Over the last year, my law partner, Jerry Rothkoff, developed a CE seminar, “The Power of Music: Meaningful Conversation Regarding Older Adults,” in which he details the effect of music on aging and dementia. This discussion affected me and had me thinking about the impact of music when many other communication options become decreasingly effective. As these thoughts rattled around, I, coincidentally, read an article about the 1972 song by Italian singer Adriano Celentano, with the impossible title: Prisencolinensinainciusol. It sounds like English, but it isn’t. In fact, it’s completely gibberish.
Celentano wrote it to mimic what English sounded like to Italians who didn’t understand the language. He wanted to capture the feeling of communication without the meaning — the rhythm, the emotion, the urgency — without any actual words.
And strangely, it worked. The song became a hit. People danced to it. People sang along to it. People loved it. I love it. Even though it means nothing. Or maybe… because it does.
The Beauty of Something That Doesn’t Make Sense
Listen to the song, and you’ll notice something interesting: It feels familiar. It feels like it should make sense. Your brain keeps trying to decode it. Here’s the magic: Our brains are wired to look for meaning — even when none exists. We respond to tone, cadence, and emotion long before we understand language. In many ways, communicating with someone with dementia asks us to stop translating words and start translating meaning.
This dovetails nicely with my work in elder care law.
Dementia Is Not Just Memory Loss — It’s a Language Barrier in Communicating With Someone With Dementia
When a person develops dementia, families often describe it as “losing them.” But what’s really happening is that we’re losing shared language. Words stop landing the way they used to. Stories lose structure, sentences become scrambled, and logic is broken. To the caregiver, it can sound like nonsense. But to the person with dementia, it’s very real. Much like Prisencolinensinainciusol, their speech may no longer follow conventional rules — yet emotion, rhythm, and intention remain. They may not be able to explain what they want, but they can still express frustration, joy, fear, affection, and humor.
We often mistake loss of coherence for loss of self, which is not the same.
Why Communicating With Someone With Dementia Still Works & Why We Still Feel Something When Meaning Is Gone
People love Celentano’s song not because it communicates ideas, but because it communicates feeling. It proves something important: Understanding words is not the same as understanding people. In dementia care, this lesson is critical.
A person may not know what day it is, where they are, or who you are. But they often know if they feel safe, respected, scared, anxious, and loved.
Communicating with someone with dementia is often less about being understood and more about making someone feel understood. Tone matters more than content. Presence matters more than precision. Connection matters more than correction.
Aging Isn’t Just Decline — It’s Translation
As an elder care law attorney, I spend a lot of time helping families prepare for cognitive decline: powers of attorney, asset planning, guardianships, care coordination. But the legal documents aren’t the end game, they’re little more the starting gun. The real work is learning how to “translate” someone you love when their language changes.
Part of this work is an historic review with the family on how we can support them and their loved one to honor wishes when words are lost; preserve dignity when independence fades; and interpret their communication?
In many ways, dementia forces us to listen like we’re hearing a foreign language — or…a nonsense song. We stop relying solely on grammar and start relying on:
- facial expression
- body language
- emotion
- history
- intuition
It’s no longer what they’re saying to us. It’s what they’re trying to tell us.
That shift is where compassion lives.
The Hidden Gift in a Nonsense Song
Prisencolinensinainciusol reminds us that humans don’t require perfect communication to feel something real: We dance, hum, try to sing along, and simply enjoy the feeling…regardless of its meaninglessness. Dementia may strip away structure, but it does not strip away humanity. And just as the song’s nonsense reveals something about how we listen, dementia reveals something about how we love:
Connection is not dependent on clarity.
Worth is not dependent on productivity.
Meaning is not dependent on memory.
Planning for the Day the Words Change
Elder law is about preparing for the moment when life becomes harder to explain. When a client signs a power of attorney, they are saying: “One day I may not speak clearly for myself.”
When families create care plans, they are saying: “One day we may need to interpret instead of understand.”
This isn’t pessimism, it’s realism. In a weird way – it’s love, within the law.
What Does This Mean?
A nonsense song became beautiful because people listened differently. Dementia becomes less frightening when families learn to do the same. We don’t lose people when their words lose meaning. We only lose them when we stop trying to hear what remains.
And sometimes, the most human truths come wrapped in nonsense syllables.
Listen to the song here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQDY3HFkh_Y
About Rothkoff Law Group
Rothkoff Law Group focuses on elder care law and life care planning, helping individuals and families in the Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey area prepare for the realities of aging, cognitive change, and long-term care. Our work often begins with legal planning, but it extends to understanding how families communicate, adapt, and support loved ones when words and memory change. Through education, advocacy, and thoughtful planning, we aim to help families navigate aging with clarity, dignity, and compassion. Learn more by contacting us here.
