Pierre-André Gil, Eddy Prend Le Maillot Jaune [French], single, Monopole, 1969 -
About Eddy “The Cannibal” Merckx taking the Yellow Jersey during the Tour de France.
Frankie en de Trillers (Belgian on Monopole label) and Pierre-André Gil (French on EMI label) recorded same three additional songs about Merckx in their respective languages:
Eddy! Eddy!, single, 1970
Eddy Est Imbattable! [French], aka Eddy is niet to kloppen! [Belgian], single, 1971
Eddy en Claudine (in ’T Bed), single, 1971
Sobut, Bicycle [Japanese punk in English], Judgement Crew, Aaron Field, 1997 -
Song can be found at 10:40 in on album 25:07 long. “There was always a bicycle beside me. Everywhere I wanted to go, it took on me. In so much as I had a simple brain, I could always do as I wanted. Gave me the power, gave me the pleasure. Everything exited me in those days. What did bring a wind I wanted to feel? I thought a bicycle brought a wind. There was so good days. Everyday I'd ridden on a bicycle, everyday.”
Steve Seskin, Use Mine [folk], Something Real, self, 1997 -
“I was eight years old, we were poor as dirt. Mom was pregnant with my sister and dad was out of work. I wanted a bicycle to ride with my friends, a shiny Western Flyer in candy-apple red. I couldn't understand why that bike never came, but money can't buy what I got in its place. Dad tied wooden blocks to the pedals of his Schwinn, rolled out that clunker and said with a grin. Use mine, go ahead, take it; what else is it for? I wish I could do more, just go slow. You're gonna do fine, this is what life's all about. Use mine.”
Mac Benford & The Woodshed All-Stars, Freight Train Boogie (Delmore Brothers bluegrass cover), Willow, Rounder Rec., 1996 -
“Casey Jones he was a mighty man, but now he's resting in the promised land. He made the freight train boogie all the time as he rolled down the line... Casey Jones said before he died, ‘There are five more things i'd like to ride: a bicycle, tricycle, automobile, a four legged mule, and a ferris wheel.’” Adding new stanzas to bluegrass songs is common practice. Delmore Brothers’ original 1946 version didn’t mention bicycles, but tune is still a toe tapper. Tempted to add Bill Monroe & His Bluegrass Boys' 1954 Wheel Hoss, but can't be sure what this instrumental is about, likely more homage to steam trains.
Art Garfunkel, Turn, Don’t Turn Away, Everything Waits to Be Noticed, Manhattan Records, 2002 -
Romantic bicycling vacation goes awry for actor and six time Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter: “Two tears, my own, fall on my collarbone, roaming in shade in the north of France, beneath where her shoulder meet and the rivers dance. Two weeks have flown, like water runs over stone. Bicycle wheels, bicycle wheels through the fields of grain to feel what I have to feel, learn how to speak your name... And it's turn by turn, the wheels on this gravel road tell me what I need to know.” Latest cycling fad is the gravel bike for those who commune with nature by riding hard pack country lanes and loose washboard trails.
The Hold Steady, You Gotta Dance, Almost Killed Me, Frenchkiss Records, 2004 -
“The gangster disciples knocked me off of my bicycle. It was midnight down by Selby & Griggs. I shouldn't have gone down there but it was too late to switch. You gotta dance with who you came with. You gotta go with what got you there.”
Cloud Cult, What It Feels Like To Be Alive, Advice from the Happy Hippopotamus, Earthology Records, 2005 -
“I heard grandpa on my transistor radio, though he turned in his bones twenty year ago. And he said, ‘Kid, there's something that I'd like to show you. Get your things, it's time for us to go.’ So i grab my backpack, and my flashlight, and a bag of caramel corn. I got my bicycle, and the radio, and I headed on the road. I said, ‘I'm ready for what I'm about to see, yepp.’ We headed north 'till the rain had turned to snow through rusty towns and dusty gravel road. He said, ‘Kid, you got a long way to go.’ So i went through canyons, caves, and catacombs, i sailed on bicycle boats. I slept in chapels, and brothels. I met the nicest folks... And I finally realized what he wanted to show me. Where I've been, and where I am, it's the show.” Full concert on youtube; song is at 1:05.
Kate Miller-Heidke, Caught In the Crowd [Australian], Curiouser, Sony BMG, 2008 -
“There was a guy at my school when I was in high school. We'd ride side by side in the morning on our bicycles. Never even spoken or faced each other, but on the last hill we'd race each other. When we reached the racks we'd each go our own way. I wasn't in his classes, I didn't know his name. When we finally got to speak he just stared at his feet, and mumbled a sentence that ended with James”.Teachers point to video as an example of a tolerant attitude, but social insecurities will always make for stupid bullies.
Japanther, Um Like Your Smile Is Totally Ruling Me, Tut Tut Now Shake Ya Butt, Menlo Park Recordings, 2008 -
“To me punk rock means encouraging bikes not cars. To me it means being sad when you can't see the stars... at night! So get on our bikes, ride downtown by the clear channel billboards, tear them down! They say it's a dream. I hope not! It's more than just a dream to me!”
Alpine, Icy Poles [Australian], Zurich, Ivy League Records, 2010 -
“I ride my bicycle around the park. It goes so very far. And the wind in my hair... Oh, it sets me free. Oh, it's okay now. Anything is possible. Be kind, my icypole summer.”
Kevin Abstract, Bicycle [hip hop], Imagination, [self], 2011 -
“Grab that bike and let's ride to a place, you decide, somewhere that fits that vibe... Happiness will arise, but please just let it be. Young kid, don't rush nothing, or nothing's just what you'll see. And you don't want that, no, a place that's so, so cold, where all the lost souls go. It's such a long, dark road.”
Unchain, My Bicycle [Japanese & English], Sundogs, Style-Missile Rec., 2011
Chronixx, Somewhere [reggae], Perfect Key Riddim, DZL Rec., 2012 -
“And I don't know where you wanna go, but I'm willing to take you there. Me nah no if a bike or a bicycle, but baby come mek me take you somewhere... Come with me. So much things to see.”
McSlappy (Tynan McDonald Davis), I’m in Oakland and I’m Riding My Bike [hip-hop], l.o.r.m.b EP, Funky Finger Productions, 2012
Beenie Man (Anthony Moses Davis), Wine Up U Body [Jamaican dancehall], Mad Step Riddim Mix, DJ Frass Records, 2013 -
From an old Kingston friend comes a hilarious enticement: “Yo fashion no cheap like Toyota parts. Yuh no have no clothe weh wi know by heart. Look good in a yo yard and yo hot in a yo shorts...Skin tone pretty and yuh have sex appeal, waist no have rims like bicycle wheel. And yo hands them no rough like yo work in a field.”
Alec Benjamin, My Old Bicycle, single, [self], 2016
Neil Young, Hawaii. Hitchhiker, Reprise Rec., 2017 -
Rare reference from canon of this legendary singer-songwriter and multiple Grammy, Juno and MTV award winner, originally recorded in Malibu in 1976, released finally from archive in 2017: “Things were getting hard to follow. I was feeling pretty hollow, when the stranger came to me and put out his hand. He said, ‘I think we better talk; there's something you don't understand...’ With my baby and my bicycle, I up and rode away. And many nights have passed since this morning came my way.”
Adekunle Gold [feat Seun Kuti], Mr. Foolish [Nigerian high life], About 30, Afro Urban Rec., 2018 -
“Oun gun keke ni railway; you’re riding a bicycle on railway tracks. Awe sofe pare; my friend, you want to die. You carry petrol put for nylon come dey smoke... Fire dey burn, you no dey run. You dey take selfie.” Suggests fatal consequences of riding dangerously and sitting on a sofa excessively.
Karsen, Bysykkel Illustrert [Norwegian instrumental], single, self, 2018
Powfu (Isaiah Faber), The Story of the Paper Boy [Canadian hip-hop], Some Boring, Love Stories, Independent, 2018 -
Oddly produced by rapping lyrics over instrumental Dead Feelings by Moshi. “So what is up? I got newspapers up in my bicycle. It’s getting cold out, feeling like an icicle. It's a new job on my first day. Didn’t wanna be a paper boy, but gotta get payed. Doing what I have to pedal through the wind. Can’t feel my cheeks and the air is feeling thin...Yeah, I hate this shit, but I'll stay with it. I put a smile on even though I'm faking it... I don't talk a lot, I say this and that. But my bars are clean, yeah they spick and span. I feel like I am flying. I don't wanna calm down now... Hop up on my bike again. Going like 22 except minus 10... Keep my mouth shut, so the bugs don't get in.Yeah, I'm kinda starting to like it. It feels good when my work pays off. I'm a nice kid, everyday grinding, but Sunday I’m a take off... I just hit cat. Try’na run away but my tire's flat. Heartbeat racing I’m a keep on paddling. Taking the steady, my breath feeling heavy. This how it goes when you travel the road you’ve never been down before.”
Drens, Bicycle Rider [German “surf punk” in English], Sunny Side Up, self, 2019
Tom Rosenthal, Bicycle Lane, B Sides, Kudos Records, 2019 -
“You are longer than the road, and you will be home so soon. One of you had a thought; it’s time to make the great escape. There’s no sign of cars. You’re in the bicycle lane.”
Casey Abrams, Def [psychedelia], single, Concord Music Group, 2020 -
“How 'bout you say we go for a bike ride? Definitely. Gonna ride my bicycle... wanna see some miracles. Hey, man, There’s a bike path over there. It looks real... Shall we proceed? Definitely. You gotta keep on movin’... (bike pedals, so soothin’.. Gonna ride a little bit longer... and our legs are gonna get stronger.” Abrams is also shown mountain biking in video for Simple Life. “Don’t need no speedy car to get me home.” But he then ditches bike for a jeep to transport his hippie chippies.
Karsen, Bicycle Song, single, self, 2020 -
“I got a brand new bicycle, and it goes ding, ding, and I can ride it where I like... It’s my cool ride. Can you sit on it? I’ll let you know. And it can go pretty far, now lady, to see the places I want to go, meet all the faces that gaze in wonder at the cool stickers and gears I show... And it can go pretty fast, now lady, but I prefer to be cruising slow.“
Purity Ring, Peacefall [Canadian witch house techno duo‽], Womb, Crystal Math Music, 2020 -
“Spoken like a prophet in all your misery. Peace comes at dawn, but yours comes at night, riding your bicycle into the light... Ride like a maniac into the light.”
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