[Audio: “Hotel California”, buskers on a Richmond train 6/26/12]

Rampant in other transit systems, busking is fairly rare on BART trains. I’m glad for this. It’s one thing to work the stations; it’s another to come after people trapped underground in a sealed compartment—and another still to cover songs in the resonant frequency of the commute hour:

Mirrors on the ceiling

Pink champagne on ice

We are all just prisoners here

Of our own device

Ouch.

The trio of tambourine, paint bucket, and guitar appeared to be father and sons, both of whom looked moderately miserable. That said, I did enjoy the performance—a raw-edged rendition somehow improved by half-shouting and the peculiar lexical stress on “California”. The recording gets better midway-ish, out of the tunnel. Give it a listen—or not. You have the option!