Have you ever had the absolute pleasure of eating a chicken gyro sandwich (Or tofu! We’re vegan-friendly here) at a table outside Usdan when the soft melodies of James Taylor suddenly floated past your ears? No? Well, in that case, I feel sorry for you my friend.
It wasn’t long after I heard the first few strums of Sweet Baby James on guitar (excellent song choice, by the way) that I turned my head up expectantly, and found—lo and behold—a man outside the door of the Usdan entrance with a guitar strung around his neck, one hand on the fret board while the other strummed out the background to whatever lyric about the Boston Turnpike he was belting out at the moment. He made his way around the clumps of students eating dinner on the grass, singing out a song which was soft but clear.
I looked around in the hopes for an answer, but am sorry to report that my fellow Wesleyan students were of no help—each one of us bore the same inquisitive expression in our eyes, and although you’d think a group of relatively intelligent people would know what to make of the strange serenader before us, most of us simply resolved to sit and watch.
And watch we did—as our veiled vocalist made his way past Sweet Baby James into a new song that, I am ashamed to admit, was beyond my recognition. Singing his heart out whilst performing a dance-jig-thing that I didn’t quite understand, the baffling belter soon turned to leave his entranced Usdan audience behind, departing almost as suddenly as he appeared.
Alas, before he made his triumphant exit, our abstruse artist made sure to hit us with a sped-up version to the Beatle’s Let it Be, which was simply exactly what I, at least, needed to hear in the moment. So, my friends, if you missed this evening’s serenade, let us all hope together that our mysterious music man will visit again soon…but until then may your days be filled with tons of chicken gyro sandwiches and perhaps even the musical musings of a one Mr. James Taylor.