In the song, Syd Barrett's lyrical subject shows a girl his bike (which he borrowed); a cloak; a homeless, aging mouse that he calls Gerald; and a clan of gingerbread men, because she "fits in with [his] world." With each repetition of the chorus, a sudden percussive noise is heard similar to the firing of two gunshots. The heavy reverb from these bangs immediately cuts out when the following verse begins. Towards the end of the song, he offers to take her into a "room of musical tunes". The final verse is followed by an instrumental section that is a piece of musique concrète: a noisy collage of oscillators, clocks, gongs, bells, a violin, and other sounds edited with tape techniques, apparently the "other room" spoken of in the song and giving the impression of the turning gears of a bicycle. The ending of the song fades out with a tape loop of the band members laughing reversed and played at double speed. The song was written for Barrett's then girlfriend, Jenny Spires. She is also mentioned as "Jennifer Gentle" in the song "Lucifer Sam", which is also on The Piper at the Gates of Dawn.
Other album appearances
The song also appears on two Pink Floyd compilation albums: Relics (1971) and Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd (2001);[5] it serves as the closing track on both albums.
Cover versions
P-Model covered the song for their 1984 album Another Game.[6] The lyrics were adapted by bandleader Susumu Hirasawa, who focused on Japanese lyrics that sounded similar to the English version rather than a direct translation, turning it into a parodic version. It features a toy piano sound played by a Yamaha DX7.
Phish has performed this song at (to date, Sept. 2015) 41 of their shows, often with drummer Jon Fishman playing a baby blue Electrolux vacuum cleaner.[8]
The song was played by Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets in 2018.[9] "The interesting thing is how complex Syd's writing was," Mason observed. "I think we'd all agree that one of the most challenging songs is 'Bike', which has a very curious feel."[10]
^. Pink Floyd. Archived from the original on 2 June 2010. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
^. NO ROOM. Archived from the original on 18 July 2013. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
^Thomas, Stephen. "Turn Ons - The Hotrats : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
^"Bike History - Phish.Net". Retrieved 9 September 2015.
^"Nick Mason Setlist at The Half Moon, London". setlist.fm. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
^Yates, Henry (July 2018). "Set the controls for 60s Floyd". Classic Rock. No. 250. p. 14.
April 09, 2023
bike, song, bike, song, british, rock, band, pink, floyd, which, final, track, featured, their, 1967, debut, album, piper, gates, dawn, bike, song, pink, floydfrom, album, piper, gates, dawnpublishedmagdalene, music, essex, musicreleased5, august, 1967recorded. Bike is a song by British rock band Pink Floyd which is the final track featured on their 1967 debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn 3 4 Bike Song by Pink Floydfrom the album The Piper at the Gates of DawnPublishedMagdalene Music Essex MusicReleased5 August 1967Recorded21 May 1967GenrePsychedelic pop 1 psychedelic rock 2 Length3 21LabelEMI Columbia UK Songwriter s Syd BarrettProducer s Norman Smith Contents 1 Background 2 Other album appearances 3 Cover versions 4 Personnel 5 ReferencesBackground EditThis article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Bike song news newspapers books scholar JSTOR May 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message In the song Syd Barrett s lyrical subject shows a girl his bike which he borrowed a cloak a homeless aging mouse that he calls Gerald and a clan of gingerbread men because she fits in with his world With each repetition of the chorus a sudden percussive noise is heard similar to the firing of two gunshots The heavy reverb from these bangs immediately cuts out when the following verse begins Towards the end of the song he offers to take her into a room of musical tunes The final verse is followed by an instrumental section that is a piece of musique concrete a noisy collage of oscillators clocks gongs bells a violin and other sounds edited with tape techniques apparently the other room spoken of in the song and giving the impression of the turning gears of a bicycle The ending of the song fades out with a tape loop of the band members laughing reversed and played at double speed The song was written for Barrett s then girlfriend Jenny Spires She is also mentioned as Jennifer Gentle in the song Lucifer Sam which is also on The Piper at the Gates of Dawn Other album appearances EditThe song also appears on two Pink Floyd compilation albums Relics 1971 and Echoes The Best of Pink Floyd 2001 5 it serves as the closing track on both albums Cover versions EditP Model covered the song for their 1984 album Another Game 6 The lyrics were adapted by bandleader Susumu Hirasawa who focused on Japanese lyrics that sounded similar to the English version rather than a direct translation turning it into a parodic version It features a toy piano sound played by a Yamaha DX7 The Hotrats covered the song on their 2009 album Turn Ons 7 Phish has performed this song at to date Sept 2015 41 of their shows often with drummer Jon Fishman playing a baby blue Electrolux vacuum cleaner 8 The song was played by Nick Mason s Saucerful of Secrets in 2018 9 The interesting thing is how complex Syd s writing was Mason observed I think we d all agree that one of the most challenging songs is Bike which has a very curious feel 10 Personnel EditSyd Barrett electric guitars double tracked lead vocals laughing tape effects Richard Wright piano harmonium tack piano celesta violin double tracked backing vocals laughing tape effects Roger Waters bass guitar laughing tape effects Nick Mason drums timpani chimes percussion laughing tape effectsReferences Edit Wild Andrew 2017 Pink Floyd Song by Song Fonthill Media p 48 Jim DeRogatis 2003 Turn on Your Mind Four Decades of Great Psychedelic Rock Hal Leonard Corporation p 4 ISBN 9780634055485 Strong Martin C 2004 The Great Rock Discography 7th ed Edinburgh Canongate Books p 1177 ISBN 1 84195 551 5 Mabbett Andy 1995 The Complete Guide to the Music of Pink Floyd London Omnibus Press ISBN 0 7119 4301 X Echoes the album credits Pink Floyd Archived from the original on 2 June 2010 Retrieved 20 June 2013 PA 05 Another Game NO ROOM Archived from the original on 18 July 2013 Retrieved 19 January 2013 Thomas Stephen Turn Ons The Hotrats Songs Reviews Credits Awards AllMusic Retrieved 29 October 2012 Bike History Phish Net Retrieved 9 September 2015 Nick Mason Setlist at The Half Moon London setlist fm Retrieved 21 July 2018 Yates Henry July 2018 Set the controls for 60s Floyd Classic Rock No 250 p 14 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Bike song amp oldid 1094594172, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
