Our senior citizens are a special group who have seen the world around them at simpler time in life, before a world that seems to change every day with new inventions and ideas that no one could have imagined 75 years ago. I still remember the crank style wooden box telephone, and party lines; but today the average cell phone is not much bigger that a package of pipe smoking tobacco.
Music has also changed greatly over the years to the point, I’m not sure if I would call it music anymore. I have had a long relationship with music, both as a musician and, at 68 years old, becoming a record playing DJ. My DJ career is a bit unique in that I play 78 RPM records ranging from 100 to 60 years old.
I can be found throughout the Westman area and Eastern Saskatchewan in senior homes and Legion Halls playing a wide variety of music from the love songs and ballads of the teens and twenties to Big Band hits of the forties and the pop charts of the 50s and even a bit of early rock and roll. However, overshadowing all of these types of music is Country and Western music.
The likes of Hank Snow, Wilf Carter, Don Messer, Jimmie Rogers and Hank Williams are always popular and will be with us for many years to come because of the universal message of love, loss and sadness.
When I give one of my music shows I try to have certain themes throughout the year, such as St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Remembrance Day, and of course the Christmas season. And here begins the real message of this missive.
Recently at an area senior home I watch the residents as I played the old Christmas songs and something magic happens to their spirits and their bodies. Sometime you will see a foot or a hand start to move in time with the music. In many cases the residents know the words and will sing along with the record. Others just close their eyes and smile as they are perhaps remembering a Christmas long ago with family and friends who are no longer with us.
All of the songs were classics in their day and some have fallen by the wayside of musical history, but others that I play bring an immediate reaction of smiles and laughter. Some of their favorites are Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas”, “All I want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth”, Gene Autry's three Christmas classics – “Frosty The Snowman”, “Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer” and “Here Comes Santa Claus”. Other favorites are, “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus”, Elvis’s version of “Blue Christmas” and, given the fact that they are sixty-years old, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” by Brenda Lee and “Jingle Bell Rock” by Bobby Helms are also favorites.
One that I just found by the late folk singer and actor Burl Ives, “Have a Holly Jolly Christmas” was enjoyed by all as they sat around the long table in the common room.
My musical show also includes a number of traditional Christmas songs, and everyone joined in with Bing Crosby singing “Silent Night”. In a few cases I saw some tears as we played the music, but for the most part the residents were happy as they sang along or clapped after some of the songs.
The activity director told me that the residents look forward to all the musical guests they have, because not only does it help to keep their minds active, but it brings back important memories. This improves the quality of their life she added, and the musical visits are something they look forward to.
I might not believe in Santa Claus any more but I do believe that music, specifically Christmas music, has the power to make people of all ages happy. I hope the Christmas music show brought some happiness and that over the holidays and throughout the year they get lots of music, and visitors will remember all the love and lessons the seniors taught us as we were growing up. We sometimes forget that they were once young and had plans and dreams.
