Being Seen As A Busker In London

Being Seen As A Busker In London  

By Paul McCann

Arriving in London with a dream in my pocket and a collection of original songs in my overnight bag was more than enough to pave the way . As an old singer songwriter . from Ireland , Percy French by name once , said ,

“Sure this London is a wonderful sight with the people all working by day and by night , they don’t grow potatoes or barley or wheat , but there’s gangs of them digging for gold in the street . Those lyrics from the song The Mountains Of Mourne were an inspiration for me to try digging for some of that gold .

So there was I in the West End Of town with a six string guitar and harmonica , ready to perform to the passers by , in a little spot of my own that  picked for busking , It was a busy spot near the theatres and movies .with  a steady parade of people passing by .

It was an overcast afternoon . Above me the grey concrete coloured sky stretched like canvas looking for some pastel shade’s to show everyone just how beautiful it is to be alive .

Getting on with the show I started with singing a few songs to a few jeers from a group of  yuppies . One of them decided to throw a coin at speed in my direction just as if he was throwing a skimming stone across the surface of the Thames . It narrowly missed me . That was a message for me to move so I left that spot for another . After walking around I decided to try busking at Shaftsbury Square.

I guess the magnet of London had drawn lots of tourists from all around the world .

I watched some of them throwing their money into the depth of a waterless well . Feeding the pigeons near to were I stood busking . A sea of pedestrians were making their way past me with ice creams and chocolate treats . Some had balloons and others were busy taking photos and videos . Thern there were young ones dancing and running . I felt like I was drowning there amongst them in that spot .

It was like singing to the multitude who were too busy to even notice or listen .

Regardless I continued playing away adding some background static to the chorus of life . I saw some very interesting people passing by from different countries .

It gave me the urge to try busking in other parts of London as there were many other places to see in this city  . I was very grateful to be here even though I had kind of turned invisible . I began to feel ok about being here at this my first street gig .

I realised that it wasn’t about me  or my songs it was more about fitting in and being part of the scene .This was great opportunity for me to be heard however there was another part of me that couldn’t  wait to get out of London.

Shaftsbury Square was a place where people stopped to chill out and eats some nuts or crackers and even share them with the pigeons . I was wondering if the  pigeons were enjoying my music . I left to try another spot in Charing Cross .

It was another busy thoroughfare where people stopped to have some food and do souvenir shopping . The London police made their presence felt and they approached me and told me to move along .

At moment a pickpocket was being chased along the street so the police lost interest in me and gave chase . I kept on busking as they had their hands full with other things to do .

I was getting a few people interested in my songs and collected some money from them which made me happy as I was also getting hungry myself .

So, I stopped for a late lunch and returned with my burger to Shaftsbury  Square for some time out with the one of the Lion Statues . I sat there looking like a tourist and enjoyed my American style hamburger . After I had finished, I performed about a dozen songs before a crowd who didn’t really care much for what I was doing.

My music was lost here in this very busy place but I still enjoyed the experience .

Fuelled by lack of appreciation I began to look for other places to busk .

Not far from St Pauls Cathedral I took a spot on the sidewalk and tried singing through concrete . I raised my voice louder until some of the people got the drift of where I was coming from and what I was doing .

Eventually two young girls came over and gave me some applause . They even tried to encourage other people to stop and listen .For me that appreciation had won the day and I decided to retire back to the youth hostel where I was staying .

My first day busking in London was interesting and walking back through the evening traffic was tricky . Standing there waiting to cross over the pedestrian crossing near St Pauls was dangerous , I felt like Daniel in the lion’s den surrounded by black taxies and red double decker buses . I stopped for a moment unsure of the traffic flow. Only being in the country for the first time didn’t make it easy for me  to get around .

I carefully was learning and getting a feel of this busy city .Watching and listening to tourists silently shouting in sign language as the hustle and bustle of life in the big city swamped them however, they acted as if they owned the city. I smiled and suddenly I saw a break in the traffic and decided to make a run for it with my guitar across to the other side of the road .

At the intersection of mayhem junction I quickly crossed over but a car still narrowly missed me and the driver shouted out something like , you are a bloody stupid idiot as he passed and in that same second, he was gone. So at least I was safe on the other side where a lot of construction work was taking place around St Pauls . I scurried away to Carters Lane where I found sanctuary in a dormitory with many beds .

On the way past the reception, I told the staff on duty .

"I'm checking out tomorrow morning and would like something very special for dinner this evening.  "

They all laughed

"You're very lucky, because tonight we have a very special chef here at the people palace . We will bring you a steak dish to your room on the house . It’s all part of the service here at the world-renowned youth hostel in St Pauls”

We all had a good laugh . Even though I was just another  tourist passing through at a low cost accommodation stop over we still had a sense of humour .

Compared to other fancy hotels where money was not a problem , we still saw the bright side of life .

The End