Poetry 4: Psychedelics and Public Transportation

"Magic Bus" by The Who

Every day I get in the queue (Too much, Magic Bus)

To get on the bus that takes me to you (Too much, Magic Bus)

I'm so nervous, I just sit and smile (Too much, Magic Bus)

You house is only another mile (Too much, Magic Bus)

Thank you, driver, for getting me here (Too much, Magic Bus)

You'll be an inspector, have no fear (Too much, Magic Bus)

I don't want to cause no fuss (Too much, Magic Bus)

But can I buy your Magic Bus? (Too much, Magic Bus)

Nooooooooo!

I don't care how much I pay (Too much, Magic Bus)

I wanna drive my bus to my baby each day (Too much, Magic Bus)

I want it, I want it, I want it, I want it ... (You can't have it!)

Thruppence and sixpence every day

Just to drive to my baby

Thruppence and sixpence each day

'Cause I drive my baby every way

Magic Bus, Magic Bus, Magic Bus ...

I said, now I've got my Magic Bus (Too much, Magic Bus)

I said, now I've got my Magic Bus (Too much, Magic Bus)

I drive my baby every way (Too much, Magic Bus)

Each time I go a different way (Too much, Magic Bus)

I want it, I want it, I want it, I want it ...

Every day you'll see the dust (Too much, Magic Bus)

As I drive my baby in my Magic Bus (Too much, Magic Bus)

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I have always enjoyed this song. There is something I've always found hilarious about this guy's obsession with the bus that he rides to his girlfriends house.  This song was written in a time when psychedelic drugs were very popular, so the reasons behind this bizarre Pavlovian association can probably be attributed to mind altering substances. It's unclear how the speaker acquires the bus at the end of the song, but he is obviously very happy with his ability to now drive to his girlfriend's house how ever he wants. There is no mention of the girlfriend outside of the context of the bus, which is also very strange. 

In terms of poetic devices, the song uses repetition and a sing-song rhyme scheme to convey the speaker's state of mind. The repetition of the speaker's thoughts and questions reiterates the notion that his state of mind is less than rational, beyond the initial fact that he seems to care more for the bus than the person he is going to see. Repetition is also used to emphasize the speakers fixation on the purchase of the bus as well as the bus company's repeated denial of such a ridiculous request.

I'm not sure how much poetic analysis can be done on these lyrics, but one thing that stood out to me that I hadn't noticed when just listening to the song was the fact that just about every line in the song starts with the word 'I'. This makes sense, since the speaker is focused on his experience visiting the girlfriend rather than the girlfriend herself. This could simply be because the speaker is selfish and nuts, but it is more likely that he is in a regressive emotional state as a result of substance abuse. Regardless, I would be very interested to see how his relationship with the person he is visiting is affected as the bus issue develops.

One final note: I know that this song is not quite what the assignment was geared towards, and that the speaker's relationship with an inanimate object is not exactly traditional, but I think that it couldn't hurt to say that the speaker's persistent obsession with the bus, his despair at every failure to acquire it, his vigor in the pursuit of its purchase, and his happiness once it was finally acquired all are clear parallels to a passionate relationship between two normal (ie not high as balls) people, and so technically, this is a love song.

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