Singing The Praises of The Bicycle

Could there be any greater merging of two more lovely things than bicycles and music?

In 1975, as a teen, I listened to the Scottish band Nazareth. One of my favourite songs of theirs was My White Bicycle. 

It was a song of freedom and rebellion, two things I was (and still am) very much into.

"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." 

This song, originally recorded by the UK band Tomorrow in 1967, was inspired by the Dutch underground White Bicycle Project in 1964. 

They collected several hundred bikes, painted them white then left them around Amsterdam.

 

The white bikes could be used by anyone who needed a ride. 

Or just to feel free and rebellious.  

The bicycle as we know it today came about in 1885, and the first song that mentions bicycles that I could find was written in 1892. That would be Bicycle Built For Two, by British songwriter Harry Dacre.

There are many, many songs that celebrate bicycles. 

I do believe that is because the bicycle is a thing of simplicity, efficiency, and beauty. 

It may be the premier invention of all time.

Next to music, of course.

What a combo.

''The rain comes down but I don't care. 

The wind is blowing in my hair. 

Seagulls flying in the air.

My white bicycle.''

Brave New 1984

"If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—forever."

- George Orwell

"Did anyone actually read 1984 by George Orwell or Brave New World by Aldous Huxley? 
These classic dystopian novels warned us about the dangers of totalitarianism and the loss of individual freedom. 
Instead of heeding these warnings, the rich and powerful used them as "how-to" manuals to control and manipulate the masses.
Unfortunately, these books describe our current reality all too well. 

Massive changes are needed, and most of us can see that. 
But who will lead these changes? The same people who got us into this mess promise to fix it, and if we don't do anything, their plan will be imposed upon us without our consent.
It's time for us to take charge. We need to make decisions for ourselves, not rely on politicians who only serve their own interests and big business. 

They've lost our trust, and it's up to us to save ourselves and our communities.
Practice some quiet quitting by quietly and calmly rejecting consumerism and taking back your life. 

That's a great place to start, and one that will get us on the spot we need to be to continue our fight to free ourselves.

"Only the vigilant can maintain their liberties, and only those who are constantly and intelligently on the spot can hope to govern themselves effectively by democratic procedures. 

A society, most of whose members spend a great part of their time, not on the spot, not here and now and in their calculable future, but somewhere else, in the irrelevant other worlds of sport and soap opera, of mythology and metaphysical fantasy, will find it hard to resist the encroachments of those would manipulate and control it.” 

- Aldous Huxley