Arlo Guthrie – The Motorcycle Song (in album Arlo)

words and music by Arlo Guthrie

CHORUS:

I don’t want a pickle

Just want to ride on my motorsickle

And I don’t want a tickle

‘Cause I’d rather ride on my motorsickle

And I don’t want to die

Just want to ride on my motorcy…cle

It was late last night the other day

I thought I’d go up and see Ray

So l went up and I saw Ray

There was only one thing Ray could say, was:

CHORUS

This song is about the time that I was ridin’ my motorcycle.

Going down a mountain road, at 150 miles an hour, playin’

my guitar. On one side of the mountain road there was a

mountain, and on the other side there was nothin’ – there was

a cliff in the air.

Now, when you’re going down a mountain road at I50 miles

an hour you gotta be very careful, especially if you’re playin’

a guitar. Especially if that guitar is an acoustic guitar.

Because if it’s an acoustic guitar, the wind pressure is greater

on the box side than on the neck side, because there’s

more guitar on the box side. I wasn’t payin’ attention ..

Luckily I didn’t go into the mountain – I went over the cliff.

I was goin’ at 150 miles an hour sideways and 500 feet down

at the same time.

I knew it was the end. I looked down, I said ”Wow! Some

trip”. I thought it…well I knew it was…I knew it was my last

trip, and in my last remaining seconds in world,I decided

to write one last farewell song to the world.

Put a new ink cartridge in my pen. Took out a piece of paper.

I sat back and I thought awhile. Then I started writin’:

I don’t want a pickle

Just want to ride on my motorsickle

And I don’t want a tickle

‘Cause I’d rather ride on my motorsickle

And I don’t want to die

Just want to ride on my motorcy …cle.”

I knew that, it wasn’t the best song l ever wrote, but I didn’t

have time to change it. I was comin’ down mighty fast.

But as you all know, and as fate would have it, I didn’t die. I

landed on the top of a police car. And he died. I drove away

on the road that he was on. I came into town at a screamin’

175 miles an hour, playin’ the motorcycle song.

I came into town, I jumped off my bike, the bike went around

the corner by itself, went up on the stand by itself, turned

itself off.

I walked over to my friend. He was standin’ there eatin’

pickles. I said “Hi, what’s happenin’?” He looked at me in the

eye and said “Nothin'”.

You gotta sing it with that kind of enthusiasm. Like you just

squashed a cop…

CHORUS