Nizlopi - JCB

About "JCB"

"JCB" (or "JCB Song") is a song by English folk music duo Nizlopi, written by members Luke Concannon and John Parker. Concannon wrote the lyric at his parents' house, drawing inspiration from his father, Kieron Concannon, and later composed the song with Parker. The theme of the song's lyric stems from a moment in Concannon's childhood when his father picked him up from school in a JCB digger (or backhoe loader) and his reflections on how his peers bullied him for having dyslexia. The song tells the story of a similar boy who is fascinated with both his father and the vehicle on which they ride. He imagines his father as a hero, comparing him to several famous figures such as Bruce Lee and B. A. Baracus, and pretends to torment bullying on the playground as a Tyrannosaurus rex. Nizlopi recorded the song at FDM Records' studio and included it on their debut album, Half These Songs Are About You, released in 2004.

Following several praised performances of the song, Nizlopi decided to release "JCB" as the album's second single through FDM Records in June 2005, but it did not make a major commercial impact. Over the next few months, the song began to circulate around the internet, attaining a cult following. Soon after its release, animation company MonkeeHub created and commissioned a music video later the same year, which further propelled the track into the public eye. Near the end of 2005, "JCB" became a contender for the 2005 UK Christmas number-one single and was re-released on 12 December 2005 to coincide with this event. This release received mostly positive reviews from contemporary music critics and peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart, losing the position on Christmas Day to "That's My Goal" by X Factor series two winner Shayne Ward. The song remains Nizlopi's most successful.