The Bicycle Diaries

By David Byrne
That's the David Byrne who sang in Talking Heads and now gets slightly peeved by people who think he's not done anything since the split up. He relears a new album every couple of years, and tours, as well as producing strange art shows like that musical building thing in London a couple of years ago.
I caught the last tour. Very good actually. Supporting an album I didn't much care for, but the concert and the resulting film where both top notch.
Still. As well as being a musician, David Byrne is a cyclist. Not the kind of cyclist who wears spandex and lycra, jumps red lights and yells at mere mortals who dare to walk on the pavement while the cycling god wishes to pass. Very mellow, very laid back. He is in the habit of taking a folding bike on tour, bolting it back together in his hotel room and then pootling about whatever city he's visiting, getting the feel for the place, while visiting lots of modern art galleries.
This is frankly a huge relief. While I'm fully aware that art doesn't change if you discover something unpleasant about the artist, it would be a shame to have to re-interpret their work on discovering that they're a git. Still, if Byrne is a git, he's not that kind of git.
Byrne pootles about, looking at cities, stopping and talking to people, thinking about what makes various cultures tick and at least some of the time, how much better life would be if we all listened to funky salsa music and rode bikes. It does help that this is a philosophy I have a lot of time for.
I am not quite sure if the book is a collection of blog postings. There are certainly points when it reads like one, and after a while I was rather feeling that reading the book as a book was a mistake. Each little snippet is nice and often insightful, but perhaps they would have been better read one a day over several months.
Towards the end of the book a more thorough narrative develops, with Byrne reporting on a conference he organised to discuss promoting cycling in New York City. Not really a place I'd automatically want to go for a ride, but he makes it sound inviting.
Byrne's cycling is for the most part very urban, while mine is all about getting out of towns and being able to enjoy nature. But there's a lot in the book that works. 

The Wedding Present, Leeds, 16th December

I first heard The Wedding Present when I was living in a shared house just after dropping out of University nearly twenty years ago now. Dear God how time flies.
Aggressive, almost thrash guitars, driving through angry songs about men whose relationships had just broken up, or were just about to. One album in particular spoke to me for some reason. Were these songs written buy a stalker, or wittily observed stories about the kinds of men who stalk?

No, I sent you that letter
To ask you if the end was worth the means
Was there really no in between?
And I still don't feel better
I just wondered if it could be like before
And I think you just made me sure!

After a while they split up and the songwriter formed a new band, Cinerama. Instead of the angry guitars, now there where lush sweeping strings, and songs about men whose relationships had broken up stalking their former lovers and obsessively stalking girls they barely know

But of course none of this has happened at all, yet
We've not even spoken, but i'll bet
Once you're through my door
You'll want to stay for ever more
Because i will hold you so tight, i'll make you see how
You are the right woman for me now
Just give me a glance
To show me that i've got a chance

A few albums later and Cinerama morphed back into the The Wedding Present. The music is less angry than before, but the same themes are there. Pain, confusion, betrayal, lust.

I thought I saw a flying saucer last night but of course it was just an aeroplane
I thought I saw Winona Ryder but my eyes were playing tricks again
Some things look wonderful but then they’re different when you look again

And that’s what’s so funny, honey
You’ve looked like my girl for so long that I thought you would always be beside me
But I’d be the first to admit I was wrong

I'm still not entirely sure I understand the songs. There's a profound misogyny to them when taken on face value. Yet there's a subtlety to the lyrics that move them beyond the ranting. They are perhaps satire, and like all satire it has to sound believable. Or it's just skilfully crafted misogyny. Can't rule that out.
Tonight they are playing Leeds.

All the above written safely before the gig. Leeds Student Union. Tiny compared to all the big stadium things I've been to over the last few years. Maybe 500-800 people. Under ten metres from the stage. An hour later my ears are returning to normal.
Marvelous. Rockier and thrashier than their recent albums. Very quick. They're on just after nine and finish at about ten twenty five. Twenty odd songs in that time. No hanging about for drum solos.
Apparently they're playing Bristol tomorrow... You know if I got off work at four I could probably make it...