Plaskett, Femmes, and Toddlers

I’ve been listening to Joel Plaskett’s Transit Strike song on repeat for a couple of days. The transit strike could very well end today, so if you haven’t heard it yet I recommend you listen to it before it becomes irrelevant*. The creation of this song rounds out the list of songs I know about bus drivers to three. Transit Strike, however, is probably the funkiest of the three, and is now at the top of the list. I really, really hope he plays this song live. My favourite line is “Somebody better start writing checks/Nobody wants to hang by the old Sportsplex.” My dislike of that particular transit terminal is well documented, and has only increased since a teenage boy was randomly shot in the head there on New Years Day.

Second on my list is Waiting for the Bus by The Violent Femmes. That song is awesome because it’s still relevant, despite being written in a bygone era when bus fare was only $0.65. Best part of that song is “Would you please open up the back door?”

Third on my list is Wheels on the Bus. It is also pretty relevant. I mean, drivers do still say “move on back,” and babies still cry on the bus, and until the invention of hover buses, the wheels will continue to go round and round. My favourite part of this song is the Baby On the Bus verse because when my niece was 3, she would sing it non-stop and make the cutest little “wah-wah” face and ball up her fists and pretend to cry.  

*Update: The union rejected the city's latest offer, so the strike will not be ending this weekend, like we all hoped.