Earlier this week Maggie and I watched the 2007 documentary, Young @ Heart.  A film about a senior citizen’s chorus singing rock and roll and R & B songs may not seem like a good idea but trust me, it is.  The film follows the Young @ Heart Chorus based in Massachusetts as they rehearse and preform their latest show.  Along they way we get to know some of the chorus members, including the significance that the singing group has come to play in their lives.

Young @ Heart is wonderfully life-affirming.  In the film we meet a variety of characters who have in common their age and love of music.  These are people very much alive and engaged, even as they regularly confront the difficulties of aging.

As enjoyable as it is, the film is no sappy and romantic portrayal of old age.  There are some sad moments, some that can be seen coming and others that sneak up on you.  These scenes are necessary to keep an otherwise uplifting story from drifting into fantasy.

Many of the songs will be familiar to the documentary’s viewers.  While the words remain the same, coming from this chorus the meaning seems to change.  One example will suffice: I Wanna Be Sedated by The Ramones.  Consider how these lyrics sound when coming from folks in their 80’s:

Twenty-twenty-twenty four hours to go I wanna be sedated
Nothin’ to do and no where to go-o-oh I wanna be sedated
Just get me to the airport put me on a plane
Hurry hurry hurry before I go insane
I can’t control my fingers I can’t control my brain
Oh no no no no no

Perhaps the most enjoyable aspect of this film is how it allows us to see people who, because of their age, are generally invisible in our youth-centered culture.  As Young @ Heart makes clear, these are people we need to know and whose joyful lives are worth aspiring to.

Related…

• Watch the Young @ Heart trailer.
• Compare versions of I Wanna Be Sedated: The Ramones and Young @ Heart.
• A favorite scene…