I got arrested for playing guitar in a park. Think about that. A man with a guitar in a public park and the City of New York sent a police officer to stop him. That is not law enforcement. That is music criticism with handcuffs.

They arrested me more than once. They arrested me for noise. They arrested me for gathering a crowd. They arrested me for not having a permit. You need a permit to sing in America. The founding fathers did not mention that. The first amendment says Congress shall make no law. It does not say unless you have a guitar.

Here is what happens when they arrest a busker. The crowd watches. The cop puts your hands behind your back and the crowd is still standing there. Some of them are angry. Some of them are confused. All of them are paying more attention to you now than they were when you were playing. The arrest is the encore. The handcuffs are the standing ovation.

They put me in a cell with actual criminals. Guys who robbed people. Guys who hurt people. And me. A man who played a song about marijuana in a park. The guys in the cell asked me what I did. I said I played guitar. They said that is not a crime. I said tell that to the judge.

Every time they arrested me they made me more famous. Every time they put me in a van they put my name in the newspaper. The police department was my publicist. They did not know it. They thought they were stopping me. They were promoting me. That is the funniest part of the whole thing.

You cannot arrest a frequency. You can arrest the body. You can take the guitar. You can close the park. But the song is already in the air. The song is already in the heads of the people who heard it. You are too late. The song already happened. The arrest is just the review.

See also: The Permit — the founding fathers did not mention a form. The Sidewalk — the venue that cannot be shut down. The Hat — the handcuffs were the standing ovation. The First Song — the song that got him arrested and famous. The Busker — the job the cops could not stop. The Trial — Sinclair on what the state does to musicians. The Graffiti — the best art is always a little bit illegal.