[cbeattie]

Although it has been some time since I last posted to this board, I felt I had to come on to report this most unexpected version of SY's Schizophrenia.

Last night the UK's Channel 4 broadcast a documentary entitled Young At Heart about a choral group called Old Folks Behavin Badly. The choir is made up of about 20 or 30 elderly people - 60, 70, 80 year olds. One lady was 92.

This choir, led by a younger man named Silverman, come together to perform modern soul, funk, rock and pop classics: I Feel Good by James Brown, Fix You by Coldplay, Should I Stay by The Clash, I Wanna Be Sedated by The Ramones and...Schizophrenia by Sonic Youth!

Now, the idea sounds a little strange, and indeed, watching the show I didn't know how to react. The choir members have not heard most of the songs before and have a real hard time trying to learn them - the words, the melodies (if they exist), their timing. The lyrics are delivered in a very dead, flat manner, either these folks singing them or shouting them or merely saying them over a live band accompaniment.

The Sonic Youth song brought utter confusion to the group, especially as their first hearing of it was the original version from Sister played rather loudly, and even the documentary makers had difficulty identifying why the song had been chosen.

On the night, however, the choice seemed very poignant. Two old folks at the front of the stage, a live band (guitar, drums, accordion, keyboard, bass - a wedding band variation of the song), the remainder of the choir behind for the occasional accompaniment. The first old folk spoke TM's part, a second old bloke spoke KG's part. Old folks, who can't move much, can't sing, have a hard time remembering words, looking like they're just been sedated, singing "I went away to see an old friend of mine/His sister came over/She was out of her mind..." was very poignant. Most of the audience would not have been familiar with the original either but the juxtaposition of these old folks, the song and lyrics created a very poignant, if deeply ironic, moment.

Versions of The Road To Nowhere and I Wanna Be Sedated were also very humorous.

To be honest, I found the programme to be quite affecting and emotional. Two of the choir members died one within hours of a performance, the other within days of a major show, yet the group decided to continue with either the rehearsal or the performance, because that is what the deceased would have wanted them to do.

The saddest moment came at the end with a Coldplay song (as much as it pains me to say!). The performer (I can't recall his name) had returned to the troupe to sing one song, a duet with his old friend (the name escapes me). The two were going to sing 'Fix You' by Coldplay together.

Some days before the show, the returning performer found that his old friend and singing partner had died. He decided to sing solo. Near the end of the show he came out, a very heavy man, went up to his seat at his microphone, set down his ventilator, and the band started up. Every few seconds we can hear the inhalation hiss and pop of the ventilator:

When you try your best but you don't succeed
When you get what you want but not what you need
When you feel so tired but you can't sleep
Stuck in reverse

And the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can't replace
When you love someone but it goes to waste
could it be worse?

Lights will guide you home
and ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you.

This performance reminded me immediately of Johnny Cash singing Trent Reznor's hurt - ironic, brutally real, affecting, deeply poignant. It was genuinely moving.

It was a very engaging documentary, for many reasons: the determination and life of the old folks, the joy in their lives, their friendships, the sadness of their passing, their celebrations of their lives, deaths and passings in going on with the shows, and hearing these oh so familiar songs in such a new, unfamiliar and interesting way.


cbeattie

[cbeattie]

Woops! Look what I found...beaten to it...
http://www.sonicyouth.com/gossip/showthread.php?t=8330

cbeattie