A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle designed to carry many passengers usually for a fare. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type is the singer decker, with larger loads carried by double decker and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by minibuses, while coaches are used for longer-distance services. Horse-drawn buses were used from the 1820s, followed by steam versions in the 1830s, and electric trolleybuses in 1882. The first internal combustion engine buses, or motor buses, were used in 1895.
“The Wheels on the Bus” is an American folk song written by Verna Hills (1898–1990) and published in 1939. It has become a popular children’s song and is often sung by children on bus trips to keep themselves amused. It has a very repetitive rhythm, making the song easy for many people to sing, and is based on the traditional British song “Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush”. The song is also sometimes sung to the tune of “Buffalo Gals”, as in the version done by Raffi.
“The Trolley Song” is a song written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane and made famous by Judy Garland in the 1944 film Meet Me in St. Louis. In a 1989 NPR interview, Blane said the song was inspired by a picture of a trolleycar in a turn-of-the-century newspaper. In 1974, he had said that the picture was in a book he’d found at the Beverly Hills Public Library and was captioned “‘Clang, Clang, Clang,’ Went the Trolley.”
“A Transport of Delight” is the first song of the musical revue ‘At the Drop of a Hat’ by Flanders and Swann, described by them as “an after-dinner farrago”. In the show, they both sang on a nearly bare stage, accompanied by Swann on the piano. The songs were linked by contemporary social commentary, mostly by Flanders. After a long London run the show played in the US, Switzerland, and on tour in Britain. Th song relies on an increasing refrain about the “Big six-wheeler, scarlet-painted, London Transport, diesel-engined, ninety-seven–horse-power omnibus”.
“Bus Stop” is a song recorded and released as a single by the British rock band The Hollies in 1966. It reached No. 5 in the UK. It was the Hollies’ first US top ten hit, reaching No. 5 on the Billboard charts in September 1966. “Bus Stop” was written by UK songwriter and future 10cc member Graham Gouldman. In a 1976 interview Gouldman said the idea for “Bus Stop” had come while he was riding home from work on a bus. The opening lines were written by his father, playwright Hyme Gouldman. Graham Gouldman continued with the rest of the song in his bedroom, apart from the middle-eight, which he finished while riding to work – a men’s outfitters – on the bus the next day.
“Magic Bus” is a song recorded by The Who. It was written by their guitarist Pete Townsend during the time that their debut album My Generation was being recorded in 1965. However, it was not recorded until 1968, when it was released as a single in July 1968 in North America, followed by its release in the United Kingdom in September 1968. It has become one of the band’s most popular songs and has been a concert staple, although when released, the record only reached number 26 in the UK and number 25 in the United States.
“America” is a song performed by Simon & Garfunkel, which they included on their fourth studio album, Bookends, in 1968. It was produced by the duo and Roy Halee. The song was later issued as the B-side of the single “For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her (live version)” in 1972 to promote the release of the Greatest Hits album. After peaking in the charts in July 1972, the song was switched to the A-side of the single and re-entered the charts in November 1972. Although buses are not mentioned in the title, the whole song is set on a Greyhound bus.
“Another One Rides the Bus” is a 1981 parody of Queen’s ‘Another One Bites the Dust” by American comedy musician “Weird Al” Yankovic. The song describes a person riding in a crowded public bus. It was recorded live in September 1980, on the Dr. Demento Show, hosted by Barret “Dr. Demento” Hansen. Accompanying Yankovic was Jon ‘Bermuda’ Schwartz, who would go on to be the parody artist’s long-time drummer. The song became a hit on the Dr. Demento Show as well as an underground success.
“National Express” is a song by the Divine Comedy. It was released in 1998 as the third single from the album Fin De Siecle and reached number eight in the UK and number 18 in Ireland. The song is based on Neil Hannon’s observations of life from the window of a National Express coach. The music press took aim at Hannon for “sneering” at the working classes on the track. Steven Wells of NME wrote: “What a filthy, disgusting, revolting, nauseating little record… This is mock-pop. This is the work of an ‘artist’ who thinks himself superior to his art form and despises his audience.” Hannon responded: “‘National Express’… is pure observation, nothing made up – I’m on this bus, this is what I see.
“On the Bus Mall” is a track taken from Picaresque the third studio album from The Decemberists. It was released in 2005 on the Kill Rock Stars record label. The word “picaresque” refers to a form of satirical prose originating in Spain, depicting realistically and often humorously the adventures of a low-born, roguish hero living by their wits in a corrupt society.
