“But what I really like is Led Zeppelin…”

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What does music do? It gives a feeling. It brings up memories and it takes us back to those memories. Music that we love, that is meaningful, stays with us. Even in a hospital room. Even if you are in your 80s. Even if you are just a fool in the rain…

“But what I really like is Led Zeppelin…” This was said to me by a woman, in her early 80s, whom I was asked to visit in the hospital where I work as a music therapist.

I was asked to see her because she had been in the hospital for several days and was really down and withdrawn. Her nurse said that she felt as though she was “giving up”. When I entered her room and greeted her, she barely looked at me. Her affect was flat, and she was lying on her side staring off at nothing in particular. As I usually do in these situations, I got right to the music. I sat and started with some light strumming on the guitar to set the tone. After a bit, I moved into an almost ‘lullaby’ version of Edelweiss from The Sound of Music. When I finished the song, I looked at her to see if there would be a reaction, anything, a look up, a smile, a word. After a few moments of silence, without looking up she quietly said: “That was nice… But what I really like is Led Zeppelin.” Admittedly, I was a bit thrown. Did I hear her right? Was she a bit delirious? (That’s freaking cool!) Well, I did get something from her. So… I gave her what she wanted (and needed). I gave her Led Zeppelin.

When I started playing the opening riff of Kashmir I was a bit apprehensive. I was watching her closely. At first… nothing. But then, I noticed the blanket at the bottom of the bed starting to subtly move. I noticed that it was moving to the rhythm of the song. And it was gradually getting more pronounced. She was tapping her foot. I gradually picked up the energy and followed her. We connected within the rhythm of the music. When the song ended, her foot tapping stopped. She was still looking off but then… “You know, I saw them. Sometime in the 70s. My husband always wanted to go to their concerts, it was his favorite band. I always thought they were just loud, but when we went to that concert… (a pause). It reminds me of him. It reminds me of the good times we had together.”

Well. There you have it. What does music do? It gives a feeling. It brings up memories and it takes us back to those memories. Music that we love, that is meaningful, stays with us. It lives inside of us. And when we hear it, it takes us right back to a time and a place that was memorable. And, by bringing us back, helping us relive those memories, it often times makes us feel alive again in the present.

I asked her to tell me about her husband. There were a few more songs. And soon she was sitting up, making eye contact, and talking directly to me. I could see ‘life’ again in her face. Soon a smile. Then… a laugh! We also spoke about her hospitalization and her frustration of feeling “old and broken.” But when I pointed out how the music seemed to bring her back to her youth a bit, she smiled and said, “Yeah, my legs weren’t hurting when I was tapping my feet.”

Therapy? Yes! Therapy is change. Positive change. When I arrived, she was very down and withdrawn, wallowing in her sorrow. But when I left her room, she was sitting up in her bed and about to (finally) eat her breakfast. What got her there? Music. Her music! Meaningful music that brought her back, and by way of bringing her back, brought her forward a bit too. (And yes, I understand that this could also cause her to miss her husband more, and I was very conscious of how the conversation went. But asking her about him seemed to move her towards more positive feelings of reminiscing. If it hadn’t, I certainly would have redirected the conversation.)

Afterwards, when I was out in the hall writing my notes on the session, her nurse came up to me and said, “She’s eating! What did you do?” I said, “I gave her Led Zeppelin.”

The healing power of (rock & roll) music…

(*The stories presented in this blog are based on accounts and experiences and are not actual accounts or experiences.)

Raymond Leone, MMT, MT-BC is director of Medical Music Therapy at A Place To Be and the Inova Health System