to see this man completely light up & come "back to life" when he hears his favorite music. God knows music has saved my life a coupla times

I had trouble with the link - 4 things came up on the page and I couldn't figure out if that was the one. I would like to see it - maybe try another link. Thanks.

Try this, Lynn:

I'm reminded of Meatloaf's "Rock and Roll Dreams" lyrics:

Once upon a time was a backbeat,
once upon a time all the chords came to life
And the angels had guitars even before they had wings
If you hold onto a chorus you can get through the night

Music is without doubt a great form of therapy.

I like to rock!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=a0zFQH4ijQ4

Thanks Perna for the other link and thanks KeepGoing8 for sharing this beautiful story. I really dislike nursing homes but it seems the staff at this one care about the residents. A really heartwarming story and he has a good voice - like how he added that "owwwww"

Most definitely! The experts say I can't appreciate good music. Yet Bob Marley always puts me in a good mood. I have a list of songs that tend to put me in a good mood... Many of which might surprise you...

But does anyone else tend to want to listen to hard rock or other sorts of fast and intense music as a means of "letting off steam"? That tends to help me too.

I believe somehow music is the key to my soul. I always feel better when I hear music I enjoy. Bring on the Bob Marley I could use it right now! Thanks, good video.

I may not have cried but still have the feeling of wonder and amazement. I don't know much, but after seeing my grandmother in a nursing home losing herself, I can (at least to some extent) understand the brevity of the situation.. And in another way, wish that I could have brought this up to her.

That is a very nice story to read. It is always interesting to hear about how people can be stimulated back to life at what might seem to be the final hours.

Personally, I have a difficult time listening to music some times. Most times actually. Music from my era can trigger some overwhelming feelings. Some musical sounds can drop me to my knees so I try to avoid listening to music for the most part.

While I don't respond well to recorded music I do respond well to my own music. Singing or humming a made up song is a really helpful coping method. It helps to counter the uglies in my head. I also sing or hum to drown out loud and annoying sounds. I do it often and I do it anywhere because it helps keep me from falling apart when a siren breaks out or someone honks a horn or pretty much any sound that surprises me or gets to a pitch that causes my brain to rattle. Literally rattle inside my head while the anxiety of it all drops me to my knees.

Music can be my friend or it can be a foe.... depends on the day and the type of music. Volume makes a difference too.

Thank you Lynn P.

Hehe Michael, I just had a fight with my husband because I like to listen to Skrillex and he thinks it's "too negative" for me..."just awful noise." but I find it beautiful in its contrasts and it helps me express some rage and violent energy that I haven't had a real outlet for...at least since high school when I listened to Korn, Offspring, and Guns n Roses NON STOP
Rockin out definitely has its place. I'm sure there's some hard rock grandaddies out there who would just love to rock out to Slayer...

That's lovely, put a smile on my face. I do believe that music is a big part of everyone's life whether you realise it or not. It helps us to connect/remember certain events. Although not all of them may be good ones, there will be some that bring happy memories and so I can understand this music being therapeutic in illness/old age to the subconscious mind.

my dad has dementia and has a hard communicating. he doesn't use much language i understand anymore. he loves music and he seems more alive when he listens and dances and sings along as best as he can. sometimes when he hears a song from a cd or my guitar he starts crying. it's sad but it's also sweet. music food and laughter are so wonderful and important.

remember the world stops spinning if you don't dance on it

music is my life , singing and rapping i love it you can get away from the world in your little one while you listen like you can feel and be the music , i live for music i breathe it it can make you into somethig completely knew and take you so many places i love music <3

I think a song did once save my life, or come close to it.

Several years ago I was living in the Southwest, and became very ill when a flu epidemic hit. I got socked with it and was sick for weeks, in and out of the hospital so much I couldn't pay my rent, lost my apartment, and ended up in a group home. I'm a middle-aged woman, and most of the other residents were young men. They talked as young men often do: Loudly, and with a liberal amount of profanity. In addition, most of them were addicts supposed to be in recovery but secretly still using, and their personalities reflected this. Add to all of it, the rap music pound-pound-pounding from earliest sunrise to late into the night. Not to criticize fans of rap. It's not my personal taste, to begin with. Too much percussion for my enjoyment, and the vocals come too fast for me to comprehend. If you like it, fine, but it's not for me. Besides, I didn't exactly feel up to having a constant party.

In this environment, I was tense and found it very hard to recover from my illness. It also turned out I was diabetic, which I didn't know yet, but having an undiagnosed condition made it even harder for me to get over the flu. The medical care sucked in that particular state, for disabled people on Medicaid, as I was. Three prescriptions a month, that's all you get. If you're on three routine meds (I was) and you get sick, tough. You don't get any more meds. Nor did I have enough access to medical care to even find out I was diabetic. I'd been to the hospital, but nobody ever thought to test me. Wouldn't have mattered anyway. I'd already reached my limit of three monthly meds. Insulin wouldn't have been given.

To cope, I plugged Gordon Lightfoot into my personal CD player, put it on repeat, and insulated myself with my headphones. I listened to Carefree Highway for a continuous 48 hours, I kid you not, probably 500 times in a row, while I drifted in and out of consciousness, too ill to even change the CD.

I have mellow taste in music, have had since I was small. People criticize me for it and call me boring, but so what? Not all music is meant to be danced to. Mr. Lightfoot and Carefree Highway lulled me into relaxation so that I was able to regain just enough strength to travel back home, where family cared for me until I finally started to feel halfway well again, after months. If he didn't save my life, he at least helped me.

I can't imagine my life without music. The world without music. I am in total awe of those who can create it--compose & play. Learned early that talent doesn't mean good people ... But wow is that confusing.

Music to me is the ultimate art though when it comes to transporting me to another sphere of existence. Add movement & I'm gone. Trip on peyote and dancing to music and total meditation ... Nope, all the same when it's peak.

OMG, I adore music ...

I LOVE me some Gordon Lightfoot!

Music truly is beautiful