Social Workout

Wisdom

Sing, Dance, Camp

Brian Eno Sings

21st Century Internet morning: Get home from cold walk to coffee, tune in NPR Hourly Summary on Web. Get sidetracked by a This I Believe segment recorded by Brian Eno, electronic music legend. Eno believes in singing:

A few years ago a friend and I realized that we both loved singing but didn't do much of it. So we started a weekly a capella group with just four members. After a year we started inviting other people to join. We didn't insist on musical experience — in fact some of our members had never sung before. Now the group has ballooned to around 15 or 20 people.

Promptly emailed that to college pals with whom I sing every New Year's day -- must not miss this year. Eno cites a "long term Scandinavian study" which suggests singing, along with dancing and camping, correlate with "a healthy and happy later life." Can't find that study online anywhere -- maybe Brian is making it up, which would be funny -- and in a way it doesn't matter. The Greeks said the same thing (sing, dance, wrestle), and so did Morrie Schwartz. Please recall the great description in Mitch Albom's Tuesday's With Morrie:

He had always been a dancer, my old professor. The music didn't matter. Rock and roll, big band, the blues. He loved them all. He would close his eyes and with a blissful smile begin to move to his own sense of rhythm...He used to go to this church in Harvard Square every Wednesday night for something called "Dance Free." They had flashing lights and booming speakers and Morrie would wander in among the mostly student crowd, wearing a white T-shirt and black sweatpants and a towel around his neck, and whatever music was playing, that's the music to which he danced. He'd do the lindy to Jimi Hendrix. He twisted and twirled, he waved his arms like a conductor on amphetamines, until sweat was dripping down the middle of his back. No one there knew he was a prominent doctor of sociology, with years of experience as a college professor and several well-respected books. They just thought he was some old nut....Once, he brought a tango tape and got them to play it over the speakers. Then he commandeered the floor, shooting back and forth like some hot Latin lover. When he finished, everyone applauded.

So, don't be afraid to take your karaoke seriously, and consider taking a dance class, and/or dusting off the old pup tent. Meanwhile, continue your morning by tuning in Roxy Music over at Last.FM.