Beach Boys - You Still Believe In Me

Artist: Beach Boys

Song: You Still Believe In Me

Album: Pet Sounds (1966)

The Beach Boys are known as one of the most influential pop groups ever, and are especially renowned for their masterpiece album Pet Sounds, which is often considered the greatest pop album of all time. Led by Brian Wilson, they initially had success extolling the virtues of California, surfing and sunshine with obviously commercial pop songs. But Wilson went on to develop ambitious artistic ideas… Read more

Every piece of Wilson's masterwork is reverentially placed back together. The bicycle bells on ''You Still Believe In Me'', that strange underwater guitar on ''Pet Sounds'', the forlorn soundtrack of barking dogs and passing trains that concludes ''Caroline, No''. ''Let's Go Away For Awhile'' retains its elusively unhummable melody while the opening bars to ''God Only Knows'' bring audience members to tears. Rather than being denigrated, the legend emerges enhanced perhaps even more powerful and poignant in this new context. Over a generation later and these songs still retain their magic.

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This was the first song on Pet Sounds to which Asher wrote lyrics. The lead vocal was sung by Brian Wilson. The song was originally titled "In My Childhood" and a bicycle horn and bell from "In My Childhood" can be heard at the end of the song because they could not be edited out of the final track. This song "compositionally embodies the unique manner in which Brian writes his music. In a sense, Brian created a new way of using the scale. His progressions are always going up, then pausing before they go up again, like they're going towards God."^[1]

In the original mono version of the song, the lead is shared by Brian and Carl Wilson. The 1997 stereo version, due to inability to locate the source material for Carl's vocal overdub, has only a single-tracked lead by Brian.

To achieve the unique sound in the introduction, Tony Asher explains that "one of us had to get inside the piano to pluck the strings, while the other guy had to be at the keyboard pushing the notes so that they would ring." Brian in 1966 explained that this song is "A little 'Boys Choir'-type song with me doing the soprano. Very, very spiritual."

I know perfectly well
I'm not where I should be
I've been very aware
You've been patient with me

Every time we break up
You bring back your love to me
And after all I've done to you
How can it be

You still believe in me

I try hard to be more
What you want me to be
But I can't help how I act
When you're not here with me

I try hard to be strong
But sometimes I fail myself
And after all I've promised you
So faithfully

You still believe in me

I wanna cry . . .

Nazareth - My White Bicycle

Artist: Nazareth

Song: My White Bicycle

Originating in Dunfermline, Scotland in 1969 from the ashes of the semi-professional band The Shadettes, Nazareth -- Dan McCafferty (vocals), Manny Charlton (guitar), Pete Agnew (bass) and Darrell Sweet (drums) - made it big after relocating to London and landing a recording contract with Pegasus records. They released their self titled debut album in 1971 and a second album Exercises1972. It was their third release Razamanaz, in early 1973, that resulted in their first charting singles, "Broken Down Angel" and "Bad Bad Boy", both of which made it into the UK Top Ten. more

From Wikipedia: (…) A non-album song, again a cover version, this time of Tomorrow's "My White Bicycle", was a UK Top 20 entry in 1975

The original one, by Tomorrow

My white bicycle, my white bicycle

Riding all around the street
Four o'clock and they're all asleep
I'm not tired and it's so late
Moving fast everything looks great.

My white bicycle, my white bicycle

See that man, he's all alone
Looks so happy but he's far from home
Ring my bell, smile at him
Better kick over his garbage bin

My white bicycle, my white bicycle

The rain comes down but i don't care
The wind is blowing in my hair
Seagulls flying in the air

My white bicycle

Lead:

Policeman shouts but i don't see him
They're one thing i don't believe in
Find some judge, but it's not leavin'

Lift both hands, his head in disgrace
Shines no light upon my face
Through the darkness, we still speed
My white bicycle and me

My white bicycle, my white bicycle

Live

Neko Case - Duchess

Artist: Neko Case

Song: Duchess

Album: The Virginian (1997)

Neko Case's solo debut is a delightful collection of heartfelt originals and vibrant covers ranging from traditional country fare (Ernest Tubb's "Thanks a Lot," Loretta Lynn's "Somebody Led Me Away") to more eclectic material (Scott Walker's "Duchess" amazing cover). The highlight is a rip-snorting rendition of the Everly Brothers' "Bowling Green," a duet with Zumpano's Carl Newman.

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It's your bicycle bells
And your Rembrandt swells
You're children like
And still breathing
It's your look of loss
When you're coming across
Makes me feel like a thief
When you're bleeding

Duchess, Duchess
Light up your candles for me
Duchess, Duchess
Put all the love back in me

It's the Persian sea
Running through your veins
You shed your names
With the seasons
Still they all return
With there last remains
As they lay them before you
Like breezes

It's your shimmering dress
It says no
It says yes
It says i've nothing left for concealing
It's your shapeless flesh
And your old girl's grace
It's your young girl's face
That I'm breathing

Duchess, Duchess
Light up your candles for me
Duchess, Duchess
Put all the love back in me

I'm lying
She's crying

Jad Fair Yo La Tengo - High School Shop Class Construts Bicycle Built for 26

Artist: Jad Fair & Yo La Tengo

Song: High School Shop Class Construts Bicycle Built for 26

Album: Strange But True (1998)

Strange But True contains 22 brief aphorisms inspired by absurd tabloid headlines. It is not unusual that Jad Fair is at his best when he is at his most frivolous.

Recorded over a two-day period, Strange but True doesn't sacrifice the talents of its individual collaborators. Jad Fair's nasally spoken musings, penned by his Half Japanese bandmate and brother, David, draw on supermarket tabloids for their themes and titles (e.g., "Minnesota Man Claims Monkey Bowled Perfect Game," one of two monkey-themed tracks) while Hoboken, New Jersey, legends Yo La Tengo construct sonic foundations that are alternately hazy, loose, or steeped in old-fashioned garage rock. Almost every track on Strange but True was recorded in one improvised take with the headphone-less band members unaware of what Fair was waxing over the vocal tracks. They probably all had a good laugh over the final product, and most listeners will, too. Strange but True is neither a novelty album nor a beatnik-poetry farce but two indie-rock icons having fun to positive results. When's the last time you heard something like that? --Jason Josephes

Jad and Yo La Tengo understand the obscure forces that drive them all too well. When they were told to get a life, they bought in bulk.
(NME)

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Things got a little out of hand
In their high school metal shop
They constructed a bicycle built for two
Then decided they wouldn't stop
They welded together a number of bikes
So everyone had his own seat
After months of planning and welding and building
The project was finally complete
It had dozens and dozens of pedals
And plenty of headlights and bells
The frame and all the fenders
Were painted in pretty pastels
But it can't be removed from the classroom
The doorway is not very wide
And instead of the bikes lining up in a row
They connected them all side by side

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

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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

Cécile Schott (Colleen) - Bicycle Bells

Artist: Cécile Schott (Colleen)

Song: Bicycle Bells

Album: Colleen et les Boîtes à Musique (EP 2006)

Cécile Schott, from France, made her debut as Colleen with 2003's Everyone Alive Wants Answers. Released in 2003 on England's Leaf label, its dreamy and ambient but melodic material was based around heavily treated samples from her record collection. The album's reception led to performances, but she found herself uninterested in relying strictly on a laptop, so she incorporated instruments and effects, in addition to loops. As a result, 2005's The Golden Morning Breaks took on an organic sound relative to her debut, with several acoustic instruments (including guitars, old pianos, mallets, and even toy instruments) treated by effects. Her third proper album, 2007's Les Ondes Silencieuses, was preceded by an entry in the Staalplaat label's live series Mort aux Vaches, as well as the EP Colleen et les Boîtes à Musique (which was made with music boxes).

…is a generous EP (nearly 40 minutes) containing 13 pieces. Cécile Schott (aka Colleen) was commissioned to create for a special broadcast by the French government's Radiophonic Workshop, with the addition of "I'll Read You a Story," reprised from her 2005 album The Golden Morning Breaks. As the title implies (translation: Colleen and the music boxes), every one of these pieces apart from the languorous "Story" (which also features classical guitar) was made exclusively using music boxes, and it is likely as thorough an exploration of the possibilities of that instrument as has ever been conducted. Although the sonic palette is necessarily rather limited (Schott does expand it somewhat via electronic recording techniques), the range of moods and qualities she manages to evoke with it is impressively broad, encompassing the bleary, distended melancholy of "The Sad Panther," the jokey, scrappy "Charles's Birthday Card" and "A Bear Is Trapped" (shambolic reworkings of, respectively, "Rockabye Baby" and "Pop Goes the Weasel"), and the pure susurrating sweetness of the two-part "What Is a Componium?" (incidentally, it's a music box that allows you to create your own tunes using punch cards). As a whole, the record is both a marvelously inventive compositional project and a delightful, delicate, and enchanting collection of music, certainly among the loveliest offerings in Colleen's

Tenement Halls - Knitting Needles & Bicycle Bells

Artist: Tenement Halls

Album: Knitting Needles & Bicycle Bells (2006)

Rock*A*Teens frontman Chris Lopez returns with Tenement Halls, and their first album is both a departure from and a continuation of the earlier group's sound. The Rock*A*Teens were distinguished by the almost impossible amount of reverb they drenched their songs with, the gripping quality of Lopez's songs, and his keening wail of a vocal. On Knitting...

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Queen - Bicycle Race

Artist: Queen

Song: Bicycle Race

Album: Jazz (1978)

"Bicycle Race" is a single for the English rock band Queen. It was released on their 1978 album Jazz and written by Queen's frontman Freddie Mercury.

To release this song, Queen staged a bicycle race with 65 naked women. A clip from this race was used as the single cover. The video was originally banned, and the video had to be re-edited with colour added to censor out any offensive imagery. The song is famed for its 'bicycle bell solo', which fans would often replicate live at Queen concerts with their own such bells.

It was released as a Double-A side with the song "Fat Bottomed Girls". A still photograph from the naked bicycle race was used for the single cover, a pair of bikini bottoms crudely painted on the photo of the naked rider.

Four singles were released from “Jazz”:

"Bicycle Race"/"Fat Bottomed Girls (edit)" – Elektra E45541; released October, 1978

"Bicycle Race" and "Fat Bottomed Girls" were released in 1978 as a double A-side; the band staged a famous nude, all-female bicycle race to promote the single. The bicycle race took place on 17th September 1978 at Wimbledon Stadium in London. The picture sleeve showed a rear view of one of the ladies on her bicycle, but in the U.S. a pair of red panties were painted on to avoid public outcry. Legend has it that the band borrowed the bicycles from a store ("Halfords," according to the liner notes), but upon returning them were informed that they would have to purchase all the seats, as they had been used in an improper manner (i.e. without clothing).

 

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Bicycle bicycle bicycle
I want to ride my bicycle bicycle bicycle

I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride my bike
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride it where I like

You say black I say white
You say bark I say bite
You say shark I say hey man
Jaws was never my scene
And I don't like Star Wars
You say Rolls I say Royce
You say God give me a choice
You say Lord I say Christ
I don't believe in Peter Pan
Frankenstein or Superman
All I wanna do is

Bicycle bicycle bicycle
I want to ride my bicycle bicycle bicycle
I want to ride my bicycle 
I want to ride my bike
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride my

Bicycle races are coming your way
So forget all your duties oh yeah
Fat bottomed girls they'll be riding today
So look out for those beauties oh yeah
On your marks get set go
Bicycle race bicycle race bicycle race

Bicycle bicycle bicycle 
I want to ride my bicycle bicycle 
Bicycle bicycle bicycle
Bicycle race

You say coke I say caine
You say John I say Wayne
Hot dog I say cool it man
I don't wanna be the President of America
You say smile I say cheese
Cartier I say please
Income tax I say Jesus
I don't wanna be a candidate for
Vietnam or Watergate
Cause all I wanna do is

Bicycle bicycle bicycle
I want to ride my bicycle bicycle bicycle
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride my bike
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride it where I like

Napoleon XIV - I'm In Love With My Red Tricycle

Artist: Napoleon XIV

Song: I’m In Love With My Red Tricycle

Album: The Second Coming (1966)

 

The pseudonym of US songwriter, performer and recording engineer Jerry Samuels, Napoleon XIV burst into the US/UK Top 10 in the summer of 1966 with the bizarre "They're Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!". Although clearly a novelty song, its subject matter, mental illness (brought on by the loss of the singer's dog), prompted a ban on many American radio stations. An attempted follow-up, "I'm In Love With My Little Red Tricycle" failed to capture the public's imagination and Napoleon's credibility was further dented when it was revealed that the performer undertaking personal appearances to promote the record was not Samuels but a certain Richard Stern. The presence of Napoleon imitator Kim Fowley hardly helped matters. An album based round the hit with lyrics by comedy writer Jim Lehrer was rushed out but in spite of such amusing titles as "Photogenic, Schizophrenic You", "The Nuts In My Family Tree" and "Bats In My Belfry", it failed to sell in vast quantities. Its final track was not even by Napoleon but instead featured the strains of Josephine XV warbling the acerbic "I'm Happy They Took You Away, Ha-Haaa!". In 1990, Napoleon's finest moment was given a fresh airing courtesy of former Dead Kennedys vocalist Jello Biafra, whose new group Lard recorded a startling version of the hit.

 

The LP starts off with innocent little celeste playing a variant of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", and nice little bicycle bell FX. Very evocative of childhood...then Napoleon, in a kiddie voice, intones "Thirty days hath Septober/April June and no wonder/All the rest have peanut butter!/All except my dear grandmother./She had a little red tricycle......I stole it! hahahahahaha" and so begins the story of a man, 43, who likes to ride his little red tricycle, getting stern reminders from his peers to act his age; and at the end he confesses "I didn't really steal the tricycle from my grandmother....it followed me home! hahahaha" and the nice celeste and bells fade to a peaceful but insane close.

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Pink Floyd - Bike

Artist: Pink Floyd

Song: Bike

Album: The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn (1967)

 

The Piper at the Gates of Dawn is Pink Floyd's debut album and the only one made under Syd Barrett's leadership, although he made some contributions to the follow-up, A Saucerful of Secrets. It has been regarded as one of the most influential albums ever made, being a tremendous influence on the psychedelic rock scene of the time and much of what followed.

The album has whimsical lyrics about space, scarecrows, gnomes, bicycles and fairytales, along with psychedelic instrumental passages.

 

The album concludes with the whimsical "Bike" (also left off the original US vinyl release in favor of "See Emily Play") which then turns into a collage of sound effects and duck-call noises. "Bike" was originally entitled "The Bike Song", and it was recorded on 21 May 1967.

 

Bike is absolutely out of this world because it's so magical, the absolute raw energy spitting out of Barrett's mouth is wonerously beutiful and rising intense sound effects seem to spiral all over the place.'I know a mouse and he has'nt got a house i don't know why i call him Gerald' and 'I've got a clan of gingerbread men, take a couple if you wish they're on the dish' are just a sample of the wizards magic it seems as if Syd's mind is a magical wand that can cast any spell he desires and inflicts it upon the musical world filling it with curious amounts of magic, pure brilliance. Bike poseses a speedy tempo and the way Barrett sings it along with Masons drums creating pauses after each verse it feels like a nursery rhyme that we can all sing along to.

 

… “Bike” split the difference between quirky pop songs and explorations of the nightmarish found-sound fringe, setting a twisted template for countless acts to come. By 1980's The Wall, Pink Floyd had become sterile and solipsistic. At this auspicious start, Pink Floyd were thrilling. Anything was possible.

 

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I've got a bike.
You can ride it if you like.
It's got a basket, a bell that rings,
and things to make it look good.
I'd give it to you if I could, but I borrowed it.

You're the kind of girl that fits in with my world.
I'll give you anything, everything, if you want things.

I've got a cloak, it's a bit of a joke.
There's a tear up the front, it's red and black,
I've had it for months.
If you think it could look good then I guess it should.

You're the kind of girl that fits in with my world
I'll give you anything, everything, if you want things

I know a mouse and he hasn't got a house.
I don't know why I call him Gerald.
He's getting rather old but he's a good mouse.

You're the kind of girl that fits in with my world.
I'll give you anything, everything, if you want things.

I've got a clan of gingerbread men.
Here a man, there a man, lots of gingerbread men.
Take a couple if you wish, they're on the dish.

You're the kind of girl that fits in with my world.
I'll give you anything, everything, if you want things

I know a room of musical tunes.
Some rhyme, some ching, most of them are clockwork.

Let's go into the other room and make them work.

The Nits - Bike In Head

Artist: The Nits

Song: Bike In Head

Album: Henk (1986)

The Nits are a Dutch art rock group, founded in 1974, and this is their bike-anthem. Incredible use of bells, listen to believe!

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Wake me up
Sunray
On this bright sunny summerday
Leave my bed
Bike in head
Clear blue sky
Bird and kite
On this day
Time is on my side
Someone said
Bike in head
On a shadow lane
Between big trees
Bike-chain spins
And frame freezes
I have seen the vilages in green
Meadows cut by ditches in between
Lines I've read
Bike in head
Can't you hear
Can't you hear what they say
Can't you hear
Artis bought an elephant today
Wake me up
Sun-ray
On this bright sunny summerday
Leave my bed
Bike in head
Is this the real world!
Am I alive
Is this the real world!
Am I alive
Is this the real world!
Is this the real world!

Cocorosie - The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn

Artist: Cocorosie

Album: The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn (2007)

Songs: Animals, Raphael

Cocorosie have always been weird -- their first album was utterly bizarre, and so was their second.
But their creepy freakfolk sound is taken a step further in their third album, "The Adventures Of Ghosthorse And Stillborn." The sister duo's sound is more polished and complex in this one, but remains eerie, bizarre and enticing -- like a fantastical child's dream.
It opens with Bianca crooning "Of aaaaaalllll the white horses," over rattly maraca, keening guitar, chittering birds and a smooth keyboard melody. But by nature it's hip-hop oriented, with some childlike rapping:
"He's moved a little nearer/to the master of our laughter/to the master of our song... then we gathered in a circle/still drown the rainbow fire/burning amber's not united/we remember mystical beauty." It's gloriously catchy, but kept from being merely poppy by all those odd sounds and extra melodies.
Things get less openly catchy with the songs that follow -- skittering ambient rap, clattering pop tunes that are crammed with keyboard tones and scratchy samples, music-box ballads, wistful little meandering freakfolk tunes, and delicate guitar pop with a soaring keyboard edge.
The music in "The Adventures Of Ghosthorse And Stillborn" is almost TOO full at times, like a dusty room filled with old dolls and ornate toys. But it's never predictable -- there's always a weird new melody draped in oddball sounds for them. You never even have the chance to get bored.
The instrumentation is a bit more electronically oriented this time around, with waves of organ and keyboard over the smooth piano, rattly drums and ringing guitar. Sometimes these girls throw in some random samples (is that a duck?), bicycle bells, and some toy instruments -- it's a little cluttered, but it makes every song wildly unpredictable.
The songs are just as unpredictable -- sometimes silly, somtimes somber. They're filled with crystals, rollercoasters, werewolves, witches, wanting to go to Japan, and girls who talk to geese. All these are sung in Bianca's versatile voice, which can flip from opera to rap, and back to a high, rambling crack-pixie voice.
Cocorosie go into stranger, eerie territory with their polished third album, a checkered mix of freakfolk and crazy pop. Definitely a must-listen.