I need some good songs for running
I’ve been afflicted with the exercise bug since I was in high school, and have suffered through step aerobics (with or without the high tops), the Reebok Glide Slide (which is like a sideways "Slip ‘n’ Slide"), pilates (ouch), yoga (double ouch), weightlifting (I’m a wimp and have no muscles), and of course, running.
Running has been my exercise of choice since age 15 or 16, primarily because you don’t need to haul around fifteen levels of the step for step aerobics, or the five hundred pound pilates contraption (that looks and feels like a torture machine) whenever you want to work out.
All you need is a good pair of shoes, and you’re out the door.
Even though I’ve been running off and on for half my life, I’m not that great at running. I can certainly hold my own running an eight minute mile or two, but that’s about it. The NYC Marathon last year nearly did me in.
The one thing that keeps me going is my music.
As a result of my work-out music addiction, I’ve passed through various eclectic stages in my running music collection; I had both Abba and Alice Cooper on my playlist until I switched "The Winner Takes it All" for Usher’s "Yeah" (good trade). I’m looking for some new additions after recycling the same playlist for about a year and a half. What are some of your favorite songs to listen to while working out?
Here’s some of what I’m currently playing:
Linkin Park (In the End, Numb), Nickelback (Figured You Out, Someday), The Black Eyed Peas (Hey, Mama, Let’s Get it Started - I know, Steve hates the BEP, but they’re good to run to), The Killers (the breaking your back/boyfriend/girlfriend song - what’s it called?), Motley Crue (Home Sweet Home), Metallica (Enter Sandman), Destiny’s Child (Survivor), Alice Cooper (Poison), Aerosmith (Dream On), Usher (Yeah), and a few others.
The best songs I’ve ever used for running (during the short time I was running):
46 & 2 - Tool
Power Trip - Monster Magnet
46 & 2 is especially good because of what it’s about. I don’t know what the phrase “46 and 2″ means, but the whole thing about metamorphisizing and muscle memory–great for exercising.
I can post them to the radio.blog if you like, or email them to you. Here are the lyrics for Tool’s song.
–
My shadow’s
Shedding skin and
I’ve been picking
Scabs again.
I’m down
Digging through
My old muscles
Looking for a clue.
I’ve been crawling on my belly
Clearing out what could’ve been.
I’ve been wallowing in my own confused
And insecure delusions
For a piece to cross me over
Or a word to guide me in.
I wanna feel the changes coming down.
I wanna know what I’ve been hiding in
My shadow.
Change is coming through my shadow.
My shadow’s shedding skin
I’ve been picking
My scabs again.
I’ve been crawling on my belly
Clearing out what could’ve been.
I’ve been wallowing in my own chaotic
And insecure delusions.
I wanna feel the change consume me,
Feel the outside turning in.
I wanna feel the metamorphosis and
Cleansing I’ve endured within
My shadow
Change is coming.
Now is my time.
Listen to my muscle memory.
Contemplate what I’ve been clinging to.
Forty-six and two ahead of me.
I choose to live and to
Grow, take and give and to
Move, learn and love and to
Cry, kill and die and to
Be paranoid and to
Lie, hate and fear and to
Do what it takes to move through.
I choose to live and to
Lie, kill and give and to
Die, learn and love and to
Do what it takes to step through.
See my shadow changing,
Stretching up and over me.
Soften this old armor.
Hoping I can clear the way
By stepping through my shadow,
Coming out the other side.
Step into the shadow.
Forty six and two are just ahead of me.
Comment by Susan M — August 29, 2005 @ 7:12 pm
nice post, Elisabeth — and good songs Susan!
Born to Run is a great song too.
Comment by Supergenius — August 29, 2005 @ 7:33 pm
My main criteria for running songs is the tempo… For some reason I feel compelled to have my steps be exactly on the beat (with left foot on 1 and 3 no less) so the tempo has to be a good running pace. My glitch probably has something to do with those years I spent in the Poway High School Emerald Brigade I guess…
Comment by Geoff J — August 29, 2005 @ 11:22 pm
The Killers song is “Somebody Told Me”
The White Stripes new album has some tracks that work well for running…”Blue Orchid” and “My Doorbell”
Audioslave: “Your Time Has Come”
Vintage Green Day…like “Welcome to Paradise” (they were much better when you could see them at the Concord Pavillion for $12.00….go figure)
Red Hot Chili Peppers….”Parallel Universe”
Offspring….”Come Out and Play”
I really like running to punk music…Blink 182, sum 41, New Found Glory, American Hi-Fi…not necessarily for the uplifting and affirming message, but for the fast tempo, hard percussion and the screaming
I don’t really enjoy running all that much (I have small kids so for now I run every morning on my treadmill…ick!) but the screaming and occasional profanity gives me something to which I can look forward.
Comment by Ami — August 30, 2005 @ 12:22 am
Hi, Susan -
That would be great is you could post them to the radio blog. Thanks!
And thanks for the other suggestions. I had “Seven Nation Army” on for awhile - it was a bit too slow, but has an awesome drum beat.
Comment by Elisabeth — August 30, 2005 @ 11:27 am
Susan M - are you a Fugazi fan?
Comment by Elisabeth — August 30, 2005 @ 11:28 am
I just posted both songs to the radio.blog.
I’ve only heard a couple Fugazi songs and can’t remember what they sound like. I remember them not sounding like I was expecting them to, though.
Comment by Susan M — August 30, 2005 @ 1:05 pm
Agent Orange, “In Your Head.” Perfect tempo, and it’s a total pump-you-upper. Also, it’s retro skater punk, which will make you feel cool.
firehose, “Brave Captain,” or just about anything else on Ragin’ Full On. Super peppy funk-punk.
There are some good workout tracks on Reich Remixed, which contains a bunch of DJ mixes of works by postminimalist composer Steve Reich. D-note’s “Phased and Konfused” remix of Reich’s Piano Phase is my favorite.
And here’s a cheesy one, but somehow the sheer grandeur of its new-agey earth-force trumps my wannabe hipster self-consciousness and propels me to keep up my pace on the elliptical machine: Pat Metheney Group, “First Circle.” Careful, though. It changes meter, which could send the uncoordinated runner tumbling down a hill…
A buddy of mine, who happens to be a music theorist, painstakingly collected a bunch of Cher songs and arranged them according to tempo in order to strategically pace the intensity of his running…
Comment by Jeremy — August 31, 2005 @ 12:48 am
A few of my playlist favs: Eye of the Tiger, Welcome to the Jungle, Lose Yourself (Eminem), Rap Superstar (Cypress Hill), Hero and Best of You (Foo Fighters), Open Road Song (Eve 6)
Comment by scott — August 31, 2005 @ 8:46 am
I have a 22-minute live version of Moby Dick that I used to use when doing my route around the Charles. Not that I have done that in a while. The song is just the right speed to propel me when running. Elisabeth if you want I can send it to you either via e-mail (very large attachment) or on a CD. At some point I need to put headphones into my bike helmet such that I can listen to my mp3 player while I ride. I wonder if different music is appropriate for biking rather than running.
Comment by a random John — September 1, 2005 @ 1:45 pm
There’s a site that lets you search a large database of songs for those that match your particular pace. You can check it out at http://www.bestworkoutmusic.com
Comment by Nomadic — November 13, 2005 @ 3:31 pm
The Rockafeller skank by fatboy slim…Still waiting-by sum 41….linkin Park- Numb
Comment by Ashster — October 17, 2006 @ 10:16 pm
My husband is a dj and I am a marathon runner, so I luckily have access to a lot of running music! I really like Mr Brightside by the Killers, Love and Memories by OAR
Comment by Andrea — October 20, 2006 @ 11:18 am
That workout music database is nifty!!
Comment by Jennifer — October 20, 2006 @ 12:09 pm
That really IS pretty cool. Thanks Nomadic… belated thanks.
Comment by Supergenius — October 20, 2006 @ 12:46 pm