I read an inspiring article about Tony Bennett, age 85, in today's Tribune. He tells the story of the source of his singing talent:
Bennett said that he was warned early on by Pearl Bailey not to let success get to his head, "like helium", but he did, taking cocaine. It was a chance conversation with Woody Allen's manager about Lenny Bruce, that brought Bennett to a crossroads:"My uncles and aunts and nephews and relatives, they were hard-working people and it was during the Depression, and they would make a circle around my brother, sister and myself and we would be their entertainment," he recalls.
"No one had any money ... and they felt for my mom raising three children and working for a penny a dress as a seamstress. Amazing. So they all fell for her. So they all would have so much fun with us as we were children, they would say, 'Look at Tony, he makes us laugh the way he does things.' Also they said, 'See the way he paints.' So right away - I'll never forget this - at a very early age I realized because I loved them so much for being nice to my mom that I said: 'This is who I am. They say I sing very good and paint' and it created a passion in me. And that passion has never gone away. With each year it's stronger. Even though I'm 85, it's stronger than when I first started. I never want to retire, you're just looking at a wall."
All of us have talents, discovered and to be discovered. When we discover them, we are free to use them, practice and perfect them, as Bennett has done. In fact, that is what freedom is!"He told me he used to handle Lenny Bruce, the great (comic) philosopher who was also a heroin addict. I said, 'I knew Lenny. What did you think of him?' He said one sentence that changed my life. He said, 'He sinned against his talent.' And when I heard that sentence, I realized that that's what I was doing. And I stopped everything.
In this week's reading from Ch. 7 of Jesus of Nazareth, at p. 204, the pope's discussion about the prodigal son brings home this point. The errant son "no longer wants to be subject to any commandment, any authority. he seeks radical freedom. He wants to live only for himself, free of any other claim. . . . Is it difficult for us to see clearly reflected here the spirit of the modern rebellion against God and God's law?"
The supposed road to freedom through cocaine, heroin, or any other addiction or idol, is really the road to slavery and death. For, as the Pope notes, man's "very nature contains direction and norm, and becoming inwardly one with this direction and norm is what freedom is all about." A passion need not lead to addiction or idolatry if it is formed to an "inward direction and norm." Then the passion can stay alive and grow, properly pruned and watered.
As Tony Bennett testifies, each year his passion for singing grows stronger. "I never want to retire." Why should he? He is living freely, practicing his singing craft, sharing his art. Even though he sings his hits time and again, he says, each time he sings, the song is fresh. This, I think, is because he sings it freely. He's found the answer to the question in the song below, "How do you keep the music playing?" Don't sin against your talent. Keep it free. And the answer allows him to say, "My music will 'never end'!"
Listen to "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?", sung by Tony Bennett.
Listen to another version of "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?", sung by Tony Bennett and George Michael.
Listen to "Because of You,"sung by Tony Bennett, his first big hit (1951).
Listen to "As Time Goes By," sung by Tony Bennet.
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