Posts Tagged ‘The Hawaiian Wedding Song’
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Last Licks
0October 25, 2014 by admin
A week before Halloween, the temperature crept just above 60 degrees. So off I went, under a heavy gray sky, hoping to get in what any day now could be my last for the season. Acorns crunched under foot; oak leaves rustled and swirled in the wind. The colors of the park were saturated in the diffuse light, yellows, browns, reds, greens. The dark purple leaves of the water plants in the fountain looked like cormorant wings drying in the cool autumn air. After tuning up, I spotted a bride and groom with their photographer, looking for a pretty background for their pictures. There were to be 4 sets of brides and grooms this day, 4 renditions of “The Hawaiian Wedding Song,” for a combined take of $0.
A teenaged boy made the walk from the water’s edge to toss a coin in my case. “Thank you,” I said, without looking. As he walked back to his friends, I glanced down to see he’d given me a penny. Continuing to play, I contemplated the thought process that led to such deliberate disrespect, before I turned my attention to a woman on the stone bench who was pulling something out of her purse. Nine out of ten times it will be a cellphone; this time it was a fiver for me.
Another woman strolled by and started dancing. “Have you got time for a hula today?” She seemed not to understand, so I stopped playing and pantomimed a hula. “Oh, no no no no,” she giggled, then later, returning with her daughter, she dropped a dollar.
Next up were 2 young girls who clasped hands and danced in circles to “The Hukilau Song.” A Spanish woman who’d been sitting with her kids got the idea. With the leis around their necks, the kids just stood there until I draped a lei around mom’s neck too. Following mom’s lead, they danced to both verses. At the end, the elder child was given a dollar for me, the younger a dime. Off they went to enjoy the day, but came back 10 minutes later to give me another dollar and another dime.
A light-haired boy of 12 or 13, in a bright green raincoat, made his way toward me with a dollar in his hand. We chatted about ukuleles for a while, then he told me he was from The Netherlands. “No kidding, I’ve been there many times. What city are you from?”
He thought for a moment, then said, “The Hague.”
“You mean den Haag,” pronouncing it as I was taught by our Dutch friend Eric, with a breathy guttural that sounded as if I were swallowing my own tongue. We shared a good laugh.
A group of a dozen or so teenaged girls came bounding down the path. About half of them were up for a hula. They lined up on either side of me, attracting a large crowd to watch the show. A young man stepped forward with a dollar. A little girl of 3 or so wanted to join the dance, but when one of the teenagers put a lei around her neck, the toddler ran back to hide behind her mother’s leg.
During the last third of my set, I heard a soft saxophone behind me. The offender had set up facing the arcade. Among buskers, setting up against another busker is the unpardonable sin. Yet, having heard this guy before, I could tell that he was holding back, for he could easily have blown me away. My set over, I pocketed $12.21, and left the sax to do his worst.
Category Uncategorized | Tags: The Hawaiian Wedding Song, The Hukilau Song
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Leading Economic Indicators
0October 16, 2014 by admin
Underneath a warm, wet sky, I set up on center stage. As I put a lei around my own neck, a dozen or more kids on a scavenger hunt, attracted by the bright colors, hurried over to check me out. “Have you got time for a hula today?”
They did, and afterward my case took in a few singles and change. It’s always a boon to get dancers early in the set; it gives everybody else an idea of what I’m doing, like the family with kids who next happened by. “Where are you from?”
“Brazil,” said one of the dark-haired moms. “What about you?”
“I’m from New York.”
“You are the first New Yorker I’ve met since I arrived on Monday,” she said, shaking my hand.
Two well-dressed men in their mid-30s walked by and one of them took my picture. “Did you get it? Good, now how about a hula?”
He hemmed, he hawed, he hula-ed. “Now I’ll have to give you a tip,” he said, pulling a $20 bill from his wallet. It turned out he and his friend were in from Reno to get married.
A young Hispanic man wearing a “Bronx” baseball cap asked me if we could take a picture together. “Of course,” I said, “but you’ve got to wear a lei.”
He put his arms over my shoulder and took a selfie. “My girlfriend loves the ukulele,” he said, dropping a dollar in my case.
An elderly couple, who had been sitting at some distance, packed up their lunch and started out of the park. As they made their way toward the trash cans, the woman veered toward me and gave me a dollar. “Thank you,” she said, “you’re very entertaining.”
Another school group came by from the High School for Construction Trades, Engineering and Architecture (HSCTEA) in Ozone Park, Queens. Among the 20 or more kids I spied some credible hulas, but nothing compared to the woman from Hawaii, who, after reviewing the movements she’d learned in grade school, danced a lovely hula to “The Hukilau Song.”
A short while later, I sang “The Hawaiian Wedding Song” to a pair of newly wed women in buzz cuts and blue blazers with wide lapels and gold trim. Their photographer grew impatient while I crooned of “sweet aloha” and of how “blue skies of Hawaii shine on this our wedding day.”
Toward the end of my set, a woman of 60 or so laid a fiver in my case and piled some coins on it to keep it from blowing away. “Delightful,” she said.
As I packed up, noting that today’s take again far exceeded normal levels, I wondered if perhaps my busking revenues were a leading indicator of the economic recovery. If so, it would be most delightful indeed.
Category Uncategorized | Tags: The Hawaiian Wedding Song, The Hukilau Song
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Overcast Wednesday
0August 7, 2014 by admin
Dark gray clouds obliterated the sun for long stretches, and a cooling breeze blew in from the north, over the lake. When the clouds rolled on, bathing center stage in noontime clarity, I put my hat back on until the next gray wave rolled in. I’m trying to work the hat into my routine; it’s not a good idea for me, or anyone, to stand in the summer sun for 90 minutes.
A couple of kids came by to hula, yielding $2 from one parent, $1 from another. “Can we do it again?” one squealed. “Why not?” I transitioned from “The Hukilau Song” to “My Little Grass Shack.” Together, the parents coughed up another $2, as if buying tickets for the carousel.
A woman of a certain age checked me out, as she and her friend headed toward the water to chat. After a few songs, they got up to leave. The woman walked past me and dropped her dollar in my case. “You’re great,” she said. “Thanks for what you do.”
Three young women stopped to hula. A man from Würzburg, now living in Woodstock with his American wife, said he liked my music. A bride and groom wandered by with their photographer, looking for the perfect backdrop. I, of course, burst into “The Hawaiian Wedding Song.” The couple continued to wander around the fountain, impervious to the music meant for them. There were lots of tween boys and girls with loose change, and the usual number of walkaways. A distinguished man with a gray beard and a neck-load of camera equipment managed to record the complete “I Wonder Where My Little Hula Girl Has Gone,” gave me a thumbs up, and returned to his family in the shade. Later, when I looked his way, he was gone.
Category Uncategorized | Tags: I Wonder Where My Little Hula Girl Has Gone, My Little Grass Shack, The Hawaiian Wedding Song, The Hukilau Song
