They Sang Whaaaaaaat? Vol. 1, No. 1
Sonic Youth + old people = ohmygod!
Caught a screening yesterday of "Young@Heart," a marvelous documentary about a group of
singing septuagenarians, octogenarians and nonagenarians from Northampton, Mass., who kick out the jams (or shuffle through them, anyway) on concert stages around the world. The film is loaded with great musical moments, many of them involving the Young@Heart Chorus's efforts to learn Sonic Youth's "Schizophrenia."
The Young@Heart singers were just as incredulous as I was when chorus director Bob Cilman suggested "Schizophrenia" as a potential addition to their songbook. Especially once they heard Sonic Youth's circa-1987 version. But eventually, well ... here, just watch the chorus performing the song for the first time in front of an audience.
So great. And so worth seeing "Young@Heart" when it lands in theaters.
By the by, as a data point, here's Sonic Youth performing "Schizophrenia" several years ago. It's almost as good as the old-folks's version. My future is static/It's already had it, indeed!
By J. Freedom du Lac |
March 20, 2008; 1:11 PM ET
Randomness
Previous: SXSW Leftovers: Mika Miko |
Next: PR Pitches We Never Finished Reading: Vol. 2, No. 4
Posted by: 23112 | March 20, 2008 02:24 PM
Wow, when I'm old, gray, and decrepit I hope I'm just as fun as Young@Heart. Fabulous.
Posted by: U street girl | March 20, 2008 04:23 PM
This is all very well and good. But when is the Two-Minute Man returning?
Posted by: Needmorelists | March 21, 2008 03:37 PM
Check out their version of Fix You on Youtube. They do it better than Coldplay ever could!!
Posted by: DC | March 21, 2008 07:13 PM
Post a Comment
We encourage users to analyze, comment on and even challenge washingtonpost.com's articles, blogs, reviews and multimedia features.
User reviews and comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions.
When the show about the competing choruses was on a while back, I have to admit that I did like how a couple of them treated "We Will Rock You" in the promos. The gospel treatment didn't work, but the foot-stomping, shoulder-shimmying one was kinda cool. If you find a musical director who can really pull the attitude of a song out of the chorus, the results can be surprising.