What a Wonderful World
What connects us all as humans? Ben Murphie explains how he uses his music to find common ground with the elderly in the hospital he works in.
By Ben Murphie
“Ok boys, Ben is a musician and he’s here to play some music – how does that sound?’ Some of the old men lie motionless and non-responsive, others look uncertain as their eyes drift across the room. I have no idea what I am supposed to do.
I am here because I was playing the guitar in a hallway. When I am not gigging as a Singer-Songwriter I work for the South Thames Cleft Service in St Thomas’ Hospital, Westminster, assisting treatment for children born with a cleft lip and palate. Lunch breaks are practice time – running pieces backwards and forwards in a quiet corridor at the rear of the building. Playing live music has been a big part of my life for over ten years and I have played professionally for the past seven. My music has taken me across the world from New York to Amsterdam. Whilst working in the NHS started as a way to supplement the irregular income of an artist it quickly evolved into a role where I feel glad that the work I do benefits the patients seen by the service.
Yet I cannot resist developing guitar chops at any opportunity and one day a Volunteer Organizer stops my corridor rock out me to ask if I would like to play for the old persons unit. Immediately the uncertainty that I think affects all creative people bubbles to the surface of my mind – what should I play? Will they like my style of music? Will they think I am weird?
The relationship between music and the elderly can be beneficial both as a form of stress relief and to aid in cognitive abilities.
“My repertoire ranges from Bob Dylan to Taylor Swift and whilst I’m sure “Shake it off” would do wonders to promote movement in the elderly, I somehow felt it wasn’t suitable.”
When it comes to personal doubt, yoga and mindfulness have allowed me to engage with fear in a way that puts everything into greater perspective. A chance meeting with a yoga teacher led me to my current practice and the knowledge that breath and continuous movement can help me connect with the present moment. This process lets me regard fears as thoughts separate from myself, allowing me to question why I am afraid and more importantly, what that fear means as an opportunity.
But what to play? My repertoire ranges from Bob Dylan to Taylor Swift and whilst I’m sure “Shake it off” would do wonders to promote movement in the elderly, I somehow felt it wasn’t suitable. I settled on old classics, songs I felt the crowd would have known when they were younger.
Listening to music can really help to improve quality of life for a person with dementia, whether it’s an old favourite or a song that reminds them of a special moment with friends and family.
“In a room full of motionless elderly men, I could not have felt more different. How could we possibly relate to each other?”
In a room full of motionless elderly men, I could not have felt more different. How could we possibly relate to each other? I awkwardly started picking my way through the opening chords of Louis Armstrong’s ‘What a Wonderful World.’ My voice shook, testing the energy of the room. Then something miraculous happened, they started to sing. What followed over the next three minutes is one of the most powerful experiences I have had as a performer. Hearing a hospital ward full of people in various stages of health and vitality connect over the phrase “what a wonderful world,” was truly touching. Our differences in age and stage of life became purely circumstantial when we were all participating in the music together.
Reflecting after the show I realise that the fears I had going in to the event were ego-centric, based around a projected mental image of what the gig would be like, with no foundation in fact. The joy I feel in performing comes from the opportunity to connect with people and allowing that to happen.
The great Dolly Parton once said ‘They don’t come to see me, they come to see themselves’.
I think this is a reminder that performance and art remind us of something we already know - when we share in the present moment, we are all connected.
BEN MURPHIE
Ben is a musician, poet, performer and yoga teacher based in London. When not in Lockdown he plays regularly across the city and hosts the music/poetry/comedy night Folk ‘N’ Word in his home borough of Tottenham.
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