Handlebars
Click here to see the video on YouTube (blocked at school)
Write your reactions to the song and the video
The Flobots – Handlebars lyrics
I can ride my bike with no handlebars
No handlebars
No handlebars (2 times)
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
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
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
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 systems
I can do anything with no assistance
I can lead a nation with a microphone
With a microphone
With a microphone
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 in exasperation
Have’em all grilled leavin 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
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 (6 times)
I can ride my bike with no handlebars
No handlebars
No handlebars (2 times)
April 25th, 2008 at 11:46 am
Wow that video told a lot especially if you watch more.Also I didn’t know that this song will be about.
April 25th, 2008 at 11:37 am
hey ms zana do you remember me im fatima
and its elsie
also brandi
April 25th, 2008 at 11:38 am
hey ms.zanita i mean zana do you remember me from last year its fatima elsie and brandi
April 25th, 2008 at 11:39 am
I think the video is graphic. It has a lot of things that are easier to understand than just looking at the lyrics. It also has things that take a lot time and understanding to comprehend. This is a song i think can change the world’s thoughts and the way they see things.
April 25th, 2008 at 11:40 am
I changed my opinion about the song after our teacher explained the song clearer.She also helped us when she stopped the music video to show us the pictures that popped up quickly during the video.I thought that it was mest up of how they treated the slaves and hung them.It showed me alot,from playing basketball as a kid to being a office worker to a president that made some bad things.
April 25th, 2008 at 11:41 am
I feel so sad because it is so bad what our world is turning toa bad world
April 25th, 2008 at 11:41 am
I changed my opinion about the song after our teacher explained the song clearer.She also helped us when she stopped the music video to show us the pictures that popped up quickly during the video.I thought that it was mest up of how they treated the slaves and hung them.It showed me alot,from playing basketball as a kid to being a office worker to a president that made some bad things.the pictures were really graphic.
April 25th, 2008 at 11:41 am
Wow thats horrible and its also races. Wow… so much crime… I’m really freaked out. This is really sad… Wow hopefully our government doesn’t do anything bad anymore. I DON’T LIKE IT WHEN PEOPLE GET HURT… Its just horrible and scary… =,(
April 25th, 2008 at 11:42 am
I didn’t know that is was about that war and stuff until Ms.Zana made us think of what the song is about. I though it was just a cool song and never thought of these things. When I saw the pictures, it really convinced my now that it was about war. This shows how decision of war can lead to crazy things. Why did they write this song and are they anti-war?
April 25th, 2008 at 11:42 am
Wow. I didn’t know the world changed that much. I think it all started because of 9/11.
April 25th, 2008 at 11:42 am
At first I thought that the song was cool, but as I started to understand the lyrics I was very upset about what the people in the past did.
April 25th, 2008 at 11:43 am
My Reaction is to the song. I think that it is very powerful and meaningful. To me what makes it so powerful is the whole song is about war!
It’s about 911. It was a very sad song to me. When I heard the part with no handlebars I didn’t know what it actually meant. I thought that it was actually about riding a bike with no handlebars. THIS SONG WAS REALLY, VERY SAD TO ME!!
April 25th, 2008 at 11:43 am
The video is sad and wierd and it makes me feel sad.Also it made me think alot about our world.
April 25th, 2008 at 11:43 am
I think that this is that most disturbing think I have ever seen. I knew that bad stuff has happened in the past but not this much bad stuff. Wow! And the really bad thing about it is that some of it is still happening in this time. That picture of the jews was bad but i wonder how Mrs.Zana must have felt. When I first heard this song I thought it was a really joyful song not that bad.
April 25th, 2008 at 11:43 am
I think the video was cool! But some of the pictures they showed in the video were sad. They showed sad, scary, and messed up pictures. The pictures were about a bunch of bad times we had in the world. At sometimes I felt sad. =/
April 25th, 2008 at 11:44 am
I think that the video was really powerful. The lyrics was the part I really liked about the song. you can really feel the emotion building up from the beginning to the end. I really didn’t know what the song meant until we talked about it.
April 25th, 2008 at 11:44 am
when i heard the song i like it a lot. the first time i saw the video i like it but i didnt really understand that well. So when we went over the video slowly i got to see the pictures.I felt so sad to see the the people go through so much painful. i wanted to cry. we are so lucky that we have not gone through that yet.Its so sad to see that or to be in that position
April 25th, 2008 at 11:44 am
i really liked the song it reaches very big problems in our society the first time i herd this song i thought it was dumb but now that i know what it means it a very seious problems.
April 25th, 2008 at 11:44 am
It really made me think what whould happen in the future wether we will live or it wuill be the end of the of the world. It really made me scared and the pictues in the video made really see how they felt and how they lived there.
April 25th, 2008 at 11:45 am
This music video is strong from the words of the song to the images of the video.
Its really fierce!!!!
April 25th, 2008 at 11:45 am
I didn’t like any of the pictures in the video because I thought that they were cruel. It showed how people suffered because of a lot of different reasons like hunger,war,and other things.It was sad how they showed people dead because they hung them and because of war.It also showed the people at consentration camps and homeless people.
April 25th, 2008 at 11:46 am
i don’t think this is fair that people can decide what other people do. If they die, go through starvation, ect. I think this video talks about how wars really affect people, and the damage it does to the world. I know even if I’m in charge I won’t take avantage of people like that.
April 25th, 2008 at 11:47 am
When i saw this video i was like wow…but then i started to look at the pictures and the words more carefully. I started thinking how this relates to war and all the problems that we have in this world. It was pretty sad what they did to them.
April 25th, 2008 at 11:47 am
I LIKED THIS SONG BECAUSE IT TALKS ABOUT ALL THIS COOL STUFF, BUT ALSO SAD STUFF. IT REALLY SENDS A STRONG MESSAGE.
April 25th, 2008 at 11:47 am
My reaction to the lyrics of “Handlebars” is that it talks about what we need to stop which is war.I think that they are trying to say that if wars or violence did not exist that this would be totally different world.
April 25th, 2008 at 11:48 am
i felt sad with all the picture of dying people. i didn’t think the video was c=very good but i like the song.
April 25th, 2008 at 11:49 am
I think this is sad because it talks about horrible things that actully happen. The video has flashes where you can’t see what is happening but they are sad and horrible pictures. This is a thing that says “War is bad!!! Anyone and everyone can and do bad things that can hurt people and ruin people’s lives” I feel like crying Brian, don’t you dare you use that against me!!!!!!
April 25th, 2008 at 11:50 am
i felt sad with picture of people dying. i liked the song but not the video.
April 25th, 2008 at 11:50 am
Whoa! This proves that our world is not safe. From the tragic events that happened like 9-11 or hurricane Katrina the world that we live is no safe place to live in. The life that we live in has poverty, racism, bulling, and a lot of other things that can ruin our life in the future or even at this moment as we speak.
April 25th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
I think that it is a sad video. The song by its self makes no sense but the video make sense.
April 25th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
the song makes no sense but the video makes sense
April 25th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
I didn’t think much when i just heard the song, but when I saw the video and we were talking about it,I thought that it was really scary and that how cruel the human race is. The part with the president launching the bomb really disturbed me because she wasn’t really sure about doing it and she looked afraid, not and not knowing what she was doing. And the parts with the pictures flashing, it was really scary and it made me like sad. The parts about the holocaust really made me sad, more than other pictures because I was really interested in the holocaust in elementary, and I read a lot about ann frank and about that I read that book by that guy Eli. And it always got me sad and it always haunted me. It just kind of makes me angry, too because people are doing these things, effecting people’s lives, not caring. And that picture of that guy on the pole thingy and the guys with the bags on their heads. I like the song but at the same time it really scares me.
April 25th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
I thought this video could have been terrifying to some people. It also described the main idea. The song was going along with the video. So the song was part of the plot of the video. I didn’t really think the song made sense, though.
April 25th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
I like the song but when it started showing picture at the end it was kind of creepy. I also thought it was sad because of what they did to the people on the pictures.
April 25th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
This song really describes how our world is changing. The world isn’t as peaceful as we make it seem. The pictures in the video show how horrible the world is.
April 25th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
I really enjoy this song because of the beat but the video is really sad I dont think i enjoyed the video but it really sends a strong message out to all of the people but for now i just like the song
April 25th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
Well when I first heard the song it was just like any ordinary song, but then as we started getting into it and discussing it it became more clear. I thought the words were really strong as if a little boy was saying and he was hungry.Then when i saw the video I was getting more scared second after second.Like it got worse and worse.Then when I started seeing the images thats when it really got my attention and left me speechless.And the reason why it left me like that is that…it all really happened and its all true.When you see you might think thats stuffs never going to happen and its nonsense,but it really upset me that it already did happen.Also that its happening right now in this moment and we aren’t really that aware of it.
April 25th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Well my reaction 2 the song was that omj i never thought that anyone in the world would think of something so cool and i liked the part that handlebars one but it kinda 4 me doesn’t make sense but when you look at the video its like perfect i like the video more than the the lyrics and the rythm but the ending of the video i loved it so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
April 25th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
I found the video sad because of all the people dying I felt like crying. I didn’t get the song until we went over it
April 25th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
I don’t want to be rude, but this video was kind of cheesy.The message was very clear and strong, but the video overall, was something I could’ve done.The song and video overall was very good.It sent out a strong word for everything.
April 25th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
Even though the song has good rythm and my teacher explain this song. I don’t get it.
April 25th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
When I saw the video I thought it was sad because when you saw the pictures you can see how many people are getting hurt and dying. I think the song sends a really good message to us.
April 25th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
I like the song and the video.
It was really sad..and scary.
The pictures scared me.
April 25th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
The video was really sad in some parts and really bad in other parts. When the pictures flahed on I said to my self what were they even there. but when we got father into the video I started to find out. The kid with the maching gun was about the war in Africa. But it was kind of mest up whent he kid playing basketball got bullied and that then he breaks all of the girls crayons. The kid that was the boss was firering all those poeple without even reading the papers. And then all of those African Americans getting killed. And allthe poeple that are so homless.
April 25th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Just the song didn’t make any sense at all. But when I saw the video I felt anger inside of me because it was so cruel how the people were being treated. I just couldn’t stand it but I guess that is how the world is going to end if no one tries to stop the cruelty. Well it is all of a matter of fact if people start caring for each other.
April 25th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
My personal opinion is that this is scary and something that makes you think a lot like when it our teacher told us about the tourchers that soldiers do prisioners of Iraq that people think would be a threat to the U.S.A. Plus the images of the KKK was very scary because I heard that they have weapons; plus they can be ganged up and be in the front door. Plus the lyrics made everything very clear. Plus they talk how they might create WW3.
April 25th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
I think the video was not to bad but it mostly talked about our world is coming to a end no matter what race or what gender. The lyrics were very cool because it showed more detail.
April 25th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
I think that the song was cool because of the rythm it had. At first I was not really listening to the words but the rythm and the part were it always says that he could right a bike with no handlebars and that is pretty much it. Until Mrs. Zana started talking about the lyrics. That song is one of the strongest songs I have ever heard. The video was kinda disturbing and I kinda did not like it but I survived.
April 26th, 2008 at 1:14 am
Overall, it was great. It showed us that we are the future leaders of our nation and that one desision that we make may tore us down. I found it amuzing to see how well the song mas made. Its like a poem. When I first heard the song, it sounded like a regular song as you see on KISS F.M. or KBIG 104.3 When you actually read the lyrics, that is what amuze me. It may sound confusing but if you read and think carefully, you can visulize what the message is. It was a sad video I had to admit it but its the truth. We can’t change for what is gonna happen. We can only improve it. As a result, it made me think: What would happen if it actually happen? What if WWIII actually happen. Will it be the end of the world??? It is the truth? what if……………… This song so remind me of the song, It’s the End of the World (as we Know it) by R.E.M. Both songs try to give the same message except the handlebars shows you what has happened and for the errors that the world has caused before won’t happen again………………….. By the way this is my opinion and hope it won’t affend someone. Like Ms. Zana said, the video shows that an African-American starts the war but you see people of all races causing the problom, so don’t go out and blame people for what they are because its everyone that is causing the problom.
April 26th, 2008 at 1:16 am
Its scary how everything happens. Makes me freak out.
May 29th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
Wow, I can ride a bicycle with no handlebars. Who can tell where that will lead? All kids–even old kids like me–hunger for independence. Our job as adults is to teach those values that will become built-in limits to abuse of independence. After all, once you are powerful, it’s hard for us to teach you anything anymore. We try to turn out good kids so that they’ll be good adults. I wonder what my teachers would say about me now. Hmmm…
May 29th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
I enjoyed the video
May 29th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
I’m wondering what you’re doing at 1:16 am, Omar….
May 29th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
I liked the video and good information for students.