Obvious Bicycle
Producers
Obvious Bicycle Lyrics
Morning’s come, you watch the red sun rise
The LED still flickers in your eyes
Oh, you ought to spare your face the razor
Because no one’s gonna spare their time for you
No one’s gonna watch you as you go
From a house you didn’t build and can’t control
Oh, you ought to spare your face the razor
Because no one’s gonna spare their time for you
You ought to spare the world your labor
It’s been twenty years and no one’s told the truth
[Chorus]
So listen, oh
So listen, oh
Don’t wait
Don’t wait
So listen, oh
So listen, oh
Don’t wait
Don’t wait
[Verse 2]
So keep that list of who to thank in mind
And don’t forget the rich ones who were kind
Oh, you ought to spare your face the razor
Because no one’s gonna spare their time for you
Why don’t you spare their world a traitor?
Take your wager back and leave before you lose
So listen, oh
So listen, oh
Don’t wait
Don’t wait
[Bridge]
So while the sun’s coming out
Cover ground, cover ground
And if you find some love for these clowns
Turn around, turn around
I’ll be half-asleep on the floor of a high school gym
Thinking of you and wondering if anyone else could begin
[Pre-Chorus]
To listen
Listen
Don’t wait
Don’t wait
[Chorus]
So listen, oh
So listen, oh
Don’t wait
Don’t wait
About
“Obvious Bicycle” depicts the life of a man who has lost hope in life while growing, believing he is so small in a vast world, and that he has no importance.
One could see this song as the bookend to a song from their self-titled album, “One (Blake’s Got A New Face),” which was apparently about an acquaintance then at Stanford. On the Vampire Weekend Reddit AMA, Ezra Koenig described the “Obvious Bicycle” narrator as a grown-up/wizened version of the narrators of earlier Vampire Weekend songs:
M79 –> White Sky / Cape Kod Kwassa Kwassa –> Finger Back / The Kids Don’t Stand a Chance –> Obvious Bicycle
This song samples the drums from “Keep Cool Babylon” by Ras Michael & the Sons of Negus. To NME, Rostam Batmanglij described the evolution of the sound:
“It started with really hectic drums, like Aphex Twin, but we got rid of them, and it’s inspired by the Dollar Brand record ‘Good News from Africa.’”
Vampire Weekend premiered this song along with “Everlasting Arms” on April 30, 2013 during a live gig in New York.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
Rostam said that they “pulled away those hectic drums and we actually replaced them with a sample, which is the only recording sample on the record.”
The percussion sample heard throughout the song is from Keep Cool Babylon by Ras Michael and the Sons of Negus
- 1.Obvious Bicycle
- 2.Unbelievers
- 3.Step
- 4.Diane Young
- 5.Don’t Lie
- 6.Hannah Hunt
- 8.Finger Back
- 9.Worship You
- 10.Ya Hey
- 11.Hudson
- 12.Young Lion