The Crow Buzz

the reason we don’t see the beauty around us is not that we hate it or anything else, other than it is part of the world we live in, and we got to get to the damn store before it closes, the bank before work, see the insurance agent at lunch hour, get the kids home for dinner, be home for that cable guy between 9am and 7pm… you know. so, while i can appreciate the fact that you have a lovely singing voice, or that you enjoyed the last piece i wrote, or that chick over that has nice legs, i gotta get goin.’ but, you keep it up.

i read a story about a world class violinist who recently took part in a social experiment. he had just sold out a concert hall a few nights before at 100.00 per ticket, but took to the subway with a 3.5 million dollar violin, put his hat on the ground and began to play a piece of classical music. subway. he is nobody. no one knows him from whino joe. who would? the piece described how children would stop to listen and the parents would scurry them along, a guy who stands and listens, looks at his watch and takes off, and a woman who does her good deed for the day by putting a dollar in the hat and rushing off without any eye contact.

the piece was meant to describe how callous we are, but it was a social study to collect data. and this is the data it collected.

A COMPLETE STRANGER IN A SUBWAY MADE 32 DOLLARS IN 45 MINUTES.

NOW, I DON’T KNOW ABOUT YOU, BUT DO YOU KNOW A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO MAKE 45 DOLLARS IN AN HOUR, LET ALONE 45 MIN? it doesn’t matter WHO this man was. everyone who gave him the money? none of them knew who he was. I think it shows that, on the contrary, we are pretty fucking cognizant of good sound. the children had to be pulled away by their mothers, and the adults, though they may not have had time to listen, recognized appropriate, very well played vibrations, and dropped something in the hat. 32 bucks in 45 minutes.

please tell me again how this shows society is unappreciative? Multiply that incident at that particular point of that particular subway system at that particular hour in that particular city exponentially times the number of cities in which the very same thing was going on and it shows a different side of humanity, a side quick to cynicism and ridicule, perhaps encouraged by too much self absorption, and/or relating so much with a cause as to entwine your own identity with it to the point you are almost indistinguishable from the cause, your jargon almost indistinguishable from others- the mirror is turned on YOU.

Just who the hell are you again? dont you turn the mirror away from me!