Image: Did you kiss the foot that kicked you? - Ruth Ewan - Artangel, 2007
Photo: Gautier Deblonde
Photo: Gautier Deblonde
Did you kiss the foot that kicked you?
Ruth Ewan
Artangel 2007
Ruth Ewan's Did you kiss the foot that kicked you? involved the co-ordination of over one hundred buskers around London. Performing both under and above ground, the buskers incorporated Ewan MacColl's Ballad of Accounting into their usual repertoire. Their individual acts shared a collective purpose. The week-long series of performances slipped quietly into the rush-hour routine, as the scattered recitals filtered into the subconscious of those passing by.
Legislation has almost eradicated busking; by-laws and policing keep all but the hardiest musicians from the streets, while others pursue bureaucratic routes into designated areas. The recent introduction of music licensing has restrained the natural spontaneity of performances across a range of live venues.
The entirety of Did you kiss the foot that kicked you? could not be experienced by any one person. We may or may not have become aware of the song’s fleeting presence in the city: a bold brass section as we cross the Thames or a quiet voice accompanied by a guitar as we turn off the main street.
Ewan MacColl wrote Ballad of Accounting in 1964. The song offers criticism as self-reflection, repeatedly posing provocative and direct questions:
Did you stand aside and let them choose while you took second best?
Did you let them skim the cream off and then give to you the rest?
Government records released in 2006 through The National Archive show that from 1932, security service MI5 held a file on MacColl. The file states, as a cause for concern, that MacColl had ‘exceptional ability as a singer and musical organiser’.
Legislation has almost eradicated busking; by-laws and policing keep all but the hardiest musicians from the streets, while others pursue bureaucratic routes into designated areas. The recent introduction of music licensing has restrained the natural spontaneity of performances across a range of live venues.
The entirety of Did you kiss the foot that kicked you? could not be experienced by any one person. We may or may not have become aware of the song’s fleeting presence in the city: a bold brass section as we cross the Thames or a quiet voice accompanied by a guitar as we turn off the main street.
Ewan MacColl wrote Ballad of Accounting in 1964. The song offers criticism as self-reflection, repeatedly posing provocative and direct questions:
Did you stand aside and let them choose while you took second best?
Did you let them skim the cream off and then give to you the rest?
Government records released in 2006 through The National Archive show that from 1932, security service MI5 held a file on MacColl. The file states, as a cause for concern, that MacColl had ‘exceptional ability as a singer and musical organiser’.
