World Hum | Travel | ‘Once’ and the Art of Busking

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TRAVEL BLOG

2.28.08

‘Once’ and the Art of Busking

Congratulations to Glen Hansard and Mark�ta Irglov�, winners of the Oscar for best original song earlier this week for Falling Slowly from Once. It’s an excellent song from an excellent movie, but for me, the best performance comes toward the beginning, when Hansard, playing a busker, belts out “Say It To Me Now” on a near-empty Grafton Street in Dublin:

In part, I like it because I’m a sucker for listening to buskers when I travel—I can still see and hear the ragged guitar player out in front of the Pompidou Center playing “Redemption Song” during my first backpacking trip through Paris. More so, though, Hansard just gives a soulful, convincing performance.

He’s convincing, in part, because, as he told the Onion’s Tasha Robinson in a recent interview, he’s got a lot of experience as a busker to draw from. And busking, as he sees it, sounds to me like a form of immersion travel:

Busking, you learn people, you learn about reading people. You learn about reading the atmosphere of the street. If you stand still in any city long enough, you see everyone pass you by. So you’re in Chicago. If you stand on the corner of Belmont and Clark, and you do that for three years, you’ll pretty much have seen everybody in Chicago pass that junction. As a busker, it’s like you’re like a lamppost, you’re part of the architecture. And so you see everybody, you get to read how people are. You get to know who the pickpockets are, you get to know who the whores are, you get to know the drug squad, the undercover cops. You suss it all out. You just develop this radar for how things are gonna be—you know the person who is going to give you money, and you know the person who isn’t, and you know the person who’d never give you a fucking penny if you were dying. It’s almost like you get to know personality types, just by watching people walk past. You get a sense for things.

Later in the interview, he adds, “it’s not like it’s a high-art job. And people who do it as a high-art job make very little money.”

That was famously put to a test last year here in Washington D.C., where, in an experiment facilitated by the Washington Post, “internationally acclaimed virtuoso” Joshua Bell set up at the L’Enfant metro station:

His take for 43 minutes of playing: $32.17.

As for the high art/low art distinction, busking can be both. Some evidence: My favorite busking video, Bruce Springsteen playing “The River” on the street in Copenhagen:

Brings back some great memories.

Posted by Michael Yessis • 2.28.08
Categories: Weblog • Audio/Video • Movies and Travel • Music

Permalink • Comments (7)

COMMENTS

I love the stuff Glen Hansard said about busking. I totally believe it - my favorite busker in NYC, the ‘Saw Lady’ (http://www.SawLady.com/blog )seems to know everybody… I’ve been seeing her maybe for 10 years now, playing at Union Square, and there are always people stopping by to say hello to her - homeless people, delivery guys, etc. It really seems like she knows everybody who passes by.
I disagree about the high/low art thing - many of the buskers in NYC are amazing performers.

By on 2.28.08 at 12:47 PM

I am really stoked that Hansard and Irglova won for Best Song.

I posted a review of their recent concert in Portland, a Once movie review and also a bit about the Oscars on my blog. You�ll just have to scroll down on the right side and click on the �Glen Hansard� label to find all of it. http://isorski.blogspot.com/

By Isorski on 2.28.08 at 04:29 PM

Well, Bell made good money, not as good as in some cities primetime/spots can be. But you don’t busk unless you are compelled to learn on the street because you have no other audience and/ or you are a busker and this is how you make most of your money and it is a serious endeavor. I was taken by surprise by “ONCE” having been in Ireland 4 months in 2005 and hanging out with musicians there. Acoustic music and good musicians are very competitive in Ireland. I went to Galway City with my friend Jo and she was amazing and made about $66.oo US in 45 minutes. That is fine. We had dinner.

By MargoWolf on 4.9.08 at 07:23 PM

Michael Yessis,
You got to be good and when it is raining or too hot what will you do? Amsterdam is a proving ground for Irish musicians and some go to Spain. Have money to fall back on, camp when you can and buy food in markets-big ones. Remember, never crowd another busker. You don’t steel spots, and if you get a good spot it was cause you got there first. You won’t want to be busking in the middle of the night like in “ONCE” but when people have time to slow down and pay attention. Think about it carefully. Jo always got permission from a store manager if she sang in front of a shop. There is an etiquette and you can also get robbed. Good luck, it’s an adventure and you won’t know unless you try.

By MargoWolf on 4.9.08 at 07:43 PM

Great videos, i also like what Glen Hansard said about buskin.

By Canvas Prints UK on 5.22.08 at 05:12 AM

I loved Once, and being a guitarist/singer, I feel I’ve been challenged by the movie and Glen’s comments on busking. I’m oddly nervous about it, because it’s a totally unpredictable environment, but I really want to get out there and play. I feel like it’s something I need to do in order to believe in myself more fully, if that makes any sense at all. Fortunately my city is busker-friendly. :)

By on 6.9.08 at 08:47 PM

Glen Hansard comments were true about busking. Downtown NYC is still the best place and you can see some special people there

By Canvas Prints on 9.5.08 at 02:35 PM