Pink Floyd – Bike

My journey through early Pink Floyd continues with this song called Bike written by Syd Barrett. It’s very British and like some of the other early songs you can hear the later Pink Floyd taking shape.  This song was on the album The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn released in 1967.

The album title came from a chapter in the book Wind In The Willows, where The piper was Pan, the Greek god of music.

Barrett was 18 when he met 15-year-old Jenny Spires in 1964. They started dating the following year, which is when he wrote “Bike.” Barrett would often create artwork and poetry for Spires, and “Bike” was his version of a love song to Spires.

Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason considers this one of Syd Barrett’s best songs.

From Songfacts

Pink Floyd guitarist Syd Barrett wrote this for his girlfriend, Jenny Spires. In the song, Syd shows her his bike, which he borrowed. He also shows her his mouse named Gerald, a clan of gingerbread men and a cloak. At the end of the song, Syd takes her to his music room. 

The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn was the first Pink Floyd album and the only one dominated by Syd Barrett, who was booted from the band in 1972 when he became mentally impaired. 

You’re the kind of girl that fits in with my world
I’ll give you anything, everything if you want things

Spires recalled him being “very loving.”

 “The lyrics to this are so very Syd, astonishingly clever,” he told Rolling Stone. “It’s fun, but there’s a depth of sadness to them.”

Bike

I’ve got a bike, you can ride it if you like
It’s got a basket, a bell that rings and
Things to make it look good
I’d give it to you if I could, but I borrowed it

You’re the kind of girl that fits in with my world
I’ll give you anything, ev’rything if you want things

I’ve got a cloak, it’s a bit of a joke
There’s a tear up the front, it’s red and black
I’ve had it for months
If you think it could look good, then I guess it should

You’re the kind of girl that fits in with my world
I’ll give you anything, ev’rything if you want things

I know a mouse, and he hasn’t got a house
I don’t know why I call him Gerald
He’s getting rather old, but he’s a good mouse

You’re the kind of girl that fits in with my world
I’ll give you anything, ev’rything if you want things

I’ve got a clan of gingerbread men
Here a man, there a man, lots of gingerbread men
Take a couple if you wish, they’re on the dish

You’re the kind of girl that fits in with my world
I’ll give you anything, ev’rything if you want things

I know a room full of musical tunes
Some rhyme, some ching, most of them are clockwork
Let’s go into the other room and make them work

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

21 thoughts on “Pink Floyd – Bike”

  1. I’m a big Floyd guy but I never could connect with the early stuff. My Pink Floyd discography begins with Ummagumma and Meddle and, having graduated high school in ’76, I humbly believe Dark Side of the Moon and Wish you were Here are among the best albums, evah.

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    1. I swear I don’t think Dark Side of the Moon ever left the charts…or if it does it’s only for a little while…it’s one of those classic albums

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  2. I have the whole thing memorized since first hearing it in high school. Then, the creepy sound effect section at the end – not something to go to bed to. Such a funny song that makes me want to visit the UK even more. “Take a couple if you wish, they’re on the dish.”

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    1. I’m happy to discovery their early music…I’m liking it a lot… yea the end can be creepy…Yea it’s so British…I love it. The ending is different and surprises you a little.

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  6. never heard that one before… not bad. Would never have guessed it was Pink Floyd if I’d heard it before… sounds almost like it might’ve been a rough demo for a late-era Beatles outtake or something. Would have been great if Syd had stayed more coherent and could have kept at it for another decade or so.

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  9. I have never explored Pink Floyd and funny thing I have a couple of albums on vinyl that were in a collection I picked up and since they were Floyd and worth a little something, I kept them. I haven’t listened to them. I think I have Darker Side of the Moon and Animal. So going to even earlier Floyd has never happened at all. Maybe some day I will take a dive.

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    1. I’ve heard their seventies output so much that I thought I would give the Syd Barrett era a try…you can hear the later Floyd in stretches in these…wrapped up in pretty cool melodies. It’s different.

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