Old Folks Choir Has Tough Inmates Teary-Eyed With Bittersweet Bob Dylan Hit At County Jail.

Seated on a patch of grass, a group of men listened attentively as the chorus’s voice in front of them rose in unison. The notes echoed against the brick buildings that surrounded them and spread across the courtyard. Accompanied by a piano, the music drifted up, passing through the tall, chain-link fence topped with coils of barbed wire.

Yes, barbed wire. In 2013, more than a dozen elderly men and women from the Young@Heart Chorus arrived at the Hampshire County Jail in Northampton, Mass., for a live performance of Bob Dylan’s 1974 hit, “Forever Young.â€


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The inmates sat in silence during the 3-minute performance, many of their gazes cast downward, as though reflecting on the words.


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Young@Heart was founded in 1982 by a group of residents who lived in an elderly housing project in Northampton. Eventually branching out from local gigs, they toured internationally for seven years, hitting spots in Europe, Australia and Canada, and even released a couple of CDs, “Mostly Live”in 2008 and “Now”in 2012.


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The current members range in age from 72 to 88, and while some have previous musical experience, there are “some who never stepped onto a stage before turning eighty.â€

But even with the obvious age gap, the inmates loved the performance.


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“I would like to say this is the best performance I’ve ever seen in my life,”one inmate said after the chorus finished, wrapping his arm around one of the chorus members with a wide smile.


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Watch the entire performance below, and share to spread smiles!

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