Susan Boyle and Our Tears

I have been reflecting on why, no matter how many times I view the video of Susan Boyle on Britain’s Got Talent, it brings tears to my eyes and to nearly all who see it. First of all, let’s dispense with the cliché you can’t judge a book by its cover. I’m kind of tired of reading that in the various comments people have made after watching Susan. Like all clichés, it is a crutch for not looking deeper at what’s going on.

The feeling I get when I watch this video is not different from what I have experienced when I have teared up watching a movie that has a particularly poignant scene in which the real goodness of a character comes through. Think of Sydney Carton who sacrifices himself for his friend at the end of A Tale of Two Cities or Rick saying goodbye to Ilsa Lund at the end of Casablanca.

In all of these situations, and especially when we watch and listen to that sweet powerful voice of Susan Boyle, a regular person who simply believes in herself, we experience that tightening in our chest, the goose bumps, and the tears that slide down our cheeks. I think this feeling is called forth when we witness the emergence of the most admirable parts of our shared humanity when we least expect it.

Susan and the best writers, along with the actors who portray the characters they create, touch us in ways that remind us of the simple grace that we each possess but seldom experience. In those moments we forget the superficiality and the defensiveness that pervades our everyday interactions. And the relief of that releases an emotional response that is pure joy.

The voice of Susan Boyle is a wonder, but it is connected to a regular person—not someone we have already recognized as special, and that is what truly touches us. We discover that she is indeed special, and maybe I am, as well. Barbra Streisand also sings beautifully, and we listen for the pure enjoyment of hearing her music, yet it usually doesn’t bring tears to our eyes.

We may think we are responding to the authenticity and innocence of Susan and her singing, but at a deeper level, we are experiencing our own authenticity that she, completely unintentionally, has awakened in us.

As I write this, there have been about 27 million views of her video in less than a week. If this doesn’t speak to a longing for simplicity and honesty in our lives, I don’t know what does. Maybe that cliché “don’t judge a book by its cover” does apply, but we are not just speaking of Susan, but ourselves as well.