Each train and station has its own regular characters -- panhandlers, performers, low-level merchants -- some depressing, some impressive. The F-train has a few memorable ones, including:
Duracel Man: A beat-down looking 30-ish black man with a clear, slow, emotionless, unfluctuating and slightly comical voice. He enters the train and slowly walks the aisle, reciting: "Good afternoon. I am a businessman. Businessman, businessman. I am selling Duracel alkaline batteries. $1 a pack. I have double-A and triple-A. Businessman, businessman, businessman." I've never once seen anyone buying from him.
Tracy Chapman Man: He's a tiny -- maybe 5-foot and skinny -- black man with thin dreads and raggedy clothes. He looks maybe 40 or 50 and has a gruff, smoke-damaged but effective voice which he uses for only two songs that I've ever observed: Tracy Chapman's "Sorry" and Bob Marley's "Redemption Song." He sings while playing guitar, with an amp on his back attached to a hand-less microphone placed too close to his mouth. The music is not bad -- pretty passionate and too-the-point stuff, particularly his version of "Sorry," but it's just a little too well amplified. Before and after songs, you can always hear him heavily breathing and gasping into the mic. He was once a fixture on the train but, lately, he's been regrettably MIA.
No comments:
Post a Comment