I hate that f——-g story about the violinist at the Metro station
For some reason it’s making its way around Tumblr again and I have the same reaction the first time I heard it like two years ago: It’s so fucking pretentious. Oh, you don’t have time to listen to this world class violinst? You clearly don’t know anything about beauty. Your life needs a priority check. Fuck you and fuck your violin. Is Joshua Bell going to come to my office and tell my boss: “Please excuse Ms. Matthews’ tardiness, she was just stopping to appreciate me, one of the world’s finest musicans because she can ‘perceive beauty’ and ‘recognize talent in an unexpected context’. Oh and also she can spot an unnecessarily expensive instrument with the naked eye, so obviously she’s the best employee ever, give this bitch a raise.” Every single person that ever posted this stupid story would also keep right on walking so shut the fuck up.
ALSO, who says this dude is any better of a musician than the dudes that play the buckets? Oh because he plays the violin? Fuck. Off. At least the bucket drum dudes make me wanna bust a move.
Next thing someone’s gonna tell me that the dude at the Dupont metro that does the Carlos Santana covers is actually Carlos Santana and that everyone who doesn’t stop to listen is clearly not appreciating rock/pop fusion and ponytails.
Counterpoint!
I was thinking something similar when I read the original story. Just not so…angry.
i read the same story, and i don’t think it’s pretentious at all. the article isn’t trying to point out that people can’t appreciate art. it’s merely pointing out that people rarely take anyone performing on the street seriously, even if the performers are extremely talented (or even famous in real life).
a subway station isn’t a concert venue; people are only there because they need to get somewhere else. it isn’t an appropriate setting for any musician to expect to earn high regard from passersby. and that’s the point the article is trying to make: if your performance isn’t presented within the right context, it doesn’t matter how talented you are.
