Music in Dreamland
I have a long held belief that real runners don’t listen to music when they run. And while that may very well be true, I’ve recently taken to music on my long runs like William Bennett to slot machines. It helps pass the time, and it helps me maintain a more measured pace so I can settle down for some true LSD--long slow distance.
But, the other great bonus of music on the run, and possibly the most important: I get reacquainted with songs I haven’t heard for years. Music has always played a key role in my life. Once you have kids, though, you just don’t get quite as much time to listen to music as you’d like…which is OK. On my long runs, though, I now get the chance to listen (really l-i-s-t-e-n) to my music. It’s probably been five years or more since I’ve heard some of the songs streaming into my headphones. When I heard the first few bars of Music in Dreamland from Be Bop Deluxe’s Futurama, I was carried back over twenty years to my childhood home in Southern California, where I wore the grooves off that album. About every fifth song hits another memory and carries me elsewhere.
The soundtrack of each run is always different--not so much because the shuffle on the player throws different songs at you; it’s more that the tenor of every run is different. The weather, the route, the distance, how you’re feeling all come together to give a special imprint to each run. And on each run, there are always a few standout tracks. Sometimes it’s Van Halen; sometimes it’s Bruce Hornsby; sometimes it’s Lyle Lovett. You never know what’s going to play big (though it’s hard to go wrong with U2’s Mysterious Ways).
On my last long run, Prince was the king. Le Grind from the Black Album, Pink Cashmere from The Hits/The B-Sides, and the title track from Musicology were IT. Their funky R&B soulfulness synched with my pace and had me singing falsetto down the trail--scaring small animals and young children the whole way.
All this listening may disqualify me as a real runner, but I figure if I’m going to be putting all the miles in any way, I may as well enjoy them.
But, the other great bonus of music on the run, and possibly the most important: I get reacquainted with songs I haven’t heard for years. Music has always played a key role in my life. Once you have kids, though, you just don’t get quite as much time to listen to music as you’d like…which is OK. On my long runs, though, I now get the chance to listen (really l-i-s-t-e-n) to my music. It’s probably been five years or more since I’ve heard some of the songs streaming into my headphones. When I heard the first few bars of Music in Dreamland from Be Bop Deluxe’s Futurama, I was carried back over twenty years to my childhood home in Southern California, where I wore the grooves off that album. About every fifth song hits another memory and carries me elsewhere.
The soundtrack of each run is always different--not so much because the shuffle on the player throws different songs at you; it’s more that the tenor of every run is different. The weather, the route, the distance, how you’re feeling all come together to give a special imprint to each run. And on each run, there are always a few standout tracks. Sometimes it’s Van Halen; sometimes it’s Bruce Hornsby; sometimes it’s Lyle Lovett. You never know what’s going to play big (though it’s hard to go wrong with U2’s Mysterious Ways).
On my last long run, Prince was the king. Le Grind from the Black Album, Pink Cashmere from The Hits/The B-Sides, and the title track from Musicology were IT. Their funky R&B soulfulness synched with my pace and had me singing falsetto down the trail--scaring small animals and young children the whole way.
All this listening may disqualify me as a real runner, but I figure if I’m going to be putting all the miles in any way, I may as well enjoy them.
posted by Hank at 9:34 PM
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