Commuting - Cool songs that go through your head when en route.

When I choose not to don the mp3 player, I usually have a song with a good beat going through my skull.
The one that's been going through alot lately is that new song by Too $hort called "Blow the Whistle".
I heard it for the first time on one of the local indie alternative stations in my area of all places.
The bass track and the lyrics just keep you moving and in a throwing mode in case an obnoxious motorist tries to rush you.

When I'm not listening to my mp3 player, I only have annoying songs going through my head.
At least lately, I've been more preoccupied with completing my bathroom remodel and my new position. No room in my head for annoying songs.

(Rather than start a new thread, I searched for existing ones to resurrect, and this one looked like a good candidate.)

I sometimes listen to internet radio at the Pandora.com site (my profile here (http://www.pandora.com/people/jbrk4_com)), and I'm really taking a liking to a song they've been playing by George Harrison, "Any Road". Lyrics are here (http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Any-Road-lyrics-George-Harrison/219F9D8A3ED1C6D948256C9300122B78). Seems like a good candidate for a bike commuter's theme song, so I thought I'd point it out here. Anyone else know it? Other suggestions?

Some of the lyrics from "Any Road":


Oh I've been traveling on a boat and a plane
In a car on a bike with a bus and a train
Traveling there and traveling here
Everywhere in every gear

But oh Lord we pay the price with a
Spin of a wheel - with a roll of a dice
Ah yeah you pay your fare
And if you don't know where you're going
Any road will take you there

I've been traveling on a wing and a prayer
By the skin of my teeth by the breath of a hair
Traveling where the four winds blow
With the sun on my face - in the ice
and the snow

But oooeeee it's a game
Sometimes you're cool, sometimes
you're lame
Ah yeah it's somewhere
And if you don't know where you're going
Any road will take you there

I am not familiar with George Harrison's song.
However, I was listening to Be Your Own Pet.
http://www.lyricsmania.com/lyrics/be_your_own_pet_lyrics_4919/be_your_own_pet_lyrics_26571/bicycle_bicycle_you_are_my_bicycle_lyrics_290313.html
Good god the members of this group are young. Still amusing. IMHO

I usually have the Shuffle with me, but when I forget it, I'll often have a Dandy Warhols song floating through my head (they have some of the best cycling songs), usually The Dandy Warhols' TV Theme Song or Crack Cocaine Rager.

if i forget my iPod, i try to think of songs to keep my cadence up. lately it's been "bastard" by motley crue.

Heeeeeeeeey Baby! I wanna know-oh-oh, will you be my girl?

Stuck in my head on and off for a couple of weeks now.

Soon I'll get a new MP3 player (my original was broken doing a stupid human trick and fighting Sir Isaac Newton) and end the carnage.

Minutemen- "This Ain't No Picnic" On my way to work of course!

For some reason these two have been in my head a lot while riding:
Steady as she goes - The Raconteurs
You're so Vague - Queens of the Stone Age

Concrete Rage by wumpscut. Rammstein Te Quiero #$@! (bad word in spanish).
Karma police by radiohead. Sing sing sing by Louis Prima.
Doin' the cockroach and cowboy dan both by modest mouse. What's in it for me by pitchshifter.
Spiders from system of a down. One day he went out for milk and never came home by Paper Chase. Honey bear by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
Funeral diner by wumpscut.

I usually listen to a song before I leave, so that I have it stuck with me for the ride. These are some that make it into heavy rotation on my morning playlist.

Ana Ng - They Might be Giants
Unbeautiful - Too Much Joy
This Wake I Myself Have Stirred - Shai Hulud
Shake Hands With Beef - Primus
Sally MacLennane - The Pogues
Defiance - One King Down
I Hate Jimmy Page - Mindless Self Indulgence
Do That Thing - Lyrics Born

Minutemen- "This Ain't No Picnic" On my way to work of course!

Perfect! Despite the the fact in a past life I made records for a living, I am absolutely incapable of playing a song start to finish in my head; all I get are loops or riffs or pieces of a chorus, and that's a perfect candidate. That and pretty much anything from "Double Nickels."

Has anybody heard the demo version of "I Am the Walrus"? (It's on one of the Beatles' "Anthology" discs.) It has none of the goofy "psychedelia" that George Martin added. It's pure, bilious Lennon. It was raining today, and I had this phrase over and over: "Sitting in an English garden, waiting for the sun... If the sun don' come you get a tan from standing in the English rain...."

And John Brooking, an excellent idea! I'll check out your station and maybe post mine if I figure out how...

Perfect! Despite the the fact in a past life I made records for a living, I am absolutely incapable of playing a song start to finish in my head; all I get are loops or riffs or pieces of a chorus, and that's a perfect candidate. That and pretty much anything from "Double Nickels."

Has anybody heard the demo version of "I Am the Walrus"? (It's on one of the Beatles' "Anthology" discs.) It has none of the goofy "psychedelia" that George Martin added. It's pure, bilious Lennon. It was raining today, and I had this phrase over and over: "Sitting in an English garden, waiting for the sun... If the sun don' come you get a tan from standing in the English rain...."

And John Brooking, an excellent idea! I'll check out your station and maybe post mine if I figure out how...

I recently saw the minutemen "We Jam Econo" documentary great, but sad. As a bass player, Mike Watt/Double Nickles changed my life! I met/spoke to Mike a number of times ( my band opened for firehose a couple of times & I saw the minutemen everytime they came through philly) he was very nice, always very encouraging. His website got me back into cycling after a long hiatus (Watt cycles regularly for fitness etc.) and I have been commuting now for about a 1 1/2 years. "Double Nickles" still blows me away and to think it was recorded for $1200 (Double Album!) and most of it it first take, little to no overdubs! Amazing stuff!

I too have that Beatles stuff, my brother got it as a bootleg years ago. It still amazes me how raw/ rocking some of it is prior to the additional production!

At least lately, I've been more preoccupied with completing my bathroom remodel and my new position.

I will be trying hard to NOT envision that on my way home. :D

Joking aside. Congrats on the job and good luck with the remodel.

Back to the topic. I'm get the weirdest songs in my head. Chirstmas songs, hits from 30 years ago that I knew but weren't my favorites - you know songs I probably haven't thought about in 30 years.

Danka.

This thread is a tad old. The bathroom is finished and my promotion is a thing of memory. I'm now fully entrenched in my new department and completely swamped. Why oh why did they put me on a project that is running one month behind? ugh
enough complaining :)

I usually get a random mix of stuff. Last night included:

Dean Martin - Sway
Michael Jackson - Billie Jean
Rammstein - Mein Teil
A Tribe Called Quest - Award Tour
Johnny Cash - One Piece at a Time

For a while I was into "Bicycle Race" by Queen, an obvious candidate and a good pumping up song. However, "Any Road" seems more suitable for commuting, a bit more relaxed and more about the journey than the arrival. (Although that would make it even more perfect for touring, I suppose.)

By the way, I've just bookmarked the song at my Pandora profile (http://www.pandora.com/people/jbrk4_com) so you can hear an actual sample of it.

Cake - You Part The Waters:

"You've got your grand piano
You don't even play piano
I'm the one who plays piano."

mp-what-player? I don't do techmologie, and nor do I want to shut out the sounds of the world. Hell, that's why I'm on the bike! I just sing to myself. Sometimes out loud :) They already think I'm an idiot for being on the bike -- why not be the singing idiot on the bike?

A Tribe Called Quest - Award Tour

Yes! Finally, someone else who listens to the Tribe. I really love the tracks they did with Busta Rhymes.

Sometimes I get "Understanding (In a Car Crash)" by Thursday stuck in my head. That's pretty much the only song that gets stuck in my head while riding. I usually just think about things I need or want to do. Well, that and not getting hit by motorists.

Sally MacLennane - The Pogues

:D bottle of smoke here

Grateful Dead Shows- Random songs from Live Bootlegs

Whatever I was just listening to while eating breakfast usually sticks in my head. Sometimes its something I heard yesterday. Sometimes songs just come out of nowhere.

And I'm sure glad it's not just me that admits to this happening... :)

pink floyd's run like hell usually gets me pumping a bit faster

Got that stupid "Tainted Love" song stuck in my head by almond.

Got that stupid "Tainted Love" song stuck in my head by almond.
Ooooh, that's pretty bad.
I was listening to some old school techno last week, and "I Feel Love" by Messiah was in the rotation. I had Jimmy Sommerville's voice stuck in my head the rest of the day. Try as I might, not even large doses of Motorhead could dislodge Jimmy's squeaky voice.

I regularly get an unwelcome song stuck in my head while cycling: Billy Joe's "Innocent Man." Seriously, I've got to move to faster cadence or something.

A song I like that pops into my head: Pogues' Fairytale in New York, where it picks up speed at "... cars big as bars ..."

The songs that creep into my head are usually horrible, so I'm happy when the good stuff pops up.

My favorites:

"Capillary Life" - Jawbox
"To Be The One" - Idaho
"How Does It Feel To Look Like Candy" - Swervedriver
"Little Johnny Jewel" - Television
"It's Your Thing" - The Isley Brothers
Ravel's "Bolero"

I often kick songs I'm working on around in my head too.

I've been listening to a lot of Woody Guthrie recently. He's got some great traveling down the road songs.

Radar Love by Golden Earring.....always good for picking up the pace (at least for me).

anything by animal collective or sigur ros. pretty much my two favorite bands.


especially olsen olsen by sigur ros. wow.


new order is good too. oh man or clouddead or mf doom or madlib or madvillain or jesus i love music.





(i just don't listen while i'm actually riding because i have bad luck)

lately i have had the coup in my head. angry posi-politico-hip-hop is always good in the morning.
but if i'm riding into the wind, almost without fail i end up singing that stupid classic rock song "against the wind"... bob seger i think. that is hellish.

I always end up with Madonna in my head (bad) on Wu-Tang (good). It's funny when I get Wu-Tang going through my head, since I'm toodling along of a folder, ahahaha.

I did manage to get the Clash's cover of King of the Road stuck for my entire commute the other day, taht was cool.

Don't listen to much music of my own choosing - not sure why - so my 3 yr old's selections are most often there (in my head). Lately, the Wheels on the Bike have been going round and round and round and round and...

Who Do You Love by Bo Diddley (dug out the Chess Box a couple wks ago) has been recurring lately. Great stuff.

U2's "Desire" is an awesome bike riding song.

Sometimes some "not so cool" songs go through my head. The other day I found myself thinking "Tie a Yellow Ribbon". I never liked that song.

Ones I like:
Please be with Me, Clapton
My Sharrona, (forget the one-hit wonder artist)
When the Levee Breaks, (Zepellin) --- good song for the rain.

Perfect! Despite the the fact in a past life I made records for a living, I am absolutely incapable of playing a song start to finish in my head; all I get are loops or riffs or pieces of a chorus, and that's a perfect candidate. That and pretty much anything from "Double Nickels."

Has anybody heard the demo version of "I Am the Walrus"? (It's on one of the Beatles' "Anthology" discs.) It has none of the goofy "psychedelia" that George Martin added. It's pure, bilious Lennon. It was raining today, and I had this phrase over and over: "Sitting in an English garden, waiting for the sun... If the sun don' come you get a tan from standing in the English rain...."

And John Brooking, an excellent idea! I'll check out your station and maybe post mine if I figure out how...

The Walrus reminds me of my nephew. I put that song, along with others, on a CD for my sister's ride to a ski resort. The little kid came back singing, "I am the Egg-Man" all day long.

Perfect! Despite the the fact in a past life I made records for a living, I am absolutely incapable of playing a song start to finish in my head; all I get are loops or riffs or pieces of a chorus, and that's a perfect candidate. That and pretty much anything from "Double Nickels."

Has anybody heard the demo version of "I Am the Walrus"? (It's on one of the Beatles' "Anthology" discs.) It has none of the goofy "psychedelia" that George Martin added. It's pure, bilious Lennon. It was raining today, and I had this phrase over and over: "Sitting in an English garden, waiting for the sun... If the sun don' come you get a tan from standing in the English rain...."

And John Brooking, an excellent idea! I'll check out your station and maybe post mine if I figure out how...
Lennon is my favorite Beatle. I have a tendancy to alter lyrics to a song stuck in my head, and have had an alternate version of this one stuck lately when riding in the rain:

"I am the engine, they are the pylons, I am the wipers, goo goo g'joob" A little silly, I know.

I've also had a random song stuck so bad that I had to find it online and listen to it: Rainbow, Street of Dreams. I couldn't have actually heard that song for many, many years now.

anything by animal collective or sigur ros. pretty much my two favorite bands.

Wow, that's a bit of whiplash. Have you heard Deerhoof? Neat band from San Francisco, I believe....

Boom goes London, Boom Paree
More room for you and more room for me

(Randy Newman leftover from tivo'd Colbert Report last night)

I skipped the iRiver this morning and had The Who's "I'm a Boy" running through my mind the entire 12 miles. I have a feeling I'm going to be singing a Dio tune on the way home. Listening to Last in Live now . . .

Sail Away by Enya!

No mp3 or iPod when I'm riding. Just what's in my head. Quite often it's "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley. :rolleyes:

Sail Away by Enya!
Double check the thread title "Cool songs that go through your head...". Sheesh!


"Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley.
Now that's a cool song.

No mp3 or iPod when I'm riding. Just what's in my head. Quite often it's "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley. :rolleyes:

:lol: I can't believe it Ron, that's way too hip. Way to support the hometown guys, though.

a buddy of mine ripped a cd for me recently and it seems that I now have a perpetual jukebox of catchy crap in my head all of the time:

Rock n' Roll Outlaw by L.A. Gunzzzz

Portland, Oregon by Loretta Lynn

Chinese Rocks by Johnny Thunders

Baby's got her Blue Jeans on by Mel McDaniel

Double check the thread title "Cool songs that go through your head...". Sheesh!


Now that's a cool song.

Just remember, your musical fecality was at one point somebody's cool song

I just sing to myself. Sometimes out loud :)
I do that sometimes, too. I have no portable music player either, and am not sure I want the hassle; I have enough gear to worry about already. I feel like it proves how in shape I am to have enough breath to sing while riding, although I still get too winded to continue after only a few phrases ... :(

i have consistenly found myself singing the lyrics to the rap group westside connection's song "gangsta nation" while commuting this past week. i didn't stop until i missed work on monday due to illness.

Jethro Tull 'No Lullaby" , Warren Zevon " Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner" and "Excitable Boy" and Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here"