It's Friday. As that will from now on signify, it's time for the Friday Fives - when I run down a Top 5 and Worst 5 in a given topic. For the inaugural lists, I'm taking inspiration from the 2-miler I ran through the twilight tonight, and running down the Top 5 Running Songs In My Experience, and the Worst 5 Songs I've Found Myself Running To That My iPod Pulled Up on Shuffle.
Top 5 Running Songs In My Experience
5. All These Things That I've Done by The Killers
It's kind of a wildcard pick, I'll agree with that. But it's an upbeat song, and has a pretty constant feel all the way through - perfect for pacing. The lead singer may have said that the "I got soul, but I'm not a soldier" bit might not mean diddly squat, but that section in the song is a highlight regardless. Plus it was the song in my favorite Nike ad in recent memory:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ae3tFI8wXE.
4. Sweet Child O' Mine by Guns N' Roses
It was a tough call here between this or Welcome to the Jungle, which is what I presume most people would pick. And while Jungle is a great song, I just happen to like the guitars in Sweet Child O' Mine better. The riff is classic, the solos are incredible, and the guitars just have a really clean sound. Clocking in at just about 6 minutes in length, it's a really handy stopwatch when trying to fly through a mile at a near-sprint.
3. Stronger by Kanye West
Again, another tough call between this or Jesus Walks. But Stronger wins out, partially it's longer, but mostly because it's one of my favorite songs. I think, objectively, Jesus Walks is a better song to run to, what with the constant snare beat and gospel-ish choir in the background. But it's a matter of personal preference, and I just think Stronger is a far better song - enough that it outweighs the better running beat of Jesus Walks. Besides, who doesn't want to be told while they're about to give up half a mile from the end that "tha-tha-that that that don't kill me, can only make me stronger"?
2. Lose Yourself by Eminem
I can't say enough good things about this song. Excellent lyrics, excellent delivery, excellent beat - just about the perfect running song. And if you're somebody who does listen to the lyrics while running...then this is probably your Holy Grail of inspiration. This would have easily been #1 4 months ago, had it not been for my (in hindsight, very late) discovery of the following song...
1. Gonna Fly Now (aka The Rocky Theme) by Bill Conti
I think the best way to justify this as #1 is by example. One of the very first times I ran while listening to this song, it was the first song that came up. I had told myself beforehand, owing to the fact that it was a longer run then normal, that I was going to pace myself and not go overly fast. That plan was shot to pieces as soon as the song started. I think it wasn't until the guitar solo kicked in that I realized how fast I was going, but at that point there was no slowing down. I honestly don't know what it is about the song - the sublime horn line, the BA guitar solo, even the training montage scene playing in my head - but whatever it is, it made me (and never fails to make me) go at 100%. Which is why it's #1.
Worst 5 Songs I've Found Myself Running To That My iPod Pulled Up on Shuffle
5. Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd
Came up one time, and I was so excited about running to a 4-minute mind-blowing guitar solo that I forgot about what comes before. Namely, 5 minutes of slow dance-worthy wailing about how some guy needs to be traveling on because he's a free bird that can't be changed. And then when I was reminded of this, I wasn't so excited anymore. If the guitar solo was its own song, that would be just fine by me.
4. 100 Years by Five for Fighting
When this started playing, I thought to myself that it would be an interesting experiment - would a piano-driven pop rock song about not taking your life for granted make for a good running song? I mean, on the surface, it wouldn't - but then again, this would make a better attempt at it then anything by The Fray. So I let it play, and when it was over I took stock of the previous four minutes. The conclusion I came to was that while the song certainly was not a terrible one to run to, it was also certainly not a great one. The best way to describe it would be "eh, whatever". Didn't slow me down, but it also didn't speed/pump me up - and that's a bad thing.
3. Purple Rain by Prince
I have this on my iPod because of the cool halftime show Prince did in the rain. It's a good song, but it's too slow to use as a running song. The worst part is that the guitar solo almost redeems it, but then it's a bunch of screeching and an outro that's about twice as long as it needs to be.
2. Let Her Cry by Hootie and the Blowfish
One of my all-time favorite songs, but you can see the problem right in the title. It's not exactly an upbeat song - moody is a nice way of putting it. Depressing is probably a more accurate word. Darius Rucker's voice is a good one, but soulful is not what I'm looking for when I'm trying to break a 14-minute 2-mile.
1. Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole
Like the other #1, this came on right at the beginning of a run. It was a nice night right as the sun was setting, and I thought "Ah, this will be a nice peaceful, calming song to run to." Turns out it was too peaceful and calming. At the half-mile, I checked my time to see that I had clocked in at an unintentionally very slow 4:30. I had meant to push it a little more than that (i.e. at least 30 seconds faster), and immediately, Somewhere Over the Rainbow was banned from anything except training to get in the habit of a 9-minute/mile pace over long distances. You know, if I ever want to run a marathon and break 4 hours.
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