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NINE MILLION BICYCLES (by Katie Melua)
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There are nine million bicycles in Beijing
That's a fact,
It's a thing we can't deny
Like the fact that I will love you till I die.
We are twelve billion light years from the edge,
That's a guess,
No-one can ever say it's true
But I know that I will always be with you.
I'm warmed by the fire of your love everyday
So don't call me a liar,
Just believe everything that I say
There are six BILLION people in the world
More or less
and it makes me feel quite small
But you're the one I love the most of all
[INTERLUDE]
We're high on the wire
With the world in our sight
And I'll never tire,
Of the love that you give me every night
There are nine million bicycles in Beijing
That's a Fact,
it's a thing we can't deny
Like the fact that I will love you till I die
And there are nine million bicycles in Beijing
And you know that I will love you till I die!
Katie says:
"We were being shown around Beijing by our interpreter, who also has a qualification as a
tourist guide, and was a very sweet girl. She was holding a microphone on
the bus and telling us how old the dynasties were, how many people lived in Beijing now,
and various other facts, such as "there are nine million bicycles in Beijing".
Mike immediately wrote this down as a potential song title and he wrote this song a couple
of weeks later, back in England, not long before we finished the album. On the track is the
masterful Adrian Brett, who plays all the ethnic flutes. On this track he used an ocarina for
the low (first) sound you hear, and a chinese bamboo flute for the very piercing, high flute sound.
Mike first met Adrian in 1978 when Adrian played ethnic flutes on Mike's "Caravans" album.
He plays most nights in the London production of "Lion King".
I like this song because it is a simple juxtaposition of a trivial idea ("nine million bicycles")
against an important idea ("I will love you til I die").