Alive Inside Page #3

Much joy.

It only makes sense when you

Understand their isolation.

What happens when

They come to a nursing home?

What are their losses?

I never thought I would be in

A situation like this.

They lose their

Independence.

It's sad to say but sometimes

They lose their dignity.

That's it.

Sometimes they are

Dealing with the loss

Of a loved one.

Imagine losing that all in one

Day.

I wanna get home.

Yeah, you do?

I've been here for the last

Two or three days.

Right.

What do you want to do at home?

Be with my family.

Where we going?

Right down here.

People who have been here for

Years, that have dementia,

They'll still tell you,

"This is not where I live."

Well, I can

Go out this way, too.

Tom has been in this

Nursing home for

Five years now.

So, they're always

Trying to escape.

I have to go that way.

They're looking for the

Exits.

That's one of the most

Frequently asked questions is,

"How do I get out of here?"

Ah, no.

Can't get out here either,

Right?

Because this isn't their

Normal world when they come

Here.

Now they're in this world, and

They're like, "this isn't the

World that I know."

It's stuck.

With few choices,

Little hope for the future,

No control over the

Medications flowing through

Them, is it any surprise their

Minds struggle to adapt?

People close their

Eyes and withdraw inward

More and more.

If the outside world is

Horrible, I go to

The inside to restore my

Balance.

But, after a while, people just

Become living dead people.

They go into vegetation, and

This does not have to be.

No.

I play... I play music.

I know.

You're a trumpet player, right?

Yeah, and I play in a band.

What I've found is

That we all have music in us and

When we go through

What we go through, like trauma,

Caused by disease, caused by

Wars, that gets covered up.

And I've found a way of

Accessing that with some people.

So, it's really to help them

Find that song that they've

Covered up from the pain so they

Can sing again.

Samite is a volunteer who

Understood how music can bring

Back souls that have fled

The body...

souls that have been

Traumatized.

I've had a situation where

I was actually overwhelmed.

I was in the Congo.

These people were told that

This guy is

Coming to bring music...

The healing power of music...

Which was a little overwhelming

Because these were about

150 women who had just gone

Through rape...

who had just gone through the

Worst abuses you could

Have imagined.

I think I was inspired actually,

Because I picked up the flute

And I played a really sad

Melody, and the melody came from

The pain that I knew these

Women had been subjected to.

And when I finished the flute

I could see tears running

Down some of the women's faces.

And the next place I knew that

I had to take them was to

Sing a happy song.

So, I kicked into...

And soon they started moving

A little bit,

And soon they were clapping.

And I'm telling you, three hours

Later we're still singing.

And now we're all connected.

We're all just one body.

Everybody just singing.

When I go to nursing homes, they

Remember these amazing stories,

But it's always through music

That they're able

To express themselves,

And that reminds those people,

We will have a chance to be

Happy again.

Music had always been

A big part of my life.

When I was younger, I played the

Trumpet, I played the organ,

I played the piano...

when I went off to college in

The early '70s, I had the

Requisite giant album collection

Which I carried through

To my marriage.

When I ended up here, I lost all

Of my music...

my world became this facility.

This is

Solitary confinement.

And every human being

Needs stimulation from the

Outside, from little

Babies to old people.

That's why music is so

Important.

If you find the music that the

People know, there's stimulation

And communication,

And people do not withdraw

Inward.

Like many people in this

Institution, Steve found

Himself alone.

After eight years of

Being here, I finally had the

Opportunity to get my music.

Okay, how's that? Good?

And all of a sudden...

vistas which I thought were

Closed to me opened up.

Have you ever had music just

Hit you in a place that

Immediately brought you to tears

And you don't

Understand why, you know?

Music has that power.

I can remember being

Five years old,

Hearing this music in the

Distance, crawling to it.

It was "rhapsody on a theme

Of Paganini."

You know, crawling to the music,

Laying on the floor, and crying.

Music touches us all.

How deep does it run

Inside of us?

Watch.

Ba, Ba...

Ba, Ba...

Okay.

When does our relationship

With music begin?

At 22 days, a single cell jolts

To life.

This first beat

Awakens nearby cells and,

Incredibly, they all begin to

Beat in perfect unison.

These beating cells divide

And become your heart.

And this desire to beat in

Unison seemingly fuels our

Entire lives.

Ah, Bo, Bo, Ba...

Ba, da, da, da, da...

Amazingly, after six months

Of development, the

Cerebral cortex is

Capable of supporting thought.

Yeah, oh, the ladybugs

Are super-Cute.

Researchers have studied the

Sounds of newborns and

Discovered that in their cries

Are patterns that reflect their

Mothers' speech.

I know, and you want

To bring it.

This means that even before

We're born, we are learning

How to sing

With another human being.

Ba, Ba, Ba...

I wondered how

Everyone knows that.

Regardless of what country I'm

In, it seems like

Everyone knows that.

Now, how is that possible if it

Wasn't already inside you?

Every child will tend

To keep time to music, heard

Or imagined, which you will not

See in a chimpanzee.

That's it!

I got it!

Music seems to be

Almost as quintessentially human

As language.

This response to a beat may be

Hard-Wired and human...

and I think

Almost all human beings

Will bring out their inherent

Musicality...

You have a little bit of room

To grow.

I've got a lot of room to

Grow, considering it will

Hold 2,000 songs.

Do you have "piano man"?

It's thrilling to me

To be able to see a person

Who's been without music for

Years and then watch how

That person comes alive.

I mean, that's...

As a physician, that's a thrill.

But there's something behind

That wonderful moment.

I mean, how did that happen in

The first place?

Why were we able to

Feed and water and medicate this

Person but not respond to

Deeply human

Needs that he might have?

A century ago, they

Were called "nursing homes"

Because you received

Nursing care, and most of the

Time it was

In a home-Like setting.

That was before, I guess, our

Civilization advanced to the

Point where we created

15,000 nursing homes based

On a hospital model.

How did this become the way

Millions of Americans end their

Life?

The civilization of the

Past 100 years with its

Startling industrial changes

Has tended more and more to

Make life insecure...

technology has radically

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