Feist and Hundreds of Choir Members Sing ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ in Tribute to Sinéad O’Connor
Just hit play on this one and watch it. Absolutely magical…it sent shivers down my spine. The organization that arranged this is called Choir! Choir! Choir! and they also did a version of this in Dublin with 1000 people singing in tribute:
I’ve previously featured the group singing David Bowie’s Heroes with David Byrne, who said this of the experience:
What happens when one sings together with a lot of other people?
A couple of things I immediately noticed. There is a transcendent feeling in being subsumed and surrendering to a group. This applies to sports, military drills, dancing… and group singing. One becomes a part of something larger than oneself, and something in our makeup rewards us when that happens. We cling to our individuality, but we experience true ecstasy when we give it up.
(via open culture)
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I've been a choral singer since I was ten years old, and can attest to how powerful and wonderful it is be part of a group. There's something really magical about perfectly matching the pitch of the person standing next to you, getting your frequencies exactly in synch. It's often overwhelming to me and I start to tear up, which isn't great if performing in a concert! It's been a number of years since I've joined a choir. I need to, soon.
I'm with you, Louise-- it feels spiritual to be part of a singing group, and for an introvert like me it's as close as I'll ever get to being ok with performing in public because I'm just a dot in the mosaic.
I've been going back to the David Byrne + Choir! Choir! Choir! singing "Heroes" on a regular basis since you first linked to it here, and it's become one of those rare treasures that I return to again and again. When I'm feeling low, it lifts me up, and when I'm feeling beautiful, it magnifies the beauty. I don't know what subterranean part of my ancestral brain is triggered by the sound of hundreds of people singing a familiar song like this, but it just works. Thank you for bringing this stuff into my life!
Agreed with Huxley about the Heroes one, but this one hit me even harder. Tons of (the good kind of) tears, sharing with everyone I know. Thanks for sharing it with us.
I remember seeing that David Byrne one in the depths of Covid lockdown, and it broke me. It was so many of the best things that we weren't allowed to have -- people together in a room, live music, community, shared experiences -- and it just got me. Big sobs.
This is something that Brian Eno has spoken of quite a few times; the pleasure that comes from being part of a group activity. He often talks about it as surrender too. He also has a regular small-scale choral meet-up at his house—a get together for no other reason than to sing in a group.
But of course you knew that already.
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