Mary Martin
“ I can ride my bike with no handle bars”
The song is a powerful piece of self expression. It’s a very political song that shows how one person can have so much power, and sometimes that leads to destruction. The song is about how someone can start with doing something simple from riding a bike with no handle bars to leading the nation in a holocaust. That the simple things in life matter and it all leads up to something that is greater then what we think. Every little thing that we do has repercussion’s both positive and negative .I can ride my bike with no handle bars by the flobots has many different reasons on why it is such a powerful song; with great imagery, pathos, logos, and a flow that goes from peaceful to more and more serious things, with great uses of repetition and showing how the world is.
The video starts out with two friends riding their bikes with no handle bars and then they come to a path. This path represents to different ways of life. One friend takes the road that makes him happy, the one that doesn’t involve greed or corporations; he chooses the path of the simple life. His friend on the other hand takes the path of the corporation. He gets caught up in the corporate world run by men that don’t have morals. They only care for themselves. This leads to him ruling the country into a holocaust. With every war there are rebels and guess who is the leader for the rebels?; yes his childhood friend leads the rebels to go against the corporations and the government. The Leader of the corporation doesn’t know all that is going to happen, only that his power consumes him. In the end he realizes what he finally does when his childhood friend is shot down right in front of him.
The song starts off with a peaceful thing, hitting close to our generation. A few examples of logos and pathos at the same time would be things like: “ I know all the words to de colures and I’m proud to be an American”, and “ I can see your face on the telephone.” These would be good examples of Logos because they are the logical way of getting us, starting us off with simple things that we know. The Pathos part is these small little peaceful parts are from our generation and we can relate to them, which kind of hits home for a lot of us.
“ I can make computers survive aquatic conditions” As the song progresses it gets more and more intense. It talks about real issues like people trying to build things to make our society even more technological and efficient. With hits points within the video, where technology is used as a tool to watch us and keep us from uprising against the dictatorship that we are in.
As the song continues it gets more scarier and scarier appealing to the more passionate side of the human race. Saying that one person can kill anyone because the don’t like them, or he can release a disease to the world and only giver certain people the cure. The Tone of this song is lighthearted in the beginning then as the song progresses it gets more serious and more deep. With the repetition the song has almost the same line a few times: Like I can keep rhythm with no metronome, no metronome, no metronome; the artist keep repeating the same thing over and over to get the beat and these little points stuck in your head.
The way video is you get to see the world through one boys eyes. It starts of with the two friends riding bikes with no handle bars then goes through a series of things that get more and more serious, then at the end of the video it returns to the boys riding their bikes. It’s a really powerful video in some areas. In one area of the video it has ethos, because you can see there are a whole bunch of cameras watching everyone; not many people think that it is ethical to have our every little movement watched; and quite frankly I think it’s quite horrifying being watched. Another powerful part of the video is the end of the video where you see the friends at the same place, but one is in front of the microphone commanding officers and the other is fighting against officers. It’s like an all out holocaust and uprising. The man in front of the microphone watches tons of people die and then he watches his own child hood friend die and then he realizes the horror of what he’s been doing. I believe that the writers of the video decided to make it two child hood friends, because you always remember your childhood friends. This would be the appeal of pathos, because as everyone grows up they have memories with a curtsying child hood friend they would never want to harm, but in this video the one man going against the dictatorship had to choose his freedom or his friends. He choose freedom, which shows many people would do anything to have that freedom, even kill someone dear to them.
I believe that we deserve the freedom that we have and a little more. I believe each time someone makes a new rule, our freedom is getting taken away little by little and soon we will have none left. Just as the flobots demonstrated we can not have one powerful person or even just a group of powerful people rule over our nation. I feel like we have very little input on things and their should be more.
Lyrics to Handlebars :I can ride my bike with no handlebars
No handlebars
No handlebars
I can ride my bike with no handlebars No handlebarsNo 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 crookedyI 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 tookI can do anything that I want cuz, look:
I can keep rhythm with no metronome
No metronome
No metronome
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 worldAll 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 And 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 system sI can do anything with no assistance
I can lead a nation with a microphone
With a microphoneWith a microphone
I can split the atoms of a molecule
Of a molecule
Of a moleculeLook at me
Look at me Driving and I won't stop And it feels so good to beAlive 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 in exasperation
Have'em all healed of 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 permissionI have it all under my command
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 telescopeand 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 handle bars
No handlebars
I can ride my bike with no handlebars
No handlebars
No handlebars
Video Link...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CN-qZkuMuL8
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The writer does not display a clear thesis of what she feel is the real argument of the song. However she does explain what the song is centered around. "It’s a very political song that shows how one person can have so much power, and sometimes that leads to destruction." I believe this sentence she uses indirectly show the reader that this is what she feels is the argument of the song. She talks more about the subject matter of the song rather than the rhetoric, which actually would have to explain some of the subject matter, in order for you to understand the point the song is trying to make. However she does explain in the text and video that their is examples throughout the song of pathos, and logos which tells me that she has stated her thesis maybe not clearly, and she is backing it up with examples of pathos and logos in the text.
ReplyDeleteMary does an excellent job in her paper of being very descriptive of the meaning of the text, and describing the video portion of the song. She gives lots of quotes from the text, one I thought she discussed well, was when she gives the quote in the song about being proud to be an American and how it is an example of logos. I loved how she described the video portion of the song, she's so descriptive you actually have a clear visual of how the video would look and feel as you are watching it. When I watched the video portion of this song, it matched her description to a tee.I had the same intense emotional feeling when I was reading as well as when I was watching the video. I do not feel that she needs to be any more descriptive with examples, although I do feel she good be a little more descriptive about how do these examples relate to the argument the song is trying to get across.
there is a lot of personal opinion and beliefs in her paper, she also makes a strong statement in the end paragraph about freedom which connects very well with the text and video of the song. Also she describe her assumptions of why they might have used childhood friends for this song. I have noticed in her writing that she has a lot of indirect ways of proving her thesis, however her thesis statement was not evident. I believe she did state her thesis but I am not quiet sure where exactly, so if she made her thesis statement a little clearer her examples and opinions would connect together and gives you a clearer message of how strong of an argument this song is making. I really don't feel that she need anymore analysis, she has stated them very well so much that a reader can connect and relate to what she is saying.
The one thing that really stuck out to after reading her essay is, the end paragraph where she is talking about freedom. She makes a very strong statement and I agree completely with what she is saying, because we do have very little input into the way rules are made over are country, and we have less freedom because of it. I believe this end paragraph stuck out the most to me because, I have very strong opinions and beliefs on political matters and I could relate and feel what she was saying to be very very true about this country or even other countries. To end on that note this was an excellent song choice, and Mary has an incredible way of connecting her opinions to the song, so much that it reaches in and grabs the reader and makes them think.