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It’s Just a Ride

Published by marco on

“The world is like a ride in an amusement park. And when you choose to go on it, you think it’s real because that’s how powerful our minds are. And the ride goes up and down and round and round. It has thrills and chills and it’s very brightly coloured and it’s very loud and it’s fun, for a while.

“Some people have been on the ride for a long time and they begin to question, is this real, or is this just a ride? And other people have remembered, and they come back to us, they say, ‘Hey − don’t worry, don’t be afraid, ever, because, this is just a ride…’

“And we…kill those people.

“(in the voice of a devoted rider) ‘We have a lot invested in this ride. Shut him up. Look at my furrows of worry. Look at my big bank account and my family. This just has to be real.’

“(Hicks again) Just a ride. But we always kill those good guys who try and tell us that; you ever notice that? And let the demons run amok. But it doesn’t matter because it’s just a ride. And we can change it anytime we want. It’s only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings and money. A choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your doors, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love, instead, see all of us as one.

“Here’s what we can do to change the world, right now, to a better ride. Take all that money that we spend on weapons and defense each year and instead spend it feeding and clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would many times over, not one human being excluded. And we could explore space, together, both inner and outer, forever, in peace. Thank you very much, you’ve been great.”

It's Just a Ride by Bill Hicks


This is how Bill Hicks started closing his shows and belies strongly the reputation he has as a purely raunchy comic—promulgated mostly by those who can only pay attention to the cursing and utter disregard for societal convention. He was clearly much more than a comedian; more like a preacher, in fact. The regret that he’s not around today to cover the Bush years is somewhat mitigated by the fact that his material covering the Reagan and Bush I years is eerily apropo today. The best video of this bit is available in Last Words (A Tribute) by Bill Hicks (YouTube), but can also be found in the It’s Just A Ride (Part 5) by Bill Hicks (YouTube) documentary (about 2:00 in or so) as well as the Zeitgeist Ending by Bill Hicks (YouTube) (starting at 4:41).