No Handle Bars meaning: This is one of the greatest anti-war, anti-police state, anti-military-industrial-complex songs ever written. It is also an ode to the power and potential of our world's young people today, a warning that we are balanced on a razor's edge between a future of limitless human flourishing and creativity, and a parallel future of war and destruction to rival even the darkest moments of the last century.
Flobots founder Jamie Laurie stated:
"The song is about the idea that we have so much incredible potential as human beings to be destructive or to be creative. And it's tragic to me that the appetite for military innovation is endless, but when it comes to taking on a project like ending world hunger, it's seen as outlandish. It's not treated with the same seriousness...
The lyrics came to me as I was riding a bike home from work with my hands in the air — I had just learned how to do it — and I felt triumphant, but at the same time, I knew there were people at that moment who were being bombed by our own country. And I thought that was incredibly powerful. We have these little moments of creativity, these bursts of innovation, and every time that happens, that innovation is used to oppress and destroy people. So it struck me as beautiful and tragic at the same time."
Rock on, Flobots! Rock on! Here's a tip of my hat for writing the No Handlebars song, one of the most artful expressions of a libertarian idea that I have ever had the joy of experiencing.
