As we inch our way toward closing out the year here at good ole’ Hot Gas, rather than yet another depressing tale of fiscal cliffs and gun grabbing, something a little nicer to hopefully brighten your day. As we’ve mentioned here before, former President George H.W. Bush has been under the weather, battling some health issues in the Intensive Care Unit until just this weekend. Bush 41 is a long time fan of the Oak Ridge Boys… a fact that his wife hasn’t forgotten.

The Oak Ridge Boys, the gospel-turned-country crooners who had their heyday in the mid-1970s and early 1980s, gave the hospitalized former President George H.W. Bush “a real shot in the arm” on Friday.

“That is great,” Bush can be heard saying in a recording provided by the group after their rendition of “Amazing Grace.”

Former first lady Barbara Bush called the band Friday to request a special performance, the group said, which they gladly provided by phone from their offices. The former president, 88, has been hospitalized in Houston for over a month, initially for bronchitis and a lingering cough. He was moved out of an intensive care ward to a standard patient room on Saturday, his spokesman said, after receiving the upgraded attention to treat a fever.

Band member Joe Bonsall said, “We asked what song he would like to hear and he said ‘Elvira,’ so we blasted some ‘oom pop a mau mau’s’ in the direction of Houston, Texas.”

We didn’t get the recording of their singing Elvira, sadly, but their rendition of Amazing Grace is, if anything, even more poignant. Music has the power to sooth, and perhaps heal, so I’m sure it’s helping Bush on the road to recovery. Enjoy the video below.