Street Musicians

I was out for a walk through the mean streets of Vancouver with Henry the other day and we walked past this guy singing and playing a little nylon-string guitar. He was probably in his 60’s, with an overgrown beard and long, matted hair. Honestly, from his look and his demeanor, I think he was probably a little crazy. Probably a lot crazy.

I stopped, at first, because the music was familiar but I couldn’t place the song. Turns out it was America’s “All The Lonely People”, but reworked to the point of being barely recognizable. In a good way. (That is, after all, a song that could definitely use a good reworking). It was kind of like a Richie Havens arrangement, and he sang with a distinct voice. Nasal, but pleasing, maybe like a Dave Matthews-Cat Stevens hybrid? He was playing fast and loose with the phrasing and the melody, and flailing at his substandard guitar with an almost abstract abandon.

In short, it was an awesome performance. He must have been a professional musician at some point. He maybe still thought of himself as one, and if he also considered himself an artist I wouldn’t disagree. So I put a bit of money in his (completely empty) tin cup, and Henry and I were on our way.

It got me to thinking, though, about whether I should be giving based on the competence of the musician. If we’re talking about professional (and relatively sane) buskers, then for sure. Donate if you like it, walk on by if you don’t. But this guy is no longer in that category. He is, rather, in the same category as that fiddler you used to see in Gastown, sawing absent-mindedly on a two-stringed violin that probably hadn’t been tuned in a decade. That is to say, how much he needs help (a lot) is completely unrelated to how well he performs.

So. Is it cold -- wrong, even -- to choose who you help based on who can best carry a tune?