While perhaps not as famous as tracks like "Pink Cadillac," "Little Deuce Coupe" or "Little Red Corvette," there are still some good ones worthy of loading into your ipod and cranking on a ride.
“Daisy Bell” – Blur
A rock’n'roll version complete with pianos and horns of the 1892 classic more commonly known as “A Bicycle Built For Two.” The song also received a memorable cover by HAL the computer in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey but it isn’t nearly as catchy as Blur's version.
“My White Bicycle” – Nazareth
These Scottish hairfarmers are best known today for the AC/DCesque “Hair of the Dog” and the slowdance staple “Love Hurts” but one of their first appearances on the charts was a cover of this tune by psychedelic act Tomorrow. On the surface it may appear to only be about tooling around on a two-wheels, the song pays tribute to a prototype community bike program launched in Amsterdam back in the sixties.
“Superheroes of BMX” – Mogwai
Nazareth aren’t the only Scots on record as being big bicycle boosters. This Glaswegian experimental five-piece first released this track on their 1997 debut EP 4 Satin. Eight minutes of synch-laced guitars mixed with spacey drum and base, it’s really more the sort of tune to listen to while going on a mellow cruise than it is for busting BMX moves.
“Bicycle” – Masters of Reality
Clocking in at a mere 47 seconds, this short but sweet stoner rock ditty from their 1993 album Sunrise On the Sufferbus (which features the silhouette of a bike-riding bunny rabbit on the cover) boasts an appearance by legendary Cream drummer Ginger Baker. It can also be heard on the soundtrack of the DVD Masters of Reality, mountain bike porn from the 2000 World Cup scene that features riding from such daredevil downhillers as John Kirkcaldie, Kirt Voreis and Steve Peat.
“My Bike” - Bif Naked
It’s possible this Vancouver punk rocker was using a bike as some kind of metaphor in this track from her self-titled 1995 debut. Something about how she recalls their first meeting when Bif got the bike all sticky with juice and how the bike liked it when she tied it to a tree in the middle of their ride together.
“Bicycle Wheels” – Ugly Kid Joe
This song from southern California’s Ugly Kid Joe, best remembered for their unfortunate cover of Harry Chapin’s “Cat’s In the Cradle," was from their final album Motel California. Less about bike culture per se and more about the importance of always looking on the bright side of life, the song explains how having bicycle wheels can help keep you feeling positive. That and throwing your hands in the air and showing armpit hair.
“Drunk On A Bike” – SNFU
Who hasn’t ever been drunk on a bike? A not-so-gentle reminder from Canadian hardcore legends SNFU that drunk riding is as dangerous as drunk driving in this tragic tale of a bike rider on a bender who encounters a fender.
“Bike Boy” – Debbie Harry
The artist better known as Blondie gets back to basics in this bonus track from her third solo album, 1989’s Def, Dumb and Blonde. More punk than her signature new wave, “Bike Boy” reveals Harry’s aesthetic appreciation of pedal-powered eye candy. Sample lyric: “Moving fast, looking lean! You say action, be extreme!”
“Bike” – Pink Floyd
“Bike” is from these legendary prog rockers’ 1967 debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Essentially 12-bar blues tweaked with assloads of distortion, the song features the loopy Syd Barrett boasting to a girl about his beautiful bike that has both a basket and a bell. Alas, he is unable to give said bike as a gift because it is merely on loan.
“Bicycle Race” – Queen
Featuring the late Freddy Mercury shouting his deep-seated love of two wheelers (“I want to ride my Bi-cy-cle!) to the world, “Bicycle Race” is likely the best known bike-related song ever. It is also quite possibly the only Top 40 hit to feature a bicycle bell solo. The accompanying video, one of the first in history, featured 65 naked women with strategically-scrambled naughty bits racing bikes around a track. Many believe the bisexual Mercury was actually singing about something else entirely.
Andrew Fleming - Andrew Fleming is a freelance writer based in Vancouver and the author of several alleged humour books. He has a perfectly sensible BA in ...
