Laughter and music.
They’re two of our best sources for coping with COVID.
Laughing isn’t just a momentary diversion. Science (for those of us smart enough to believe in science) has shown that laughter sets into motion a physiological chain reaction that releases endorphins, boosts our immune system, relieves tension, and helps create bonding with other humans. Here’s the article.
As someone who has devoted his life to making people laugh (or at least tried to), I find this article very rewarding and comforting. I don’t have to feel guilty anymore that I didn’t become a doctor.
So feel free to watch
comedy. My post tomorrow is on the
launch of Peacock, NBC’s streaming service, and their focus on comedy. So scientists and TV executives agree
there’s something very valuable about laughter. And when have those two ever agreed on anything?
The other source of comfort, researchers have found, is music. Lennox Hill Hospital in New York plays “Here Comes the Sun” by the Beatles when a patient is discharged or taken off a ventilator. Its message of hope and a brighter future resonates now more than ever.
So I ask you to take the next few minutes out of your day to listen to “Here Comes the Sun.” Hopefully it will make you feel better. And then take the next 150 hours and binge-watch CHEERS.
Thanks, Ken. Have posted the article on my FB and Twitter pages. Personally, I've been discovering the Jack Benny Program. I saw Jack Benny intermittently on TV growing up and I never knew what the big deal was about him then, but I'm roaring with laughter watching his TV show and to his radio program on YouTube.
ReplyDeleteJust finished bingeing Wings, onto Becker now
ReplyDeleteI am really mystified. This particular YouTube version of "Here Comes the Sun" is either vastly remixed (by comparison to the version I've known since 1969) or it's not by the Beatles at all. For example, at 1:16 to 1:19, you can't even hear the organ chords that are briefly prominent in the "proper" version. And the singer doesn't sound entirely like George. Compare it (for example) to the versions at www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUNqsfFUwhY or www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQetemT1sWc&feature=emb_logo.
ReplyDeleteIf I may shamelessly share a plug with everyone, my puppeteer friends and I recently put together a video of our characters engaging in a sing-along to "Cabin Fever" from MUPPET TREASURE ISLAND, showing how it's certainly having an affect on people who are sheltering in place and staying at home:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jdnB1zQpf8
I assume you will have to pay for peacock. How many streaming networks can one pay for.
ReplyDeleteI’m going to guess that scientists and NBC are not seeing the same kind of “value” of comedy...
ReplyDeleteOne of the bright spots of this for our family was the Sondheim tribute special a few months ago. Plenty of laughter early on as Raul Esparza tried to get himself online and then hours of songs, performed beautifully and in many cases with remarkably inventive staging. That was a genuine gift I will never forget -- we thought we'd tune in for a couple of songs and wound up watching the whole three-hour event.
ReplyDeleteI'll see your Here Comes The Sun and raise you the entire side 2 of Abbey Road--particularly if you have it on vinyl (if you don't, it's that song continuous to the entire ending). It's medication for the soul.
ReplyDeleteNope, not the Beatles. It's why you're looking at a still picture of them from around 1962-64 and not the shaggier Beatles of the Abbey Road era. It sounds like a Beatle performed backing track, but that's not George Harrison's voice.
ReplyDeleteWhat's more, while whoever did this nailed Ringo's drumming, maybe even used it, that's not Beatle guitar playing or harmonizing.
ReplyDeleteHere's the real deal:
https://youtu.be/KQetemT1sWc
Agree. Not the Beatles...though not a bad recreation of the song/original arrangement.
ReplyDeleteSounds like an alternate take.
ReplyDeleteI concur with the other commenters who have pointed out that this is not the Beatles, nor from the original Abbey Road recording. But it is a damn good cover version.
ReplyDeleteAs a Comcast subscriber, I got Peacock a few weeks early, and free of charge. If you're a fan of NBC's sports offerings (especially English soccer) as well as their regular programs, it will be a godsend.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, Peacock has "Everybody Loves Raymond", which was a CBS show.
@Sanford: All these streaming services could be an opportunity for cable providers. They could say their all-inclusive packs are cheaper than if you bought all of those streaming platforms separately (Netflix, Hulu, Youtube Premium, ESPN+, HBO Max, etc.). Cable would have to do some rejiggling of some carriage fees and business models, but it's a possible argument in the future.
I've been laughing the last few days reading tweets by Trump supporters who has previously said wearing a facemask is the first step towards socialism. I went on twitter the day after Trump wore a mask in public and I wasn't disappointed. The same Trump worshippers who had called a facemask socialist were now tweeting comments saying things like he looked badass.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite is a female Trump supporter who just four days ago tweeted: "You know why wearing a mask bothers the hell out of me? I LITERALLY feel like I’m capitulating to the CCP. That’s my honest answer." After Trump wore a mask in public, she tweeted "He looks so fucking badass."
It is too funny how these people are completely incapable of thinking for themselves. They're a cult with no capacity for independent thought. Zero.
I agree that 2nd side of Abbey Road is medicine for the soul. Really sucks you in, massages you, and brings you out of a funk.
ReplyDeleteI've heard that her majesty is a pretty nice girl.
My primary source of pleasure during the pandemic has been Doritos Spicy Nacho chips and Lipton Onion Soup Dip.
ReplyDeleteI love The Beatles. But "Here Comes the Sun" was my senior class song, so no pleasure there.
For enjoyment I've been listening to a lot more classical music. It can be very soothing. I'm also listening to one of our local, college stations, KCSN. As you might expect the music is rather eclectic, but at least you don't have to listen to Supertramp's "Goodbye Stranger" four times a day.
Sure, laughter may help increase longevity. Look at how old KEN is. But there's not much to laugh about on either side of the line.
I watched the Decades network's "Dick Van Dyke Show" binge marathon/Carl Reiner tribute over the weekend. I saw about 80% of it. As much as I love DVD, that barely made me chuckle. Even internet videos of people seriously injuring themselves has little appeal to me.
Maybe a coyote will fly by on ACME Rocket Skates. That's usually good for a laugh.
M.B.
@Liggie Not so strange. THE ODD COUPLE was an ABC show, but CBS put out the DVDs. M*A*S*H was a CBS show, but FOX put out the DVDs. SEINFELD was an NBC show, but FOX had distribution rights for a while.
ReplyDeleteSorry, Ken, I know it used to be big news in the UK when the sun came out, but it's hard to listen to that without thinking of global climate change. Sounds kind of sinister now.
ReplyDeleteTomorrow could you post "Dear Prudence"?
Are royalties paid when the hospital plays this song?
ReplyDeleteI live in Las Vegas where it is currently 113. "Here Comes the Sun" doesn't give me much comfort.
ReplyDelete"American Bandstand" is a joy to watch. Pick a favorite decade, pick a favorite group.
ReplyDeleteJohn Zacherley (a.k.a. The Cool Ghoul) hosted "Disc-O-Teen". Pick a favorite decade - that is, if the decade is the '60s. A Transylvania "Bandstand", if you will.
Someday, we will all be dancing again.
Ken, SF’s KYA radio 1260 went off the air yesterday after 60 years. Maybe you can repost some of your remembrances?
ReplyDeleteHere’s a version from the official Beatles YouTube channel. *sigh* I miss having all four together. This was beautiful.
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/KQetemT1sWc
On youtube: George Harrison, Ringo Starr, and Leon Russell (on bass) backing Bob Dylan as he sings "Love Minus Zero/No Limit" at the Concert for Bangladesh in 1971. Time and time again I return to this video during these terrible times, for so many reasons. It's a beautiful song, and Bob sings it perfectly . George playing the intro like "If Not For You" - they're very similar chord-wise - and Dylan turning around to say, "This isn't If Not For You." Heck, just seeing those four amazing musicians playing together is enough to make me smile. I wish I could have seen that concert....alas, I was only a year and a half old then!
ReplyDeleteThat video has provided some good music in bad times, and seeing the members of Iron Maiden explain "Mission from Arry" has provided some good laughs. Check 'em out!