Songs from 2021 with a cycling/political theme.
Written and played by Judy with piano, fiddle and accordion.

Cycling Judy

Back into Lockdown

Corruption

Cycling song about the joy of cycling

 Accordion, piano.

Hey! People it's a lovely day
You can do anything you like.
The sun is shining and the skies are blue
Why don't you go out on your bike?
 
 
Freewheeling's the best feeling
When you ride down hill
With the wind in your hair
S’almost flying, and I'm hardly trying
There's nothing good as riding a bike!
 
 
Monday morning, when it's cold and grey
Not ready for my nine to five
But once I'm up and out,  n riding on my way
I feel much more alive

Freewheeling's the best feeling
When you ride down hill
With the wind in your hair
S'almost flying, and I'm hardly trying
There's nothing good as riding a bike!

 
Grocery shopping on a gloomy day
It really is a bore
But when I go by bike, it’s never half so bad
And never such a chore

Freewheeling's the best feeling
When you ride down hill
With the wind in your hair
S'almost flying, and I'm hardly trying
There's nothing good as riding a bike!

Thanks for the following videos.

Pexels
Andrea Piacquadio - https://www.pexels.com/@olly

Freewheeling

As a cyclist, I am constantly amazed at the size of the vehicles now on our roads.  Some days it seems that nearly all of the cars are Sports Utility Vehicles (otherwise known as a 4x4).  

This funny song pokes fun at people who drive SUVs and is a parody of the car adverts and car commercials that seek to persuade us that we would have beautiful lives if only we had an SUV.   Unfortunately that seems to be nearly everybody these days!

I've been out on my bike this morning, and it's nuts out there.  When is this madness going to end?  Are there still people who don't know we are in a climate emergency?  Not that I'm suggesting that SUV drivers are pricks!  Of course not!

But seriously, it seems silly that there are so many huge SUVs on the roads, and it seems quite reasonable to me to ban them from city centres such as London, where motoring really isn't very environmentally friendly.   They really aren't all that useful on country lanes either because they are so wide it makes passing more difficult.  

Keir Starmer got some criticism for going to the dry cleaners in one!  https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/nov/01/who-needs-suvs-dear-keir-walk-to-the-tailor-next-time

There is a petition here that is calling for SUVs to be banned.
https://www.acturgently.org/ban_suvs#:~:text=Ban%20SUVs%20-%20Save%20Lives%20and%20Help%20Stop,National%20Highway%20Traffic%20Safety%20Administration%20that%20found%20that%3A

This is another comedy song in what I'm hoping will be a series of transport and protest songs with an environmental message. We are in a climate emergency, and transport is a big problem, and a source of CO2 and pollution.  More bikes on the road and fewer gas-guzzlers would make a big difference.  If you want to be more green, don't get a SUV, get an Ebike or an Escooter instead.

I drive an SUV (it's a big one)
It makes me very proud that it's a big one
I drive it very fast
Cause I hate to get there last
Oh I love my SUV (an it's a big one)
 
I know I look real cool
When I drive the kids to school
I leave the engine running by the gate
 
It's hard to find a place
Cause there isn't really space
So I park it on the pavement when I'm running late
 
I drive an SUV (it's a big one)
It makes me very proud that it's a big one
I drive it very fast
Cause I hate to get there last
Oh I love my SUV (an it's a big one)
 
It's only half a mile
But I like to go in style
So I always do my shopping in a four by four
 
Never mind the CO2
There is nothing I can do
Climate change won’t trouble me until it’s at my door 

 
I drive an SUV (it's a big one)
It makes me very proud that it's a big one
I drive it very fast
Cause I hate to get there last
Oh I love my SUV (an it's a big one)

 
I take my SUV
When I go on holiday
I drive it to the beach and then complain I have to pay
 
Country lanes are small
They’re not made for cars at all
They should add a roundabout and build a motorway
 
  
I drive an SUV (it's a big one)
It makes me very proud that it's a big one
I drive it very fast
Cause I hate to get there last
Oh I love my SUV (an it's a big one)

Words and music by Judy Mapledoram in 2021.
Big Ones sung by Robin Watson!

Cover photo from Pexels video
Pressmaster-  https://www.pexels.com/@pressmaster

I Drive an SUV

Bicycle song by Judy Mapledoram.   This cycling song is aimed at cyclists everywhere, and anyone who has ever struggled to get a cyclepath built.    If you're currently trying to stop cycle lanes being ripped out in places such as Kensington,  Shoreham-by-Sea, Camden or Chelsea, this cycling song will probably hit a nerve!  Brighton and Hove  and Ealing also seem to have lots of cycle lane problems.  This comedy song also features LTNs (low traffic neighbourhoods).   

If you are an anti-segregationist fan of  vehicular cycling, you will probably hate it, or at least not find it very funny!    And I don't suppose petrol-heads will be amused by this cycling protest song either.  But don't let the bike-haters get you down - just get on your bike and ride!

If you live in the Netherlands, and like riding your bike there, you probably have no need to sing this song because you have such good cycling infrastructure anyway.

But once you've heard it, you may find yourself singing it whenever you go out for a ride on your push bike.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, business, events and incidents are the products of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

We don't want no cycle paths here
And we think we've made that very clear
Well fight you all the way
We don't want it to stay
Cause we don't want no cycle paths here

The cycle lane in Kensington It lasted seven weeks
And the little kiddiwinks thought it would be for keeps
Now it's gone we leave our cars Anywhere we like
Let's hope we never see again 
A child upon a bike
 Oh
We don't want no cycle paths here
And we think we've made that very clear
Well fight you all the way
We don't want it to stay
Cause we don't want no cycle paths here
 
Low traffic neighbourhoods are just a crazy crazy dream
Even though they make the air we breathe so nice and clean.
We'd rather waste our time in traffic jams that just stay put
Than do our bit for climate change 
And venture out on foot
 
Oh 
We don't want no cycle paths here
And we think we've made that very clear
Well fight you all the way
We don't want it to stay
Cause we don't want no cycle paths here
 
 
Mrs Mary Murgatroyd she liked it not one jot
And if she could have her way she'd like to see it stopped
Don't cycle on the pavement*
Don't cycle on the road
Don't cycle any where at all because it's not allowed

Oh 

We don't want no cycle paths here
And we think we've made that very clear
We'll fight you all the way
We don't want it to stay
Cause we don't want no cycle paths here
 
Cover Photo by Brett Sayles from Pexels   https://www.pexels.com/@brett-sayles


All the other videos were filmed by me. Quite a few of them were in Taunton, Somerset, and two were on the Steam Coast Trail between Blue Anchor and Dunster.  The parked cars which were really supposed to be in Kensington were actually in Minehead, and you can see the clock tower in the background. There is also a bit from Lyon in France, showing cycling alongside the river Rhone (or possibly Saone, as I have trouble remembering which was which).

The music was played by me on piano keyboard and violin. No accordion, for a change!