Handlebars lyrics by The Flobots, 19 meanings. Handlebars explained, official 2024 song lyrics | LyricsMode.com
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The Flobots – Handlebars lyrics

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The Flobots – Handlebars lyrics
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 are 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

And 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
I'm 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
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

Cuz I can lead a nation with a microphone
With a microphone
With a microphone

And 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

Because 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
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
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Lyrics taken from /lyrics/t/the_flobots/handlebars.html

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Songwriters: Andrew Guerrero, Jamie Laurie, Jesse Walker, Kenneth Ortiz, Mackenzie Roberts, Stephen Brackett
Handlebars lyrics © Bluewater Music Corp.
Submitted by mis-n-u
Corrected by emo234

hot lyrics

Handlebars meanings Post my meaning

  • a
    + 8
    Aliehal 2008-08-05 03:35:33
    I agree with white raven. I think he is saying how to one person like a child such an innocent behavior can be so meaningful and exciting while there is so much of a greater power and how something so big to one person is so small int he grand scheme of things. Like someone can end the world in a holocaust of destroy a human race. While to one person making a comic book may be the pinacle of their life!
    I have another theory too about it being a political revolt against George Bush mocking his power and his stupidity! But I belive the first idea is the most credible.
    Add your reply
  • p
    + 8
    prettyxentrails 2008-05-14 23:38:33
    I don't think it's supposed to have a specific meaning. I'm going to go off the song and the video for a moment.
    It just shows two people- who start off innocent. Then they're faced with a choice- one chooses the road of peace, the other power. All the things the first man sees while walking are innocent things. Dancing. Music. Chalk drawings. Children playing.
    However the other man sees s*, advertisements, fast cars, etc. He becomes corrupt, and climbs the business ladder until he eventually becomes a president and/or other type of leader. The other man, the one who chose the path marked by the white dove, watches all these things happening. The word becomes more corrupt- shown by the black bird killing the dove, the wrecking ball breaking down a wall marked with an image of a white bird, etc. The atom-splitting on the television gets darker and more chaotic each second.
    Soon giant posters of the president/leader's face are posted up and cameras are set up everywhere. (Which, interestingly enough, remind me a lot of Big Brother from 1984.) The lyrics change, too- it goes from riding bikes and do-si-dos and comic books to splitting atoms and creating cures and not giving them to people. The lyrics and the video both reflect the growth of corruption in humanity.
    Eventually the man who chose peace gathers up all the common people and marches with them in rebellion. As protesters are shot and the skies turn black, the lyrics change, and talk about guiding missiles with satellites and sending people to prison because you don't like them, etc. Eventually the man who stirred the rebellion, the same man who chose peace and freedom, is killed right before the very man who was his friend, but chose the path of power and corruption. Hence everything changes, and the video and lyrics go back to a light and innocent "I can ride a bike with no handlebars" chorus.
    I see it as a warning to humanity- about what we have done and are prone to do. Like I mentioned earlier, it reminded me of 1984 by George Orwell.
    Add your reply
  • l
    + 5
    Liar_Liar 2008-08-17 16:52:33
    I think this song is basically saying about how the government is taking control. If you really think about it. He's saying 'i can do this just like you, you're nothing special'. Talking about how people have to listen to the government or else they go to jail or get into trouble. Talking about how he can end the planet in a holocost. All he has to do is start it. Basically saying how the government is getting a little to powerful.
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  • h
    + 4
    happybandit12 2008-04-16 18:11:12
    The artist is right. I don't think that the song is talking specifically about the war in Iraq, or President Bush, but rather is a broad commentary about power and the high concentrations of it instilled in certain people.
    The song might as well be talking about Vietnam, or the Phillipine War, or any genocide or war. The message, though, is clear: war is a product of the higher powers: prime ministers, presidents, and ceos.
    (There's a really scary and disturbing book, but it is amazing: Johnny Got His Gun, by Dalton Trumbo--if you've got time & the disposition, read it: its message is similar to that of the song, but much more graphic.)
    Add your reply
  • polarpogo
    + 3
    polarpogo 2008-12-08 00:01:58
    This is one of my favorite songs. A lot of people think this song has no meaning and is really random, but its not. Handlebars to me says that the average person as an american has a lot of power but if you don't stop and realize your place in the world, you can get to powerful. Slow down, be average. Or it could be a really random song that I am reading way to much into.
    Add your reply
  • p
    + 3
    paradiddle09 2008-10-08 15:31:05
    This song is awesome. It talks about the power of the different classes in this country. The first verse is about average citizens, and all the trivial things they can do, because trivial things are pretty much the only thing they can do or aspire to do. Next is the business class with their ability to manipulate, and finally world leaders who can do whatever they want, including ending the world. And as the powers of the class being described in the song increase, the song intensifies. It's so perfect. I love it.
    Add your reply
  • x
    + 3
    xXsk8terXx 2008-09-06 19:21:53
    Sadly this song is sometimes portrayed in many different ways. In my opinion its how our governement has basically come to the point when that it can do whatever it wants. Thus "I can hand out a million vacinations or let them all die in exapseration, etc." all that is saying that even if we are to believe that the government is doing the best for not its not really, its all for their selffish greed. The no handlebars represent how we aren't controlling ourselves but its everyone else that is. Basically portayed in pessimism or optimisim.
    Add your reply
  • m
    + 3
    Mrenee06 2008-07-29 04:41:34
    If you really listen to the meaning of the lyrics it's saying we as the human race have such a great amount of power that we can do anything. I. E. Send someone to jail because we don't like them, end the world in a holocaust but the point is just because we have the power we doesn't mean we should abuse it. All of their lyrics have very controversal meanings behind them you just have to read between the lines.
    Add your reply
  • s
    + 2
    s103862225 2010-05-20 18:13:12
    This song is awesome! I never get tired of listening to it! I think it starts with all the simple things that anyone can do then the singer relizes what he can do and never thought he could! Like when he says
    "I can ride my bike with no handlebars" and then later he says
    "I can end the planet in a holocaust" that's when he starts to realize what he is capable of doing (even if its not really smart.)
    -@gnes.
    Add your reply
  • c
    + 2
    CrimsonXxTides 2008-06-19 18:00:58
    I think that this song is really about how you can keep with the simple things, such as just riding your bike with no handlebars. It's a simple, innocent feat, that you bragged about as kids. But as the world grows and changes, and you grow and change, suddenly there's alot more not-so-innocent feats out there, and that every single human has this amazing potetential, and no one is going to tell us how to use it. Everyone has the potential to destroy the world in a holocoust, or they can write a comic, invent a new medicine, a new car. We all have the potential to do something great, devestating, or not. I think this is like a warning, think before you become overly amitious, try to take joy in the little, simple things, don't let amition take you over. Don't disregard the joy of riding your bike with no handlebars.
    Add your reply
  • d
    + 1
    devilslittlesister23 2010-05-03 00:32:39
    I can't listen to this song for hours, I love it, not only for the beat but I love the deeper meaning in the song as well as the video, it show how you can be so close with someone and even when you do part from each other there is no telling what will become of your friendship as well as each other, also I think that this some shows how the government is so corrupt that it can change people so dirastically and make them forget about anything that they one thought was important in their life, I mean its not like he had to do all the things that he did but as you can see in the video the goverment agrees to everything that he does and he has people who back him up on it therefore he feels like what he's doing is good. However, when you come to the end you see that the second he notices his friend he stops and stares in complete shock and as his friend is shot and killed he goes back to the happier times when he was out of the governments hands and could do so much greater things:-] but that's just me.
    Add your reply
  • k
    + 1
    kollision1992 2008-06-11 17:15:06
    What? No, this song is about the struggles that humans go through in life. All the things we can do. All the things that can happen to us. In the end, you stand up for what you believe in, or you stand up for material posessions. The song explains how things we do in life can be used for good or bad but it is up to us the way our actions reflect the world.
    Add your reply
  • n
    + 1
    NettValentine 2008-06-02 06:10:18
    "look at me, look at me" (i can do this and that)
    it's about how americans like to show off and shizz. How they can do sooo much to help, but end up with problems. Sometimes. How they have accomplished many victories, and will keep going! How they can easily destroy many things, not just americans, but people in general! How the world is at it's peak and will end up being lost in the fog of all the pollution, and I'm not saying only chemicals. The new generations of this world are gonna become corrupt if certain things don't change. Oh how the innocent children of this world can be free of handle bars in the future.(i am speaking my opinion. Don't take it in offense.)
    Add your reply
  • b
    0
    Briggs 2008-05-08 05:36:55
    I believe this song starts off in an infantile state, such as that of being a child. Riding a bike with no handlebars, showing that you can do to do-si-do, that you know songs from school. Then it escalates into adulthood, being forced into inventing/selling. Soon there after you come into the power stage, the splitting of an atom creating a nuclear effect and inducing a powerful feeling. Then you go through the lust for power, doing whatever you want. Giving vaccinations or not, assasinations, sending people to jail for no reason, being able to guide bombs and pick people off with telescopes. Then the world ends in holocaust, thus indicating our regression back to the infantile state. Humanity starts anew because of the ending of the world.
    Add your reply
  • l
    - 1
    linkin_park_luvr 2008-09-22 16:07:01
    Ok for the most part I agree with most of you and I do think that it's about the government gettin too powerful and all you people gettin mad at whiteraven just stop ok I disagree with him/her about the whole too big of an ego thing but they have the main idea right and I think that flobots is a modern version of what rock used to be. Going and rebelling against their parents and higher authority and drugs, s* and everything else right along with it. So just go by this: "Everyone is entitled to their own opinions" so just let everyone be themselves cuz that's what this song is about: Being yourself no matter what everyone else says> staying true to themselves even if their rents don't agree and even if the government don't like it> theyd rather have death than havin to be someone theyre not jus cuz people don't agree with what they're doin and sayin> it doesn't make it wrong jus cuz you don't like it. I could c if they were talkin about runnin around in public naked but theyre not so yahh. Peace, love, harmony and rocknroll! Gooo flobots!
    Ill be with you till the end guys!
    Add your reply
  • r
    - 1
    REBELFUSILIER 2008-05-27 15:32:26
    Its about what an American can do and what an American can be. An American can anything, but they chose not to destroy the world, Americans chose to help the world. Even with an unlimited arsenal of weapons and missiles, we refrain from annihalating a country, instead the you. S. Feeds half the world (literally). The song says "I --can-- lead the world into holocaust:" not "I lead the world into holocaust."
    Add your reply
  • c
    - 1
    cammijett 2008-05-08 01:45:16
    I think that its about growing and learning you start out small(riding the bike with o handlebars) then you have your friends and you go to school and learn more and things about the world and splitting the atom of A molecule.
    Then when you have your education or whatever you start to realize how business works and money and start to think about the future. Then everyone has their moment where they feel the most alive and on top. His alive and on top was more than most people's. He feels that he can do whatever he wants and so powerful only to find that when you get old you are back where you started. Just simple and not as important. Its sad bt that's how life is.
    Add your reply
  • w
    - 3
    WXP 2008-06-02 22:51:48
    It's talkin' about how prideful we are as people about the things we accomplish. It's always from the beginning of time been a competition of who's better. Who has more control. And the song explains the intensity all of this has gotten to. No longer is it a friendly game of who has what. The things we do now could/and control people's lives.
    In general it's about man's thirst for satisfaction. It's lust for power. And how our selfishness will do nothing but put us closer to the end.
    Add your reply
  • c
    - 3
    crazyitalian250 2008-05-07 03:25:07
    Honestly I think this is one of those songs that has no specific meaning, any idiot can guide a nation with a microphone *cough george bush cough*, splitting an atom is a step in creating an atomic bomb, you can run a business and make people want to buy your product with propaganda, making a computer survive aquatic conditions and an engine that runs 64 miles to the gallon is all about our technology, guiding a missile through satallite and hitting that target through a telescope in a way could be the start of a nuclear holocaust. Honestly even though it's never said in the song. I think this song should be called humanity, it'll save a lot of people from thinking to hard.
    Add your reply
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    Top meanings Post my meaning

    • a
      + 8
      Aliehal
      I agree with white raven. I think he is saying how to one person like a child such an innocent... Read more →
    • p
      + 8
      prettyxentrails
      I don't think it's supposed to have a specific meaning. I'm going to go off the song and the video... Read more →
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    [Intro][Verse][Pre-Chorus][Chorus][Hook][Bridge][Outro]