Reflection: A Day in the Life of a Busker

ghostbuskersg
Sep 26, 2016
3 min read

"Eh come la, you want to try singing or not?" I laughed nervously and looked around. Bishan, Junction 8. This used to be my playground. I remembered skiving here every time I skipped Chinese tuition. The busker was my friend from seven years back. I'd interviewed him earlier in the afternoon over some Haagen Daz coffee. "Maybe after I'm done filming you," I replied evasively. He said OK and got to playing 'We Don't Talk Anymore'. He'd learnt the song just after our interview. My partner and I got some great footage, and wrapped up with three more questions. That was when it came again. "So do you wanna try singing?" The divine nudge. I looked to my partner who nodded excitedly. He'd already whipped his phone out. "Sure, why not!" I awkwardly put my bag down and wrapped my arms around myself. After peering through his song list, we settled on Valerie by Amy Winehouse. An easy tune that we both loved and knew how to do. "I don't know anything about keys so you gotta help me ok?" I said.

“Sure!” he quipped, and tuned his guitar. It was weird standing behind the microphone. All my life I was used to being the passer-by. The spectator. The hungry ass girl rushing to be somewhere else. I briefly wondered how my life might change after this. “Ok, try singing a few lines,” he instructed. After we got the note on the first try, he started switching everything on. I broke out in cold sweat. I knew I was an OK singer, but nowhere near perfect. What if I went off-pitch? I glued my eyes to the sheet and sang the first verse. Oh thank god. So far so good. Singing into a mic was an experience in itself. I’d done karaoke before, but had never been able to hear myself. It was surreal, hearing our music echo off Junction 8’s walls. At this point, I was slightly calm and almost confident. I was swaying to the music with my arms still wrapped around me. That was when I made my first mistake. I’d tried to wing a line I’d forgotten the melody to and screwed up bad. I cringed and looked to my friend for advice. He just smiled, shook his head and carried on. On any other day, I would have considered this a full-blown horror. I hate messing up in front of other people. I had just messed up in front of a crowd, on a microphone, while being filmed. It couldn’t get any worse than this. That was when I messed up again. And then I realized:

Life’s all about owning our mistakes and moving on.

Things can’t and won’t always go our way. We can try our hardest to prepare for it, but bouncing back is also an art. Buskers deserve so much of our respect because they’re able to put themselves under the spotlight and manage hiccups in real time. Through my experience, I understood the delicate skills required to manage the mood of a crowd. Little things like eye contact and a smile. I was thrilled when that brought me my first listener. I ended the song without earning any tips. But the experience was more than enough for me :) You can find out more about @hanhankuah on our Meet the Buskers page! He plays every Friday and Saturday from 5pm onwards. Our epic combo below: