Never Underestimate The Power Of Music! Elderly Man ‘Brought Back To Life’ By Cab Calloway

April 11 2012, Published 9:30 a.m. ET

By Debbie Emery - RadarOnline.com Reporter

An elderly man who was wasting away in a nursing home has gotten a new lease on life thanks to an iPod filled with all his favorite big band tunes.

Named only as Henry, the wheelchair bound pensioner is the subject of a new documentary called Alive Inside by Michael Rossato-Bennett that investigates the therapeutic affect of music.

"He used to always sit on the unit with his head (down)... he didn't really talk," reveals Henry’s caretaker Yvonne Russell, in a video clip from the fascinating film, obtained by RadarOnline.com.

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The depressed, empty shell who had lived in the nursing home for the past 10 years barely speaking is a sharp contrast to the happy-go-lucky, fun-loving father who used to swing around lamp posts as he re-enacted moves from Singing In The Rain for his daughter, Cherry.

But when social worker Dan Cohen and neurologist Oliver Sacks put their Music & Memory theory to the test and gave Henry and other patients with degenerative diseases iPods stacked with music, the transformation was miraculous.

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“Immediately he lights up. His face assumes expression, his eyes open wide...he's being animated by the music," reveals Sacks.

After previously only being able to answer a simple “yes” or “no” response, he can suddenly describe his emotional journey again.

"It gives me the feeling of love, of romance. I figure right now the world needs to come into music, singing. You’ve got beautiful music here," he tells the filmmakers, before breaking into a rendition of the beloved song I'll Be Home For Christmas by Cab Calloway.