Pulse
Better than Laughing Gas
Since posting a music video on YouTube, a group of singing nurse anesthetists has found fame and a lot of new fans.
By Kim Kiser
The setting for the video is an OR at WestHealth’s surgery center in Plymouth. But instead of surgeons and OR staff huddled over the body of a patient, you see a blue drape. Suddenly, five guys in scrubs pop up from behind it as the introduction to Neil Sedaka’s “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do” plays. They begin to sing:
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Patients going down
do be do down down,
Patients going down
do be do down down,
Waking up is hard to do.
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The singers are strangers to neither the spotlight nor the OR. All are certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) as well as members of the singing group the
The Current Members…
And where you might find them when they’re not on stage
Richard Leyh,
Lakeview Hospital
Gary Cozine,
the only original member, now works in Meriden, CT
Doug Meuwissen,
Woodwinds Hospital Keith Larson, Northfield Hospital
Waking Up Is Hard to Do
Don’t take my tube away from me
I’m trying to breathe, oh can’t you see
Take it out and I’ll turn blue
‘Cuz waking up is hard to do
I beg of you, please give me one more try
I’m only 90 much too young to die
I put all my faith in you
‘Cuz waking up is hard to do
(Chorus)
They say that waking up is hard to do
Now I know, I know that it’s true
Don’t say that this is the end
Instead of waking up I think my incision’s opened up again.
I am in such misery
Feels like my eyes are taped and I can’t see
If I wake I’m going to sue
‘Cuz waking up is hard to do
(Repeat Chorus)
Now I’m awake, I can breathe and see
My bladder’s full and I’ve got to pee
Now I think I’ll throw upon on you
'Cuz waking up is hard to do
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Laryngospasms.
Their schtick is parodying oldies, changing lyrics to poke fun at the serious business of medicine. For example, they’ve turned Jan and Dean’s “Little Old Lady from Pasadena” into a song about a little old lady with a fractured femur, Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire” into a song about the pain of hemorrhoids, and Jerry Lee Lewis’s “Great Balls of Fire” into … you get the idea.
The Laryngospasms, which got their start at a Christmas party for students at the Minneapolis School of Anesthesia in 1990, have had 15 members over 20 years and have performed at meetings and conferences across the United States. The group gained a wider following after posting the “Waking Up Is Hard to Do” video on YouTube two years ago. “It went viral,” says Richard Leyh, CRNA, who has been with the group since 1998, explaining that it’s had more than 8 million views. That led to appearances on CNN and CBS as well as on local television stations. They auditioned for “America’s Got Talent” in 2009, and 3,700 people are following them on Facebook.
This year, the Laryngospasms are scheduled to play for the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists in Washington, D.C., the Operating Nurses Association of Canada—their first international performance—in Regina, Saskatchewan, and the OR Managers’ Conference in Chicago. Leyh says they plan on releasing their third album in the spring. And they’ll perform their first gig in front of a nonmedical audience. “We’ll test the market to see how much it appeals to the general public,” he says, adding that the group gets a lot of emails from people who come across their videos.
So what keeps four middle-aged guys, who spend their days watching over sedated patients, writing lyrics and practicing their dance moves? “You get to be rock stars for a day,” Leyh says. ■