Song that references "moto Guzzi"

[dave1068]

Hey gang,

Channel surfing in the Jeep and a song called "rock and roll lifestyle" by Cake, The Beatles have nothing to worry about but in the 1st 20 seconds they mention our beloved Moto Guzzi,,,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BW6CVqJNdU

[rocker59]

a 30-year old classic...

Yeah, my parents were in that income tax bracket...

LOL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60jdZVzOcko

[Kev m]

I was gonna ask if he was just discovering this.

But better late than never.

If you want an even better song by them, look for their remake of "I Will Survive" it's fantastic.

[Ncdan]

It’s still as bad as I remember long ago but it does acknowledge our beloved Guzzis so that’s some points 🤔

[cliffrod]

I was stretching bagels in Knoxville back in 95.  One day, one of the girls up front comes running back and says “ hey Clint- your bike is on the radio!” 

Didn’t really know what she meant, but it was.  Very, very cool.   my btdt old bike was the proverbial bad Moto Guzzi back then and it still is now.

Maybe y’all don’t like Cake, but they’re a band I like a lot.

[Ncdan]

I was stretching bagels in Knoxville back in 95.  One day, one of the girls up front comes running back and says “ hey Clint- your bike is on the radio!” 

Didn’t really know what she meant, but it was.  Very, very cool.   my btdt old bike was the proverbial bad Moto Guzzi back then and it still is now.

Maybe y’all don’t like Cake, but they’re a band I like a lot.

Ok Clint, I’ll still buy you a cheeseburger next time we can get together even though your taste in music is questionable 😂😂😂

[Turin]

I didn't mind "sheep go to heaven" , that's about it for Cake.

The song really isn't complimentary of our choice of bike.

[blackcat]

I was stretching bagels in Knoxville back in 95.  One day, one of the girls up front comes running back and says “ hey Clint- your bike is on the radio!” 

Didn’t really know what she meant, but it was.  Very, very cool.   my btdt old bike was the proverbial bad Moto Guzzi back then and it still is now.

Maybe y’all don’t like Cake, but they’re a band I like a lot.

We saw Cake last year and they put on a great show, touring again this year. Fun band.

[cliffrod]

Ok Clint, I’ll still buy you a cheeseburger next time we can get together even though your taste in music is questionable 😂😂😂

There’s already been enough wives in my life at this point that critiques of my judgment in music mean very little…..lol

I really like their hits like “Wasted”, “the Distance” and so many other more obscure Cake songs.  But I think my favorite cake song is “Mr Mastadon Farm”…. Not sure what the technical hai ku, meter, whatever is, but “Birds fall from the window ledge above mine….” is pure word sculpture and I love it-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AF9GVjS_bs

Maybe we should drift this thread into very cool contemporary motorcycle songs in general, even if there’s no MG reference…. 

This one by Amyl and the Sniffers is pretty great https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipZSqcFA0Z0

So is Entrance Song by Black Angels  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TCG4yANgOw

Edit- two more favorites are Saxon Ride like the wind- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-3do6PA8T0
 and WASP  rebel in the FDG  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YClVCbq4t1g&rco=1

[Oca Grassa]

Cake is sorta local….they’re a Sacramento band. Been a fan since I heard Rock n Roll lifestyle back in 94 or early 95.

Sheep go to Heaven is cool too but so are The Distance, Short Skirt, Long Jacket and Love You Madly

Stickshifts & Safetybelts is cool in a retro rose tinted glasses kinda way….but is an acquired taste.

[guzziart]

How about this song....
     ♪♫  Lookin' good, feelin' fine, ridin' my motor goochi  ♪♪♫   

[guzzisteve]

I had just bought my SPIII when that song came out, that's all I heard from co-workers at the truss shop.
Being a Guzzi rider I thought the song was about a Daytona cause that was the most expensive then and most Bad *ss Guzzi.
Truly about a rich kid that was a Richard.

[Swedemoto]

Fan of Cake as well. I always thought Perhaps was pretty well done as well...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8erLiYaO0nc

[Kev m]

Fan of Cake as well. I always thought Perhaps was pretty well done as well...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8erLiYaO0nc

Oh snap, that's awesome. I didn't realize they had done a version of the theme song to one of the best TV comedies of all time:

Coupling https://g.co/kgs/7qT7vkA

[sign216]

I am a fan of Cake as well, and never noticed that Guzzi reference.  I am surprised they used Guzzi in the song, perhaps the writer was a rider.  Most of my non-riding friends think I have a Ducati, because that's the only Italian bike they can remember.  To use Guzzi in the song is astute, as Ducati has greater recognition for the generic listener.

That song has an interesting history.  From Wikipedia:  "Rock 'n' Roll Lifestyle" is the debut single by Sacramento alternative rock band Cake. This song was first played by KWOD (now known as KUDL). It was later released on Cake's debut album, Motorcade of Generosity. Only 500 copies were issued.

The song was used for an Ikea advertisement in Sweden."

[rocker59]

We saw Cake last year and they put on a great show, touring again this year. Fun band.

Starting the tour in Little Rock.  Wish I felt like driving down there...

[Guzzistajohn]

I like their use of brass in the tunes. Great creativity 

[AJ Huff]

Absolutely love Cake! I regret not seeing them last year when they came to town. I was not aware of this song though.

-AJ

[elrealistico]

Probably bad moto guzzi fit in the time signature, and they were usually priced much higher than Japanese bikes then. So you had to have a r-n-r lifestyle to get one. They were certainly too expensive for me at the time!

[Moparnut72]

I  was looking for a new bike in 1970. I was in the Army and had a night/weekend job. I did this for a year barely had enough time to sleep let alone spend money on anything. I test rode an Ambassador and a BMW R75/5. It was a hard choice between the two but I took the BMW as it was a bit sportier. Both at the time were probably a few hundred dollars more than a 750 Honda. I put a 100,000 miles on the Beemer which was a plus but now after owning three MG's I wonder what if had I gotten the Guzzi. I paid cash for the Beemer, $1845 and the Guzzi was probably a similar amount, I don't remember ever if I had asked.
kk

[Kev m]

Probably bad moto guzzi fit in the time signature, and they were usually priced much higher than Japanese bikes then. So you had to have a r-n-r lifestyle to get one. They were certainly too expensive for me at the time!

Yeah maybe though

"How much did you pay for your bad Moto Guzzi"

Vs

"How much did you pay for your bad Du Cat i"

I can sorta hear it the same.

We also might be reading too much into it.

It could be as simple as one member of the band or the writer rode one or knew someone who rode one.

Or we might not be reading enough into it.

The song itself is an artistic treatise of the commercialisation of cool; an examination of the contradictions and irony of excessive consumerism as image.

As the song says, "Excess ain't rebellion, you're buying where they're selling" and Moto Guzzi may have been simply a brand obscure enough to build the narrative of trying to buy cool. Like the concert shirt also referenced in the song "to prove you were there, that you heard of them first".

On the other hand most of the public probably doesn't know Ducati either and Harley might have been the best, though perhaps to derivative and obvious a choice, so maybe they have the brand a lot of thought.

[rocker59]

 

The song itself is an artistic treatise of the commercialisation of cool; an examination of the contradictions and irony of excessive consumerism as image.

As the song says, "Excess ain't rebellion, you're buying where they're selling" and Moto Guzzi may have been simply a brand obscure enough to build the narrative of trying to buy cool. Like the concert shirt also referenced in the song "to prove you were there, that you heard of them first".

This ^^^

Spot on.

[bronzestar1]

"...Most of my non-riding friends think I have a Ducati, because that's the only Italian bike they can remember.  To use Guzzi in the song is astute, as Ducati has greater recognition for the generic listener..."

That's one of the reasons I have this plate on my V100!

[majstevetrevor]

“Bad” means “cool” of course, though said here with a bit of irony obviously.  Guzzis were considered a slightly obscure but cool bike in the hipster culture of the time. I had a friend who was playing in bands in San Francisco around then, and I was talking about getting a motorcycle and even though he didn’t actually know anything about motorcycles, he said out of the blue “will it be a Moto Guzzi?”