Tracks

"Within two minutes, or even less, he had forgotten all his troubles. Not because his troubles were one whit less heavy and bitter to him than a man's are to a man, but because a new and powerful interest bore them down and drove them out of his mind for the time--just as men's misfortunes are forgotten in the excitement of new enterprises. This new interest was a valued novelty in whistling, which he had just acquired from a Negro, and he was suffering to practice it undisturbed. It consisted in a peculiar birdlike turn, a sort of liquid warble, produced by touching the tongue to the roof of the mouth at short intervals in the midst of the music--the reader probably remembers how to do it, if he has ever been a boy. Diligence and attention soon gave him the knack of it, and he strode down the street with his mouth full of harmony and his soul full of gratitude. He felt much as an astronomer feels who has discovered a new planet--no doubt, as far as strong, deep, unalloyed pleasure is concerned, the advantage was with the boy, not the astronomer."

-- Mark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

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Well, I've been a boy, I consider myself a diligent and attentive performer, this is my fourth time reading Tom Sawyer,--and I still can't whistle.

Too bad, I guess, that on Monday I start rehearsing the role of Tom Sawyer again. Show hits the stage in a month and a week.

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During the last show's run, my own running slowed: from three times a week to one. But with a recent purchase of Under Armor (probably would've been more useful to buy it before winter, but it wasn't on sale then), with a new determination to trim up and slim down, with temperatures rising, with the daylight stretching into post-work hours,--I'm getting back into it. Not that I really fell out of "it," or had been in "it" long enough to call it an "it," but you know. Back into it. Take it. Run with it. Eh?

All that goes to say, I'm putting together a playlist of great running tunes. I'd like your help, gentle reader, gentle listener. Or not-so-gentle. Anyway.

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Things I want in a running song:

Intensity, the feeling that the song is always driving you forward. Like a massuh's whip.

Pace of running, beats on footfalls, not fast enough to merit sprints but faster than most ballads and waltzes. Think Wes Anderson running scene music.

Length close to a whole number--that is, I'd rather have a song that was 4:01 minutes long than 3:41. The reason is, my running regimen is based on time, not distance. Songs that hit the two-, three- or four-minute marks are ideal.

Obscurity. I want to learn more music. The newer, the more easily it distracts me while I exercise. That's really where you come in.

For guidelines (and a shameless peek into what I'm listening to these days), these are my current Running Tracks:

"In Between Days" - Ben Folds

"What Would Brian Boitano Do?" - South Park

"Royal Orleans" - Led Zeppelin

"Woo Hoo" - The 5, 6, 7, 8s

"I Believe" - Third Day

"Get Rhythm" - Johnny Cash

"Take Me to Your Leader" - The Newsboys

"The Sound of Settling" - Death Cab for Cutie

"Rock and Roll Band" - Boston

"Revolution" - Jim Sturgess (Across the Universe version)

"The Distance" - Cake

"Hazy Shade of Winter" - Simon & Garfunkel

"My Little Japanese Cigarette Case" - Spoon

"Improv Rap" - Misdirection!

"The Story in Your Eyes" - The Moody Blues

"It Won't Be Long" - Evan Rachel Wood (AtU again)

"There's a Girl" - The Ditty Bops

"We Will Rock You" - Queen

"Bitch Went Nuts" - Ben Folds (actually, this song is great for running--meets all criteria)

"From Me to You" - The Beatles

"I Want You" - Bob Dylan

"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" - The Beatles

"Tiki God" - Presidents of the United States of America

"Wait Up" - Uncle Tupelo

"Captain Kid" - Great Big Sea

"Stickshifts & Safetybelts" - Cake

"Over and Over Again" - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

"Travelin' Band" - CCR (another perfect running song)

"Rocket" - Mae

"Your Honor" - Regina Spektor

Not terribly eclectic. Could use more new rock...and some tracks that you'd think would be more suited to an exercise soundtrack ("We Will Rock You," for one, "The Distance" for another), are actually too slow to run to. Not every song can be a CCR jam, ya know...

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Last: I'm gonna be in Hillsdale in two weekends for the Tower Dancers Concert. Hope to see folks there. Grabbin dinner with Reist, lunch with Jackson, to talk about the future and other things that excite boredom.