Andrea Bocelli

When little miss Haana was about 6 months old, I was flipping channels on TV one day and came across an Andrea Bocelli concert recording on PBS. I kept the channel. The little girl had just started standing up holding on to the couch. She was fidgeting.

I turned up the volume a little bit to listen to the concert recording. He was singing Conte Partiro (time to say goodbye). All of us, the little girl especially, just stood stoned by the richness and beauty of the voice. I've always felt that Andrea Bocelli's voice is how the voice of Gods must sound. It is beautiful beyond words. It matters not that neither of us could understand the lyrics of the Italian song. His voice has an effect beyond words and language. And even babies grasp that. Little miss Haana stood glued to her spot holding on to the couch, transported to a different place by the power of that beautiful voice.

Yesterday I was listening to a concert Bocelli sang in Milan for Easter, he sang of hope in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic that has stalled life across the planet. I was sitting holding Bobby boy, all of 3 weeks old, and fidgeting as babies oftentimes do for any number of reasons. I had not heard most of the songs he sang in the concert. And yet, both Bobby boy and I were mesmerized listening to the concert on YouTube. The boy stopped his fidgeting, and stared at a distance listening intently and quietly. 30 minutes passed. I played the Conte Partiro after that and hummed along that beautiful song. Bobby boy seemed to appreciate that too.

What is it about such music that even few weeks old babies just get! Outside of language, training, education, culture. Happy easter everyone.