Just a Song Sunday: New Disney Music for Me!

I am currently downloading the music to the movie Moana. I watched the movie for the first time last night, and I fell in love with the music. While I'm shopping here, I'll probably find some other music that I want and download that as well.

I tend to fall in love with the music from movies more than any other. I think this is probably because I enjoy watching movies much more than just listening to the radio, but there is an emotional element to the music as well. I am very visual, and movies just make things very real to me.

The music pulls me into the movie.

The social work folks at work presented on a movie made about a young man who connected with his family through Disney movies. They were all astonished at how well those movies worked to establish a connection between two people and did not appear to know that this is pretty common (at least in my world, it has been). I've met many clients over the years who identify with Disney animation in ways that are almost visceral. I don't find this to be unusual, but others definitely do.

I am also drawn to the music from Disney movies (not all of them, but many of them). I have an extensive collection of movies and soundtracks and songbooks. I know most of the music by heart, so I often communicate with my clients using that music. It's often my way "in" to interaction. 

One group of teachers wondered why a particular young lady would put herself into the corner every time she heard the song, Part of Your World, from The Little Mermaid. They were concerned that she didn't like the song and was in distress. I walked in, watched her, and shared that she was acting out the choreography of the moment in the movie. It wasn't distress, it was acting.

Another client spent most of his time in music therapy quoting lines from various Disney movies - both animated and live action. When I could hear what he was saying (which wasn't often in a large group of clients), his comments were appropriate within what was happening within the session and in the movie. He linked what he said with what was happening around him. A particularly rough session might be met with statements of frustration from Heavyweights or A Goofy Movie. I could tell what he was saying, even when he used the words of someone else.

Yet another young lady would insist on singing Disney songs during music therapy. She did NOT like when I would sing with her, but I told her it was my job to sing with her. How did she keep the music that she loved all to herself? She started choosing music that included two separate parts. She also assigned the parts. I started to sing all the villain and male voice parts. She got to be the heroine each time. I had to be Ursula, Burt, Gaston, and any number of characters from her favorite movies.

For some reason, Disney music and movies have ways into brains that lead to interaction and communication. There is just something about them that encourages sharing. If I can start my communication or connection through using a Disney song or quotes from the movies, I will do so!

For now, I'll make a playlist of my favorite Disney songs for me to listen to as I am driving across the country this week. It will be fun to sing at the top of my lungs about the seaweed or the bells of Notre Dame or being almost there. When I get back to work, I'll share that playlist with some of my students who enjoy that type of interaction. We'll see what type of interactions spring from listening to the music from over the years...