Matthew Price - Freedom Machine

Artist: Matthew Price

Song: Freedom Machine

Album: Stranded (2009)

Genuine acoustic songs with lyrics and harmonies that become part of your life.

Matthew Price describes his music as freewheeling folk rock. He combines vivid, authentic stories with rhythmic, contagious melodies to offer listeners songs that they will never forget. Imagine Jack Johnson meets John Prine. The album was produced by Rob Stroup of 8 Ball Studios in Portland, Oregon. Matthew and Rob brought in some of the finest musicians in the Northwest to participate on the album. Credits include Tony Furtado, Skip Von Kuske, Drew Shoals, and Arthur Parker, among others. The seven song EP that resulted is a breathtakingly beautiful and tasteful representation of the music. Instrumentation includes, upright bass, acoustic drums, piano, Hammond B3 organ, dobro, cello, pedal steel, acoustic and electric guitar, electric slide, and rich harmonies. There is no filler on this album; just seven of Matthew’s best songs, period.

Video: Matthew Price plays guitar and sings his original song, Freedom Machine, while riding his bike, live sound and all. Filmed by Dan Smith.

John McCutcheon - Riding My Bike

Artist: John McCutcheon

Song: Riding My Bike

Album: John McCutcheon Four Season’ Summer Songs (1995)

John McCutcheon (born August 14, 1952) is an American folk music singer and multi-instrumentalist who has produced 34 albums since the 1970s.

Summersongs is the first of John McCutcheon's Four Seasons series of family albums celebrating each season of the year. McCutcheon, whose previous family albums have received awards from the American Library Association and Parents' Choice Magazine, masterfully evokes children's sentiments of summer, from swimming holes, ice cream men and lawn mowers to backyard camping and meteor showers. Adults will be surprised at how easily their own summer memories return. Come spend the summer with John McCutcheon and this uplifting family recording.

**Winner of the 1995 NAPPA (National Association of Parenting Publications) Gold Award
**ALA (American Library Association) Notable Children's Recording
**Grammy nominee for Best Musical Album For Children for 1995

"A terrific collection . . . most of the dozen tunes are irresistibly cheerful."—Booklist

"The first of a planned 'four seasons' series, this John McCutcheon masterpiece just might have you barefoot and mixin' lemonade in the dead of winter. The subject matter of the songs will bring a smile to kids and a memory to adults. . . ." —San Diego Parent Magazine

This looks so easy
But this is so hard
I practiced all summer
Out in my back yard
Mom running before me
Dad right beside
Watching me close
With their arms open wide

Chorus

Mother, I'm flying
Come catch me, Dad
The most wonderful feeling
That I've ever had
I'm riding, I'm falling
I'm falling, I'm riding
I'm falling, I'm riding my bike

My friends all have fancy ones
Ten, fifteen gears
Mine is a Schwinn
That my Mom's had for years
With its big old fat tires
Its ragged old seat
I think it's the coolest bike
Out on our street

Chorus

Tricycles, training wheels
Tell them good-bye
We just don't need them,
My old bike and I
Three wheels are too many
One is too few
Now that I'm six
I'll just get by on two

Chorus

Darren Hanlon - The Kickstand Song

Artist: Darren Hanlon

Song: The Kickstand Song

Album: Hello Stranger (2002)

Darren Hanlon's debut full-length consists of 10 pop songs that bring to mind the whimsical, light-hearted music of the 60s with a modern bent. This Australian singer/songwriter evokes images of Billy Bragg, Jonathan Richman, and Evan Dando.

On the consummately enjoyable Hello Stranger, his first full-length release following on the heels of his Australian breakthrough EP, Early Days, Darren Hanlon delivers the logical follow-up, further refining his impressively accomplished pop hooks and lyrical wit. This is a perfectly vibrant mix, with the arrangements crackling with a live intensity and musical looseness, and Hanlon proves himself a songwriter and tunesmith clearly in the line of greats like Elvis Costello and Billy Bragg in his ability to pair memorable melodies with clever songwriting. Even with rather odd lyrical subjects, such as the man who invented the kickstand in the strangely earnest "The Kickstand Song," his songs rarely suffer from an overreaching sense of wistfulness.

From start to finish, Hello Stranger rings out with a true buoyancy and ultimately rates as one of the rare jewels in a rather ho-hum season of singer/songwriter releases. Matt Fink - www.allmusic.com

Up until now my ideas have been latent

The cycling world will never be the same

But come first light I'll be taking out a patent

And from that day

If a bike be found lying on the ground again

I'm not to blame

What joy it'll bring, piece of metal and a spring

Bolted down by the back wheel, activated by the heel

What joy it'll bring, piece of metal and a spring

What chicken laid the egg from whence inside an idea hatches?

From prototype to production lines to the first one hundred batches

I will do for parking bikes what anchors did for sailing

What joy it'll bring, piece of metal and a spring

There's handle bars for steering and there's tyre tread for traction

A tiny bell for friends you pass and greet

But when they add my ingenious contraption

Mouths will fall

And eyebrows will rise and staring eyes will meet

The bike complete

What joy it'll bring, piece of metal and a spring

Bolted down by the back wheel, activated by the heel

What joy it'll bring, piece of metal and a spring

There'll be articles in newspapers and dinners at the town hall

My first cheque's for a thousand bucks, now that's one spicy meatball

But all the fame and fortune in the world will not compare

To the joy it'll bring, piece of metal and a spring

Spring

Now bikes around the world can stand alone without their owners

And I can get some cash on the side but that's just a bonus

When underneath their helmets I will see their smiling faces

What joy it'll bring, piece of metal and a spring

Piece of metal and a spring

Silver Jews - Aloysius, Bluegrass Drummer

Artist: Silver Jews

Song: Aloysius, Bluegrass Drummer

Album: Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea (2008)

Silver Jews was an indie rock band from New York City, formed in 1989… Wikipedia

The Silver Jews' sixth album cover - wherein three stuffed Babar toys climb onto a rocky outcrop - mysteriously and trickily relates to the record's tales of virtue gone to seed.

The album

Review

Aloysius, Bluegrass Drummer :
Aloysius was a bluegrass drummer
He was just a normal kid
Blooming, tripping flowing under
Just as I once did

At a 24 hour restaurant
Open to the end of time
He was washing dishes there
When he met brick butterfly

She was a no age singer for a country act
Working at a region ten
She was all strung out on hard street fat
But he didn’t know it then

First a look then a spark
Sound of Velcro in the dark
His heart is spinning like a bicycle wheel
She and he laid the stems down flat
In the middle of a field

Brick butterfly had a history
of sleeping with the kitchen staff
She was a hardcore gobbler
and longtime guzzler of hydrogenated crap

Suet, tallow, liquid squeals
great mounds of plastic lard
That’s what she got the lad to steal
on the night that he got fired

Aloysius woke at five am
the hungry girl was gone
There was blood in the bedding
forks in the ceiling
And bones all over the lawn

Like any strong young poet would
He packed his bags for region ten
I guess now I know him less than I ever knew him then
Yes I guess I know him even less than I ever knew him then

Ghoti Hook - My Bike

Artist: Ghoti Hook
Song: My Bike
Album: Banana Moon (1996)

Formed in the autumn of 1991, the Washington D.C.-based pop-punk outfit Ghoti Hook comprised singer Joel Bell, guitarists/cousinsConrad and Jamie Tolosa, bassist Christian Ergueta and drummerAdam Neubauer. After developing a strong fan following in the northeastern U.S., in 1996 Ghoti Hook issued their debut LP Sumo Surprise; after the release of Banana Man the following year, Conrad -- also the group's primary songwriter -- exited to return to school. A covers project, Songs We Didn't Write, appeared in 1998. Two Years to Never followed two years later.

Banana Man is Ghoti Hook's second CD on Tooth and Nail Records. It continues the band's trademark sound started with Sumo Surprise, combining Christianity with humor and fast melodic punk.

(…) This was a pretty good cd. I have to say though, it wasnt as good as their previous CD, because the lyrics weren't nearly as deep (although they did have a few serious songs on this album, it was more just funny and messing around). This definately was their last REALLY good album though....after Conrad left, they lost alot of their musical talent as he was pretty much their main music writer and lyric writer. Notice they did a cover CD after he left because they weren't all that good of songwriters wihtout him. ANYWAYS, this is a good, happy, fun punk CD, and Ghoti Hook is a great band....even in their later CDs.

There's just one thing that I love more than anything.
I hold it so near to my heart.
It has just one gear and a pair of blue training wheels,
A headlight to see in the dark.
I like my bike.
It's not like other bikes.
It has pinwheels and a purple banana seat,
Loud cards in the spokes as they bend.
It has a big horn that I honk when you're in my way,
So I don't run over my friends.
I like my bike.
It's not like other bikes.
I ride my bike to the girl that I like,
And she looks at me and my bike.
A tear fills her eye as she's filled with great pride,
When I ask her to take a ride.
Me and my girl, we ride all over town on it.
My guide is the street and the sun.
We stop for a shake--I pretend we'll share all of it,
When I hit the eject button.

I like my bike.
It's not like other bikes.

Video live

Wild Billy Childish - Medway Wheelers

Artist: Wild Billy Childish And The Buff Medways

Song: Medway Wheelers

Album: Medley wheelers (2006)

The Wild Billy Childish saga continues apace - his latest musical ship is the mod/rock/pop combo The Buff Medways. Depending on whose point of view you listen to, we will call this the Buff’s fourth offering of hip-dom. It’s all got a little funkier on this new Damaged Goods release, ‘Medway Wheelers’.

Medway Wheelers is the fourth album from Wild Billy Childish & the Friends of the Buff Medways Fanciers Assoc., or The Buff Medways for short. The record includes the singles(I'm a) Lie Detector and Medway Wheelers.

(…)

The title track Medway Wheelers may be the standout track for the whole record. It is rare that we get to hear Billy sing instead of shout, and the subject of the song (his Mom and her bicycle club) is dear to him, so the track has a warmth that makes it connect like the best pop-psyche tracks it seems to be modelled on. Despite showing a softer side of Billy, the bridge in the track amps up the sound with an aggressive instrumental burst that supercharges the song.

Robert Earl Keen - Ride

Artist: Robert Earl Keen

Song: Ride

Album: What I Really Mean (2005)

Robert Earl Keen, Junior (born January 11, 1956 in Houston, Texas) is a Texan singer-songwriter. He is popular with traditional country music fans, folk music fans, the college radio crowd and alt-country fans. Keen currently resides in Kerrville, Texas and maintains a ranch in Medina, Texas.

review

video live

music

One day after twenty-five years
Head of service at the local Sears
Helen Walker put her pencil down and walked away
And all they found was a little note
'Adios' was all she wrote
But as she left, someone heard her say

"Gonna buy me a ticket to the end of the line
Wanna feel the air, breathe the countryside
As long as those wheels keep rollin', I'll be satisfied
Gonna ride, ride, ride"

Saturday night I was down at Joe's
He was moppin' up gettin' ready to close
He sat down and poured me one last brew
And he said to me with a sideways glance
"If I ever get the chance
I'm gonna sell this joint, and this is what I'll do"

"Gonna buy me a ticket to the end of the line
Wanna feel the air, breathe the countryside
As long as those wheels keep rollin', I'll be satisfied
Gonna ride, ride, ride"

I suppose I could stay
In this little town 'til my dying day
But in my heart I know I've gotta go
So I'm standin' at the station waitin' for the train
Don't know when I'll be back again
Mr. Engineer, won't you let your whistle blow

Got me a ticket to the end of the line
Wanna feel the air, breathe the countryside
As long as those wheels keep rollin', I'll be satisfied
Gonna ride, ride, ride

As long as those wheels keep rollin', I'll be satisfied
Gonna ride, ride, ride
Gonna ride, ride, ride

MewithoutYou - Four World Letter (Pt. Two)

Artist: MewithoutYou

Song: Four Word Letter (Pt. Two)

Album: Catch For Us The Foxes (2004)

A blend of experimental rock structures, punky energy, spoken-word melodies, and Judeo-Christian content characterizes the output of mewithoutYou, a Philadelphia-based band that formed in 2001. Having grown up listening to Jawbox and Burning Airlines, brothers Aaron and Michael Weiss initially cut their hard rock teeth as frontmen of the Operation. After releasing an album with the help of Takehold Records, the Operation's members decided to launch a side project in order to experiment with new sounds. The Weiss brothers subsequently formed mewithoutYou with help from bassist Ray Tadeo, guitarist Christopher Kleinberg, and drummer Richard Mazzotta. Tooth & Nail was taken by the fiery five-piece's raw appeal and inked them a deal, with bassist Daniel Pishock replacing the departing Tadeo. The Operation disbanded shortly thereafter, allowing the musicians to focus their efforts on the new band. more

I wrote a four word letter,
With post-script in crooked lines,
"Tho I'd lived I'd never been alive."
You know who I am - you held my hem
As I traveled blind
Listening to a whispering in my ear,
Soft but getting stronger,
Telling me the only purpose of my being here
Is to stay a bit longer.

Stealing a bicycle chain,
As the handlebars crashed to the ground,
The back wheel detached from the frame,
It kept rolling, yeah, but aimlessly drifting around.

Oh, doubters, let's go down,
Lets go down - won't you come on down?
Oh doubters, lets go down-
Down, to the river to pray?

"But I'm so small I can barely be seen - how can this great love be inside of me?"
Look at your eyes - they're small in size, but they see enormous things.

Wearing black canvas slippers
In our frog-on-a-lily-pad pose
We sewed buttons and zippers
To chinese pink silk
And olive night clothes
If you can someday stop by
Somehow we'll show you the pictures and fix you some tea
(see, my dad's getting a bit older now and just unimaginably lonely).

Oh, pretenders, let's go down
Lets go down- won't you come on down?
Oh, pretenders
Lets go down-
Down to the river and pray?

"Oh but I'm so afraid, and I'm set in my ways"
But he'll make the rabbits and rocks sing his praise.
"But I'm too tired, I won't last long."
No, he'll use the weak to overcome the strong!

Oh, Amanda, let's go down
Lets go down- won't you come on down?
Mama, Nana, lets go down, down in the dirt by the river to pray?

You struke the match - why not be utterly changed by fire?
To sacrifice the shadow and the mist
Of a brief life you never much liked - So if you'd care to come along we're gonna curb all our never-ending,
clever complaining (as who's ever heard of a singer criticized by his song?)
We hunger, but though all that we eat brings us little relief we don't know quite what else to do,
We have all our beliefs but we don't want our beliefs,
God of peace, we want you.

MewithoutYou performs their song "Four Word Letter (Pt. Two)" live for your listening pleasure from the "Come and Live Tour". A tour for charity, proceeds going to Samaritan's Purse. If you want to hear the studio version of the song you should pick up their CD "Catch For Us The Foxes" on Tooth & Nail Records.

Eric Herman and The Invisible Man - The World's Fastest Bicycle

Artist: Eric Herman and the Invisible Man

Song: The World’s Fastest Bicycle

Album: The Kid in the Mirror

The Kid in the Mirror is the debut CD by Eric Herman and the Invisible Band. Highly acclaimed by kids and adults alike, The Kid in the Mirror features ten songs, including "There's a Monster in My House", "The World's Fastest Bicycle" and the much beloved "The Elephant Song".

"Engagingly sublime, with sophisticated artistry and magnificent wit." - Mindy, age 3

"Way cool!" - Sir Lord Alastair Huffington III, age 84

The Kid In The Mirror rocks with 10 tracks of cool tunes for kids, including such instant classics as "The Dinosaur, the Dodo and the Unicorn", "Video Game", "There's a Monster in My House" and "The Tiger and the Zebra". Five of the songs feature words written by renowned funny poetry author Kenn Nesbitt. Inventive arrangements, snazzy sound effects, imaginative lyrics, the engaging voice of Eric Herman and the punchy tightness and visual appeal of the Invisible Band all put The Kid In The Mirror at the forefront of contemporary children's music.

The real story about what happened to the dinosaurs, dodo birds and unicorns... An all-consuming video game... An extremely fast bicycle... A noisy, sleep-depriving monster... Ethereal dreams of flying... A hungry tiger and tasty zebra... A dangerously crazy mountain road...

Clapping, dancing and jumping along with the kid in the mirror... Elephants that swing through trees... The sun in a bathing suit and the moon in pajamas...

Yes, this album has it all! :o)

And here's the blah blah blah part...

Eric Herman has been a regular music and theater performer/writer in the Western New York area for over 15 years (by the name 'Eric Endres'). He has released several recordings of original music, spanning a wide variety of styles, and has regularly been nominated for area music awards. In addition to performing theater roles including Harold Hill and Alfie Dolittle, Eric has also written the book, lyrics and music for two full-length musical comedies, the first of which, A Week In The Life, was produced at the Alleyway Theatre in Buffalo, NY 2003 to much success and acclaim.

As a performer, Eric is known for being an accomplished and versatile guitarist and vocalist who performs poignant and memorable songs with a humorous and engaging stage manner that entertains audiences of all ages. Early in 2003, Eric began performing music for children at schools, day cares and other events, and quickly gained a reputation for involving kids in the performances and eliciting enthusiastic responses. Eric often performs with his backup group, The Invisible Band, which includes some of the finest invisible musicians in the world, adding a creative and fun element to the convention of backing tracks.

Eric's first album of music for children, The Kid In The Mirror, features ten memorable songs of tremendous wit, depth and musical craft, including five songs with words by popular funny poetry writer Kenn Nesbitt. Above all catchy, humorous, fun and imaginative in its variety of songs, The Kid In The Mirror also touches appropriately and creatively on important subjects like personal safety, self-esteem and bravery in the face of life's challenges.

review

My bicycle's the fastest that the world has ever seen.
It has supersonic engines and a flame-retardant sheen.
My bicycle will travel a gazillion miles an hour.
It has rockets on the handlebars for supersonic power.

Every time I take a ride everybody's eyes get wide-
"Wow! Cool!"

Zoom! Zoom! Zoom! Vroom! Vroom! Vroom!
Go! Go! Go! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!
Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!
Zoom! Zoom! Zoom! Vroom! Vroom! Vroom!
Go! Go! Go! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!
Here I come now on my bike!

The pedals both are jet-propelled to help you pedal faster.
The shifter is equipped with an electric turbo blaster.
The fender has a parachute in case you need to brake.
My bike is undeniably the fastest one they make.

Every time I take it out everybody starts to shout-
"Wow! Cool!"

Zoom! Zoom! Zoom! Vroom! Vroom! Vroom!
Go! Go! Go! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!
Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!
Zoom! Zoom! Zoom! Vroom! Vroom! Vroom!
Go! Go! Go! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!
Here I come now on my bike!

Yeah yeah, I could ride it day and night.
Yeah yeah, it's faster than the speed of light.

My bicycle's incredible. I love the way it feels.
And I'll like it even more when Dad removes the training wheels…

Zoom! Zoom! Zoom! Vroom! Vroom! Vroom!
Go! Go! Go! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!
Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!

Freezepop - Bike Thief

Artist: Freezepop

Song: Bike Thief

Album: Fancy Ultra*Fresh (2004)

Freezepop is an indie New Wave/Synthpop band composed of Liz Enthusiasm and the Other Sean T. Drinkwater (who claims to be a clone of the "original" Sean T. Drinkwater). They formed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1999. The band is named after the frozen snack. The members describe their music as "sweet and cold and fruity and plastic-y", much like the snack

biography

Fancy Ultra•Fresh is the second full-length studio album.

"Bike Thief (Schnellspanner Remix)" is featured in Downhill Domination video game.

review

music

what is not, not to like, a shiny bike
no lock, no key...it's there for me
it's for real, i'm gonna steal a pair of wheels
FSU...now you can too

I know soon that someone else
will claim my new bike for themselves
waiting for their lucky day
to make a speedy getaway

I am a bike thief...

our friend the dane, he does the same, no lock, no chain
he rides around ...all over town
to travel far, without a car, he pedals hard
so join the fun...you could have one

want to get from here to there
a bike can take me anywhere
it's not mine, but I don't care
I've had enough of playing fair

i'm riding free
so come with me
we'll be carefree
say it with me

I am a bike thief...

scope it out, you'll be without the slightest doubt
you want it now, i'll show you how
go down tonite, the time is right, it's in your sights
and if you dare, it's sitting there

I know soon that someone else
will claim my new bike for themselves
waiting for their lucky day
to make a speedy getaway
want to get from here to there
a bike can take me anywhere
it's not mine, but I don't care
I've had enough of playing fair

I am a bike thief...

Cibo Matto - Sci-Fi Wasabi

Artist: Cibo Matto

Song: Sci-Fi Wasabi

Album: Stereo * Type A (1999)

A Japanese-born duo relocated to New York and christened with an Italian band name, Cibo Matto's music mirrored the melting-pot aesthetics of their origins, resulting in a heady brew of funk samples, hip-hop rhythms, tape loops, and fractured pop melodies all topped off by surreal narratives sung in a combination of French and broken English. more

… Their sound has been described as a combination of "Jazz, Hip-Hop, Brazilian music, African Drumming, Japanese Rock, Disco samples, and the cheap, under-funded, un-talented but, nevertheless, creative and genius of the spirit of the underbelly of the city."

This song gots the panic and exhilaration of city riding down.

review

What's up B? Wa-sa-bi
I'm searchin' the city for sci-fi wasabi
The start button has been pushed already
Obi-Wan Kenobi is waiting for me in Union Square
My wheel needs repair. The bike lane's glowing all over the city
My bike specializes in the nitty-gritty
New York City never had equality, it's reality, economic duality
Where are my amenities
Tell me my sanity
Ain't no analogy for individuality, I got immunity from multiplicity
That's how we do it. We got your harmony.
Where's you're identity?
Our name is stereotype with an A
I got to get the shit straight
Your vision of stupidity's made of vanity
Keep your quality up in the sky
There is a hole on Broadway, no control, it's in my way
I feel no goal. Where is my soul?
I got no reset for this game
A.O.K. gotta find an alley anyway
My hair turns grey day by day
Don't erase your points, you've got your pace
Don't waste your days, get your innerspace
Don't give me chase, I'm at St. Marks Place
Feeling Stromboli, not ravioli
I'm charging my energy fresh as a daisy
Biologically let your system know what's up
Here comes your twin hopper
Yuka Honda knows her water - Pass the Volvic
No wonder her fingers are smooth like butter
It's specific. No mind traffic

I'm Miho Hatori straight outta purgatori
Ai? Ai? Alright? I'm passing on your right
Don't be snobby with me
Not aioli, surely not Moby
Obi-Wan Kenobi told me in the lobby
Technically I'm free and I can find the key
Our name is stereotype with an A
I've got to get the shit straight. Can you relate, my mate?
Don't be late, my gate is open
Downtown still sends me up in the sky

video live

Amy Correia - The Bike

Artist: Amy Correia

Song: The Bike

Album: Carnival Love (2000)

Tactile experiences played a prominent role in Los Angeles singer/songwriter Amy Correia's construction of a song. Sometimes, the imagery took her back to a childhood memory as was the case with the bearded lady winking at a tattooed man in her song "Carnival." Other times, a poem did the trick. "Daydream Car" came from poet Patrick Cavanaugh's The Hunger. A Louisiana nightclub experience helped to produce the mournful song "Blind River Boy." Correia, from Lakeville, MA, made waves with her 2000 debut CD, Carnival Love (Capitol), with its richly melodic mix of mournful tales and whimsical stories created from a childlike, imaginary dreamworld. Her background as a short story writer and lover of literature surely contributed to the emotional depth of her songs. She confessed a love for short stories by writers as diverse as James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway, and Flannery O'Connor, whose writings she explored as a student at Barnard College. more

The honeyed rasp of Massachusetts native Amy Correia is the perfect vehicle for the sharp melodic sense and captivating imagery that's on display throughout her debut. Highlighted by the endlessly striking likes of "Daydream Car" and "The Bike", Carnival Love introduces a performer with an intriguing future. --Rickey Wright

In an era of ethereal female singer-songwriters, Amy Correia's Carnival Love marks the arrival of a talent whose concerns are rooted in the earthly. In a voice that at once conveys a sense of both itch and scratch--and often accompanied, Waits-like, by her own baritone ukelele--this East Coaster delivers tales of damaged people (the devastated Korean War vets of "Chinatown" and "The Bike," the grownup "crying in a company car" in "Angels Collide") and dented romance ("Gin," "Starfishin'"). Even Correia's moments of escape and whimsy are fully grounded; "Daydream Car" acknowledges that hanging out is a game best played by two, while "Carnival" updates "Wild Billy's Circus Story." Correia is outstanding in a crowded field. --Rickey Wright

review

I became the heiress to a red and rusted bicycle
Built like a tank from Sears Roebuck circa 1952
It had been entrusted to me by my late great uncle Pat
And I guess he didn't ride it much
Both tires on the bike were flat
Pat had died at Christmas time in 1991
He had fallen off the wagon
And he sunk into a Christmas funk
My father he had found him
Two days after he had died
Well he drank himself to death one night
In a little home he owned by the seaside
So I took the bike and I cleaned it up
My father he patched up the tires
Am I going to town or just spinning my wheels
And when I die I wonder how it feels
Hey and I'm riding around riding around on it
Hey just riding around riding around on it
Hey you know I'm riding around
riding around on it. Hey!
The funeral service was a few days later
At a place down the street from where he had lived
There wasn't a hell of a turn out
He had never married and he never had kids
The coffin lid was open
Pat was lying inside
His sister had a picture of a poodle named Pepper
She put it in his hand and then she cried
Now I'm riding around in the city
Through the smog and the summer heat
And I'm blowing through all the red lights
I guess you could say I'm feeling lucky
And the taxis and the trucks
Everybody's blowin' their horns
And I got a bicycle bell to ring
And I got a notion to sing as I'm riding along

Well I didn't even really know him at all
And I wonder can he see me
As I'm riding along
Riding along
The day that Pat was buried
The air was cold and clear
And we drove out to the cemetery
And snow flew around in the air
And a hired man from the State
He played taps on a coronet
And a flag was presented to his sister
For time in the service that Pat had spent
When he used to ride on the bike
Way back in 52
He was starting out a life
And the bike it was brand new
And life was laid before him like
a platter before a king
He was young and he was handsome
and the world was alive with meaning
The world was alive with meaning

Tom Waits - Broken Bicycles

Artist: Tom Waits

Song: Broken Bicycles

Album: One From The Heart (1982)

Tom Waits, according to the esteemed American critic Robert Hilburn, is "clearly one of the most important figures of the modern pop era". Such sentiments are not mere hyperbole; in a career that now spans four decades and over 20 albums, Tom Waits has long since emerged as an extraordinary innovative force, a singular voice whose music remains determinedly-and even gloriously - well beyond the trivial fads and fashions of popular culture. Waits' latest release, the 3CD set Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards adds further weight to that stellar reputation. more

Broken Bicycles was included in “One From The Heart”, the original soundtrack of the F. F. Coppola movie.

Bicycle becomes a metaphor for regrets by this master storyteller. (Bike&Chain)

There are numerous covers of this classic track. One, by Maura O’Connell, is here.

See also cover by Veronica Mortensen, Elvis Costello, and many others.

review

music

Broken bicycles, old busted chains
With rusted handle bars, out in the rain
Somebody must have an orphanage for
All these things that nobody wants any more
September's reminding July
It's time to be saying goodbye
Summer is gone, but our love will remain
Like old broken bicycles out in the rain

Broken bicycles, don't tell my folks
There’s all those playing cards pinned to the spokes
Laid down like skeletons out on the lawn
The wheels won't turn when the other has gone
The seasons can turn on a dime
Somehow I forget every time
For all the things that you've given me will always stay
Broken, but I'll never throw them away

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Mal Webb - Trainer Wheels

Artist: Mal Webb

Song: Trainer Wheels

Album: Trainer Wheels (2000)

Mal Webb (born 1966 in Melbourne, Australia) is a multi-instrumentalist who is currently a prominent (yet obscure) figure in the Australian music scene. Webb is known for an eclectic range of musical styles and techniques, his vocal talents, which include Pygmy Yodeling, a variety of Overtone singing styles, extensive use of Falsetto and Beatboxing.

biography

The irony of this song is that Dad never let us have trainer wheels! Though we did have a brown EH Holden, which we eventually sold to buy a Leyland P76 (great car!) For me, it's more about growing up and never really being able to go home again: Being lumbered with the label adult when you just feel like a dolt. This song was majorly inspired by some very poignant Charlie Brown cartoons. "Hold my hand, Chuck!"

(for all my family)

When I took off my trainer wheels
I hit the road and skinned my knee
And stubbed my toe as I stood up
And banged my head upon a tree
My brother asked "Are you OK?"
So many times it drove me nuts
Deaf, dumb and blind in agony
I had to punch him in the guts

I'm a baby in a pram
Playing chicken with a tram

Back seat of the brown EH
Heading homeward late at night
The streetlights stroke me half asleep
And everything will be alright
'Cos mum and dad are in the front
Their murmurs ripple over me
And no divorce could strip away
This blanket of security

I should've left my trainer wheels on
Another day would've done
If I'd thought to think it through
And high up on my tin can stilts
Adult stamped upon my brow
With an O instead of U

When I took off my trainer wheels
Dad gave them to the kid next door
"They'll just clutter up the shed
And we don't need them anymore"
So now I ride a bike with ease
Around the block I'm free to roam
Down any path, up any street
Except the one that heads for home

Mal Webb - Bike

Artist: Mal Webb

Song: Bike

Album: Trainer Wheels (2000)

Mal Webb (born 1966 in Melbourne, Australia) is a multi-instrumentalist who is currently a prominent (yet obscure) figure in the Australian music scene. Webb is known for an eclectic range of musical styles and techniques, his vocal talents, which include Pygmy Yodeling, a variety of Overtone singing styles, extensive use of Falsetto and Beatboxing.

biography

This song began as a Conga line theme for "The Adventures of Lano and Woodley" TV show ("The Wall" episode).

Push on a pedal, push on a pedal

Get your (gasp) heart started

Push on a pedal

Push it down and up again

Get on your bike, sit on the seat

Push your feet on the pedals

And ride it all around

Ride it all around

Oh, get that car out of my way

I want to ride my bike today

It keeps me fit and gets me there

And won't go stinking up the air

Leave behind the daily grind

And let your mind unwind

If it's life you tend to like

You'd better get yourself a bike

Oh, oh, get yourself a bike

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