Handlebars

i first heard this song on the radio and had to figure out what it was. Handlebars by a band called Flobots is pretty much amazing. the song is very catchy, but that is not the reason i'm posting it here. the reason for a post is because of the messages contained within the song and the corresponding video.

here is a link to the video on youtube and the lyrics are as follows:


I can ride my bike with no handlebars
No handlebars
No handlebars

I can ride my bike with no handlebars
No handlebars
No handlebars

Look at me, look at me
hands in the air like it's good to be
ALIVE
and I'm a famous rapper
even when the paths're all crookedy
I can show you how to do-si-do
I can show you how to scratch a record
I can take apart the remote control
And I can almost put it back together
I can tie a knot in a cherry stem
I can tell you about Leif Ericson
I know all the words to "De Colores"
And "I'm Proud to be an American"
Me and my friend saw a platypus
Me and my friend made a comic book
And guess how long it took
I can do anything that I want cuz, look:

I can keep rhythm with no metronome
No metronome
No metronome

And I can see your face on the telephone
On the telephone
On the telephone

Look at me
Look at me
Just called to say that it's good to be
ALIVE
In such a small world
I'm all curled up with a book to read
I can make money open up a thrift store
I can make a living off a magazine
I can design an engine sixty four
Miles to a gallon of gasoline
I can make new antibiotics
I can make computers survive aquatic conditions
I know how to run a business
I can make you wanna buy a product
Movers shakers and producers
Me and my friends understand the future
I see the strings that control the systems
I can do anything with no assistance
Cuz I can lead a nation with a microphone
With a microphone
With a microphone
And I can split the atoms of a molecule
Of a molecule
Of a molecule

Look at me
Look at me
Driving and I won't stop
And it feels so good to be
Alive and on top
My reach is global
My tower secure
My cause is noble
My power is pure
I can hand out a million vaccinations
Or let'em all die from exasperation
Have'em all healed from their lacerations
Have'em all killed by assassination
I can make anybody go to prison
Just because I don't like'em and
I can do anything with no permission
I have it all under my command
Because I can guide a missile by satellite
By satellite
By satellite
And I can hit a target through a telescope
Through a telescope
Through a telescope
And I can end the planet in a holocaust
In a holocaust
In a holocaust
In a holocaust
In a holocaust
In a holocaust

I can ride my bike with no handlebars
No handlebars
No handlebars

I can ride my bike with no handlebars
No handlebars
No handlebars


-------

let me know what you think and what you get out of the song.

osht.
pro.

heard this song on the radio today. good song, but it doesn't do anything for me beyond that.

i personally love the correlation between the child's mentality in the first verse with the corporate mentality of the second and the power hungry (Bush?) of the third verse.

starting with a child bragging about how he can do all these different things, but they are all seemingly harmless. the second verse goes on to talk about how one can manipulate and control people from the corporate world (see: music video). the third verse is essentially a continuation of the first two from the point of view of someone in power. the video pretty much 'does it for me' in the part that is flashing the different pictures while 'i can end the planet in a holocaust' is being repeated. what i got from the song/video is a person asking: "should i do something just because i can?"

- i can ride a bike with no handlebars = harmless
- i can guide a missile by satellite = harmful

but it is sung with the simplicity of a child... not sure if anyone else read into this as much as i did, but just my point of view.

ok, i finally got around to watching this on youtube. the music video really pulls it all together beyond weird lyrics. the "someone in power" is supposed to be the friend of the other point of view it seems.

i like it more, now. choices, choices.

EDIT: i watched this video, not the one you linked to.

Interesting song, I had never heard of the band before. I just watched both videos, the second one is the official one. I think that it is a really good political commentary and that few people on youtube seemed to understand it at all. Someone even guessed that the C on the sign where they parted ways stood for communism. The song is from the point of view of the one that took that path though, and what the lyrics were describing was obviously capatalism. Also notice that the White House is the base of the tower. Unfortunately I'm too tired to fully express my thoughts on the song.

yeah, when i first watched it, there was no 'official' video yet. the one that trevor posted is really good and really helps emphasize the point the band is trying to make. good find on that!