Handlebars

Time to express my deep and passionate love for this song.
I guess I never really appreciated the meaning behind Handlebars before I watched the music video. As soon as I saw the video, everything about the song made sense - the message behind the song was black-and-white.
When you hear the first verse to this song for the first time, you expect to hear a sweet, innocent track without a lot of depth. But as the song quickly progresses, the message behind the powerful lyrics slowly becomes apparent. Before the song ends, the point the band is trying to get across is painfully obvious, and the way it's presented is the way it's meant to be; it's the blunt-faced truth. The lyrics to this song go from making you laugh to making you sick inside - because you realize how hideously true the lyrics really are.
To me, this song speaks of society, and how an innocent citizen with the best of intentions can become corrupted, taken over by power and the drive to always be better than the next. In the music video, the characters and actions progress in the same way technology and society has, and that helps you really get the point the band is making.
But even beyond the phenomenal lyrics, this track has even more to offer. The addition of the trumpet during the later verses and choruses adds a jazzy feel to the song, a really modern, sophisticated sound; and it totally works for the song. The trumpet solo is amazing. It's a good example of what a real jazz musician should be able to do; how they should be able to play something and make you feel it rather than hear it. Kudos to the trumpet player who played that part; it made all the difference in this track!

Listen to this song. Really listen. Realize the message behind these lyrics, how true this message is. Honestly, I havn't heard a song that had so much to tell the world as Handlebars does in a long time.
Here's Handlebars, by Flobot.

Flobot - Handlebars Official Music Video

Handlebars
Flobot

I can ride my bike with no handlebars, no handlebars, no handlebars
I can ride my bike with no handlebars, no handlebars, no 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 crooked-y
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 'cause, 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 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 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, in a holocaust ...

I can ride my bike with no handlebars, no handlebars, no handlebars
I can ride my bike with no handlebars, no handlebars, no handlebars