Stop and listen to the music, or just be a zombie

Sun Feb 19, 2012 11:07 pm » by **domdabears**

An old, but good story.

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that 1,100 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by, and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace, and stopped for a few seconds, and then hurried up to meet his schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping, and continued to walk.

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried, but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally, the mother pushed hard, and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money, but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the most talented musicians in the world. He had just played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, on a violin worth $3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste, and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?

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Sun Feb 19, 2012 11:33 pm » by **Phoenix rising**

Nice post Dom, sadly the world had forgot what real music is about, with Justin Bieber and lady Gaga being rammed down our throats through every commercial outlet we truly are fucked, all creativity is being sucked out of us, that's why I only listen to original music on soundcloud, for the first time in years i actually had a listen to the top 40 the other day and was left feeling disillusioned with the content of today's music, I nearly always leave a tip for buskers, unless its one of them Albanians playing the death march on an accordion with half the keys missing, then i say, I will pay you to shut up :lol:

Sun Feb 19, 2012 11:35 pm » by **Dagnamski**

It's a nice theory but........ .

When was the last time you bought something from an independant artist, or someone you knew without all the razzle dazzle big sell?

Sun Feb 19, 2012 11:39 pm » by **domdabears**

dagnamski wrote:
It's a nice theory but........ .

When was the last time you bought something from an independant artist, or someone you knew without all the razzle dazzle big sell?

Me?
I listen to punk rawk. (real punk music)

That should all be self explanatory right there.

I'll list a shit load of bands and no one would have ever heard of em. Unless you listen to my kind of music you would have.

Sat Jul 07, 2012 5:59 am » by **Iamthatiam**

I was about to post this story, when doing a quick search tripped into this post...Which was left aside by us, just like the musician!

Dombda, this story is not old, bud...On the contrary, it gets actual as the days passes, and the "modern life" way gains more ground, and profound complexities inside the social scenario.

Sat Jul 07, 2012 8:53 am » by **Cthulhu**

Domdabears wrote:
dagnamski wrote:
It's a nice theory but........ .

When was the last time you bought something from an independant artist, or someone you knew without all the razzle dazzle big sell?

Me?
I listen to punk rawk. (real punk music)

That should all be self explanatory right there.

I'll list a shit load of bands and no one would have ever heard of em. Unless you listen to my kind of music you would have.

Black flag perhaps?

Sat Jul 07, 2012 3:18 pm » by **Lucidlemondrop**

First time I heard this story so it is still new to some of us!

Parents would be well served to pay more attention to what draws the child.

Sat Jul 07, 2012 5:21 pm » by **Phaeton**

Very poignant post. Thank you.

Sun Jul 08, 2012 12:13 am » by **domdabears**

Old post. Thanks for bringing it back up.

Sun Jul 08, 2012 12:14 am » by **domdabears**

Cthulhu wrote:
Domdabears wrote:
dagnamski wrote:
It's a nice theory but........ .

When was the last time you bought something from an independant artist, or someone you knew without all the razzle dazzle big sell?

Me?
I listen to punk rawk. (real punk music)

That should all be self explanatory right there.

I'll list a shit load of bands and no one would have ever heard of em. Unless you listen to my kind of music you would have.

Black flag perhaps?

No, I never liked Black Flag, but if you want me to name a band back in the original "punk era" it would be Minor Threat.