Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1475578
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 7 AUGUST 2022 OPINION 10 Raphael Vassallo OPINION 'I want to ride my bicycle…' FREDDIE Mercury. Just in case there was any misunderstand- ing: it was Freddie Mercury – not me – who 'wanted to ride his bicycle', back in 1978. And he made damn sure every- body in the entire Universe got to know about it, too. In fact, you couldn't even turn on a radio, in the late 1970s, without hearing… Actually, wait: there were plenty of other songs you just 'couldn't get away from', at the time. 'You Picked A Fine Time to Leave Me, Lucille', by Kenny Rogers. 'Save All Your Kisses For Me', by the Brotherhood of Man; 'We Had Joy, We Had Fun, We Had Seasons in the Sun', by Ter- ry Jacks; and, of course, the most hopelessly unavoidable of the lot: 'Pretty much anything at all', by Cliff Richards. But somewhere in this eclectic mix of (let's face it: gloriously kitsch) 1970s pop-memorabilia, a rather recognisable male voice would occasionally blare out: "Bicycle! BICYCLE!! I Want To Ride My… BICYCLE!! BICYCLE!!!" And… I don't know. Perhaps it's that note of urgency, in Fred- die Mercury's voice, that only seems to grow more frantic with each repetition (until it almost assumes the proportions of a full-scale panic attack…) Or maybe it's because – to my own ears, at seven years of age – I just thought it was hilarious that an adult would even be sing- ing about 'bicycles' at all (and on the radio, too!) But whatever it was: I fell in love with Queen's hit single 'Bi- cycle Race', right on my very first hearing… so much so, that I can even distinctly remember where that took place. It was at my grandmother's house on Victoria Avenue, Sliema. She was seated at the kitchen table, peeling broad- beans; I was at the same table (being on official 'help-Nan- na-peel-the-broad-beans' in- structions, from my mother). Obviously, I have no idea where Freddie Mercury himself was, at the time… but the radio we both heard his voice on? That was sit- ting in its usual corner, by the fridge. And sure enough, out came the initial blast of… 'Bicycle! BICYCLE!'… .. to which we both listened in silence, until around half-way through the first verse: 'I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike. I want to ride my bicy- cle, I want to ride it where I… LI- I-I-IKE!' Whereupon Nanna Hilda – without even looking up from the broad-bean she was metic- ulously dissecting, at the time – suddenly muttered (words to the effect of): "Well, off you go, then! Ride your bicycle! See if I care… and besides: what's even stopping you, anyway…?" Tell you the truth: not only do I remember that scene with per- fect clarity, 43 years later; but I still occasionally chuckle about it, to this day. For while we were sitting there, in my grandmoth- er's kitchen, listening to Freddie Mercury in the late 1970s… the rest of the world was listening, too. And where the rest of the world was instantly captivated by the astonishing range (and to- nality, and depth, and versatility, etc.) of his unique, extraordinary voice – to the extent that Fred- die Mercury still routinely tops all the 'Greatest Male Vocalists Of All Time' charts, PERIOD! Never mind all that: because to my grandmother – bless her soul – he was still nothing but a 'spoilt, little whiny brat, who needed to be firmly put in his place'. (And no amount of 'fame, fortune, or glitzy Grammy Awards' is ever going to change that in the slightest: do you hear?) Yes, indeed. Rock on, Nanna Hilda! For if I say so myself: her reaction to Queen's 1978 clas- sic 'Bicycle Race', was actually an embodiment of the spirit of rock'n'roll itself (as immortal- ized by Jack Black, in 'School of Rock'). She 'stuck it to the Man'! But of course… one child- hood memory inevitably recalls another: and I also happen to remember what the streets of Sliema – and the rest of Malta – were actually like, back in 1978. Not only could children 'ride their bicycles' in all-but guar- anteed safety, pretty much any- where they… 'LI-I-I-IKED!'; but we also used to hold entire foot- ball tournaments in the streets, as children (using the space be- tween parked cars as the 'goal'). And while my Nanna Hilda was not exactly the type to be swayed by any 'international critical consensus' on the subject of contemporary pop music… she certainly did care – a very great deal, in fact – about the health and safety of children (yes: even 'spoilt whiny' ones, like Freddie). So even if her reaction to the song itself would not be any dif- ferent, today… I somehow doubt she would now add that 'What's even stopping you?' part. (Or even, for that matter, that she would have advised Freddie Mercury to 'ride his bicycle' at all: under any circumstance whatsoever.) 'Le, le, ma tarax? Far too dan- gerous, with all these cars on the roads...' So like all other sensible Mal- tese 'nannas', I reckon she would have simply invited him to sit at her kitchen table… and assist her in the peeling of broad-beans. (You know: just to keep him out of mischief; and – more impor- tantly – out of harm's way…) Now: at this stage I have to admit that there is more than a hint of childhood nostalgia, in all that. And of course, it is alto- gether too easy to compare to- day's Malta, with that of 40 years ago… and conclude that – for all the improvement in our stand- ard of living, in the meantime – we have clearly lost something precious (including our peace of mind) in the transaction. At the same time, however: it was never really possible for Malta to retain all that 'child- hood innocence', was it? Not when we were also transforming the island into a prosperous, cos- mopolitan (and densely populat- ed) 'metropolis-nation', boasting one of the fastest-growing econ- It was never really possible for Malta to retain all that 'childhood innocence', was it? Not when we were also transforming the island into a prosperous, cosmopolitan (and densely populated) 'metropolis-nation', boasting one of the fastest-growing economies in Europe