Are you lonesome tonight? Exploring experiences of loneliness in older age through and with pop song lyrics

My PhD is an ethnographic exploration of the experience of older people in the community dance sessions that I facilitate. Music is a key element of the sessions and this paper looks at how song lyrics might play a role in the sessions. I selected songs from across the decades, with lyrics that either suggested loneliness or friendship, to stimulate movement and conversation. The approach to using the songs varied: for some, the content of the lyrics was discussed before moving, for others, familiarity with the lyrics was assumed. Data was collected in the form of videoed movement (the dancers), reflective movement (the researcher) and writing reflecting on the movement and the conversations around the movement (the researcher). Can song lyrics facilitate creative movement exploration of a sensitive topic? Loneliness is a difficult topic to discuss and to publicly admit to feeling; perhaps a non-verbal mode of expression could make the process easier