Bicycle Race

Not too long ago, I was having a conversation with Andy and Lisa. Lisa was talking about how one of her cousin’s children was riding his tricycle and was singing Queen’s “Bicycle Race” (which I find pretty hilariously cute in and of itself). The mother was laughing too, and said to Lisa, “Haha, if he only knew what that song was about!”

Lisa asked herself, “What is that song about?”

On the surface, there is no doubt that “Bicycle Race” could be one of the dumbest songs ever written. If you examine it a little closer, well, it’s still pretty dumb, but let’s think about it.

Lisa told me the story I just told, and then she asked me, “What do you think it means?”

I thought about it. During the verses, there are a lot of pop culture references and the lyrics state that the subject of the song (whom is probably Freddie Mercury himself) does not care about what’s going on in popular culture. Instead, he just wants to “ride his bicycle” all day long. I would think that the song talks about a simpler time and how we all sometimes long for that.

Lisa asked Andy the same question.

“Dude, it’s totally about him being a bisexual. He likes to ‘ride it wherever he likes’ and doesn’t care what everyone else thinks.”

I said, “Oh.”

~ by southclaw on September 30, 2008.