Hearts for the Arts: Side by Side brings 20th century songs back to Bay Area nursing homes

In “Hearts for the Arts,” columnist Charlotte “Charlie” Burks ’27 spotlights various Stanford student groups that perch at the nexus of art and service.

Many TikTok videos have toyed with the idea of Gen Z, decades down the line, dancing and singing to Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift and One Direction while in nursing homes. For many residents and hospital guests whose favorite songs were popular in the mid 1900’s, though, this hypothetical has become a reality. This is the audience Stanford’s Side by Side hopes to appeal to.

Side by Side, a Stanford music group which sings at nursing homes and hospitals throughout the Bay Area, sings music from the 1940s to the ’70s. Often, the residents spring to their feet or pull out their own instruments to join in. 

“[Multiple residents] end up dancing with us,” said Isabelle Peña ’27, one of Side by Side’s co-facilitators. Though Side by Side sings to large groups of people, they also provide more personalized attention to nursing home and hospital residents. “We go up to a resident directly and sing a very staple song to them — like Edelweiss, Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Moon River.” 

Unlike other campus groups, who sing exclusively a cappella or choral music, Side by Side is more flexible with its repertoire. 

“Some of our music is a cappella, and for some of it we sing with piano,” said Austin Nguyen ’27, Side by Side’s music director. The only requirement for the group’s song choices is that it has to have been written and popularized between the 1940s and the 1970s — the time period during which many seniors would have been young adults. 

For the group’s over a dozen members, part of Side by Side’s appeal is the music itself. Current members, though, are often motivated by helping advocate for an overlooked community: the elderly.

“There are very few advocates for them, because they can’t advocate for themselves,” Nguyen said. 

There have long been studies correlating music and memory. According to the National Institute of Health, listening to music associated with specific episodes or events in our life evokes a strong “feeling of knowing.” Side by Side has attested to these statistics first-hand. 

After hearing that a resident wanted to hear a specific Bee Gees song but couldn’t remember what it was called, Nguyen started singing as many Bee Gees songs as she could remember, until they finally found the one.

“It was called ‘How Deep Is Your Love,’” said Nguyen. “I sang that to her and there were just tears in her eyes as she told me how her son used to sing that for her, and how I reminded her of her son.” 

Despite the fact that the group spends a lot of time off-campus, not all of the fondest memories are made solely with residents. In spending six to seven hours a week together in rehearsal and travel time, Side by Side’s members experience a lot together.

“The people [in Side by Side] are so sweet and nice, and it’s probably the best community I’ve found here at Stanford,” said co-facilitator Jenny Youm ’27. 

Side by Side reaches a wide range in the Bay, performing as far north as San Francisco, down to San Jose. “

We’ll perform 20 to 25 times per school year,” said Peña.

With dozens of audience members at each nursing home where they perform, Side by Side is fondly remembered and often called upon by communities to perform for them year after year. 

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