I'm Goin' Back on the Bicycle — © 1985 Tommy Sands

About this song

This wonderful song, which was composed and recorded by Tommy Sands in 1985, appears on his CD entitled “Singing of the Times”. Tommy is a reknowned singer and song writer from Northern Ireland, one of those who was instrumental in bringing together those from the North and South of Ireland. He performed for us here in Santa Cruz at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center with his daughter Moya and his son Fionan in early March. Here are the three of them:

tommy, moya & fionan

It was a memorable evening. If you'd like to hear Tommy singing this song, the sound file (mp3) is here. A one-page pdf with the score and the lyrics is here.

Pete Seeger writes: “Tommy Sands has achieved that difficult but wonderful balance between knowing and loving the traditions of his home and being concerned with the future of the whole world.”

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  1. The day was fine, and the sun did shine,
But now it's near the evenin'—
And I was drivin' in my car,
Not far from near Rathfriland.1
I just had paid the road tax,
And fire and theft insurance—
When the petrol tank said, “That's all, Frank!”
And this is my conclusion:

    I'm goin' back on the bicycle,
I just can't pay the bills.
I'm goin' back on the bicycle,
Freewheel down the hills.

  2. My Aunt Jane, she took me in,
With her blarney and her lingo—
She said that she would buy the juice
If I took her to the bingo.
Well all she ever gives to me
Are lollypops and spangles—
If she wants to go tomorrow,
She can sit up on the handles.

    Chorus

  3. You won't go far without a car!
Or so said all the Joneses—
And I went crawling to the bank:
“Would you please give me a loan sir?”
Ah, curse the day, I made my way
Behind those windscreen wipers—
With oil sheiks and petrol strikes,
I can't pay the piper.

    Chorus

  4. Three thousand pounds I earn each year,
Two thousand hours I'm strivin'—
And a thousand pounds I'll spend on fifteen
Thousand miles of drivin'.
Now a ten-mile drive takes a one-hour strive
If you can get my meanin'—
At ten miles an hour I could
Beat on the bike, freewheelin'.

    Chorus (two times through)
    ---------------- 
    1The town of Rathfriland is about
  thirty miles south of Belfast.