Happy National Running Day, peeps. I'd love to grace your Google Reader with a gratuitous list of reasons why I run or things that make me a runner, but I'm not in the mood to wax poetic about running today.
Let's just say that I run because it's the one thing I can be totally average at and feel okay about being totally average at. #thatisall
Now, on to the music. If we were going to talk about things that make me a runner, the music I listen to certainly wouldn't be one of them.
The stuff that drives my runs is sometimes any of the following:
1) The kind of shit you hear in Starbucks while you enjoy an $8 non-fat caramel mocha frappucino thing with whipped cream (hell yes to whipped cream on a non-fat drink)
2) Really, really old, as in mid-60's rock to late 90's R&B.
3) Overly emotional music penned by some angsty man or woman post-breakup.
4) Whatever singular top-40 pop song I'm currently into which means I'll end up hating it after approximately 17 listens.
So today, on this National Day of Running, I gift to you The WTF(?) Running Playlist, an especially random mix that I vomited out just to keep my feet interested and moving.
As always (as if I've done this soooo often), a few musical highlights:
"Get Back" - The Beatles. This song makes me feel like I should be wearing bell bottoms while jamming in the back of someone's VW van on a road trip to California, none of which I've ever done or probably will do. But I like it, and I love Sir Paul, and I'll punch you right in the face if you don't love him, too.
"Turning Tables"- Adele. This one screams "I'm so sad, and I don't know what else to do about it besides write a song". It's so not the epitome of a running song, but between its gutsy piano and Adele's booming words, it pumps me up in a weird, lyrical way.
"Surf Wax America" - Weezer. Weezer is one of my most favorite bands of all time even though I haven't really loved them since the Blue Album. The Blue Album is just so good that it negates all of this crap they've put out since. (The same can be said for Green Day and Dookie, FYI).
"Breathe In, Breathe Out" - Mat Kearney. Between this guy and Coldplay, I'm not sure if this playlist could get much wussier. But don't hate. There's something to be said about a song that tiptoes around for a few minutes, whispering sweet nothings, before it finally smashes into a crescendo of guitars and drums and epic, soaring vocals. Plus, this song was on a Grey's Anatomy soundtrack back when I thought the world revolved around Meredith's skinny ass and Derek's husky tenderness. Did I just write "husky tenderness"? Gross.
Your turn.
What "WTF" song(s) grace your running playlists?