Today, January 16th, a very special anniversary is celebrated for music lovers. It is International The Beatles Day, a day that commemorates the opening date of the Cavern Club, the place where John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr made their debut more than six decades ago.
The Liverpool band mentioned the bus in a radio dialogue included in their 1994 album Live at the BBC. In that conversation, titled Riding on a Bus, which serves as an introduction to other songs, Paul McCartney and John Lennon talk about the small things in life as the most fundamental, citing bus trips almost as a metaphor for living. “What about the simplest things in life, like, uh? Do you like riding on a bus?”, they ask in the track. That’s why, from our blog, we want to pay tribute to them.
Beyond this mention in the introduction to one of the legendary British band’s works, the world of buses, in a more literal or metaphorical sense, has crept into song lyrics or, more recently, into the images of music videos by various singers or bands belonging to the most diverse musical genres.
We will take a brief look at the imprint of this means of transport in music and music videos through 10 significant examples:
1.- Beyoncé. Sorry
The song Sorry is included in the American artist’s 2016 album called Lemonade. An album that, according to specialized critics, represented a new rediscovery of her vocal ability. The video for this song tells the story, in black and white, of a group of tribal women traveling by bus.
2.- Miguel Ríos. El blues del autobús
This is one of the Andalusian rocker’s classic songs, in which he describes how he spends his hours on the bus he used for one of his tours. Many musicians travel from city to city on a bus during their concerts. And Miguel Ríos wanted to pay tribute to these vehicles through this song.
3.- Los Bravos. La parada del autobús
This lively song, rich in wind arrangements, has become one of the classics in Los Bravos’ repertoire. Here, the bus is presented as a metaphor for something that is awaited and that, with patience, eventually arrives.
4.- Aitana and Lola Índigo. Me quedo
Two of the most recognized artists by the general public in our country today, thanks to their participation in the popular television program Operación Triunfo, recorded the song Me quedo together in 2019, whose music video took place almost entirely on board a bus.
5.- Cecilia. Mi ciudad
When music videos were not yet a common format, in the 70s, the singer Cecilia was a pioneer in filming one on a bus, with the top open, driving through the streets of Madrid. It was made to promote her single Mi ciudad.
6.- Enrique del Pozo. Voy a perder el autobús
When Enrique, after separating from Ana, decided to innovate musically, he released this techno-pop song with lyrics that are 100% relatable: we all know how bad it feels when you know you’re going to be late and might miss the bus.
7.- Paloma San Basilio. Juntos
Reading the newspaper halfway through. Sneaking onto the bus together. Singing until we’re hoarse, read the lyrics of this iconic song by Paloma San Basilio, which became an instant classic from the moment it was released in 1981.
8.- M.I.A. Born Free.
Released in 2010, the music video for this M.I.A. song, co-written with Sleigh Bells, is considered one of the 50 best in history. It is a work directed by Romain Gavras, which put the American army in the spotlight. In the video, we see a group of young redheads being taken at gunpoint to a wasteland full of mines inside a bus, establishing a clear and uncomfortable parallel with the Holocaust and concentration camps. This is because, in some cultures, throughout history, redheads have been marginalized because they were considered to bring bad luck.
9.- Mallazo. Sin bajar del autobús.
The Spanish group Mallazo has recently released an album full of trumpet, trombone, and violin sounds along with the traditional bass and guitars of rock music. An album with the unique title Sin bajar del autobús (Without getting off the bus).
10. Clavel y Jazmín. El Twist del autobús
Who said you can’t dance on a bus? In reality, for safety reasons, we don’t recommend it, but the extroverted Paco Clavel wanted to dedicate one of his most emblematic songs to the quintessential urban transport.
We have created a playlist on our Spotify channel so you can listen to them all, and after this brief review of the appearances or presence of this means of transport in music, we want to ask you, do you remember any other stellar role of buses as protagonists? We look forward to receiving your songs to continue growing the list!
