Shonen Knife - Cycling Is Fun

Artist: Shonen Knife

Song: Cycling Is Fun

Album: Let’s Knife  (1993)

 

Most fans of the band consider this to be the best of Shonen Knife's albums.

 

This is what pop music was originally and this is how it should be and always stay: just pure fun. Shonen Knife is (was? - are they still around?) a Japanese power-pop trio/girl group. Think of the Go-Go's speeded up to Ramones' velocity and sound relocated to Japan and you get the idea. This album is just chock-full of catchy, unpretentious gems from the energetic "Twist Barbie" to the unaffected charm of "I Am a Cat". And how can any power-pop aficionado resist the 2 very different versions of the "Tortoise Brand Pot Scrubbing Cleaner's Theme"? That's the adjective I would use to describe this collection: irresistible. This album is not so much zany or goofy as it is an amalgam of retro pop styles from punk to surf with some Eastern intrigue thrown in for good measure ("Ah, Singapore"). Makes perect sense to me and in a perfect world this is music you would actually get to hear on the radio. Listening to this album, somehow the world doesn't seem so mean and threatening a place no matter what's going on in it and yes, it will put a smile on your face. This one's on my list of Top 50 all-time albums and their next one "Rock Animals" is also very good. And did I mention... these girls ROCK!

 

…it’s so funny, amusing, and very addicting. I know most people won't give them credit and pass them off as a novelty, but their songs are amazing... and they have a since of humor. My favorite track on the album is the 50's-like "Cycling Is Fun"... 

 

music

 

review

 

I want to go I want to go
To the green fields with you baby
C'mon let's go wo wo wo...
Riding on a bicycle together
We could ride forever
C'mon let's go wo wo wo... 
Riding on the cycling road
Everyone is having fun
Riding on the cycling road
Nobody knows our cycling road 

Run run run de run
Ride, riding on a bicycle 

I want to go I want to go
To the green fields with you baby
C'mon let's go wo wo wo...
Riding on a bicycle together
We could ride forever
C'mon let's go wo wo wo... 

Riding on the cycling road
See the green trees passing by
Sun is shining down on me
I don't have to wonder why 

Run run run de run
Ride, riding on a bicycle 

Riding on the cycling road
Green green grass surrounding me
Wind is blowing through the trees
Sun is bright and I feel happy