Top Five Running Songs for Music Geeks

The Answers May Surprise You

We all know that Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run" is the perfect way to start out a 5k and every major race I have ever run has blasted “Beautiful Day” by U2 from the speakers, but if you dig a little deeper, you may be surprised by what makes a great song for running.   Here are the top 5.

5. The Next Messiah – Jenny Lewis – Acid Tongue

Some of you may be scratching your heads, “Jenny Lewis, really”? Let me explain.  The Next Messiah is great story telling that will help you forget that you're running for 8 minutes and 45 seconds.  In an interview with Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune, Lewis explains that 'The Next Messiah’ “was tracked completely live, with all the transitions, and it’s the most exciting thing I’ve ever been involved with in the studio.” Her excitement is contagious and that's why “The Next Messiah” is number 5 on this list.

4. Invaders Must Die – The Prodigy – Invaders Must Die

Track 1 off of The Prodigy's 2009 release “Invaders Must Die” is the aptly titled “Invaders Must Die” and if I were an invader I would be scared.  This song kicks ass and it will jump start your run. “Invaders Must Die” starts with a menacing beat followed by a powerful guitar riff and by the time you hear “We are the Prodigy” you are being carried away.  Do yourself a favor and strategically place this song on your running playlist where you need a good ass kicking.

3. Apocalypse Please – Muse – Absolution

Muse are epic and this song fits right into their M.O. “Apocalypse Please” will make you feel like you are capable of more. As Muse singer, Matthew Bellamy, wails “come on and change the course of history and pull us through”, his passion will pull you through to the end of your run, if not to “the end of the world”.

2. Search and Destroy – The Stooges – Raw Power

If the “Raw Power" of Iggy Pop and The Stooges can't get you through a run, nothing can. “Search and Destroy” is full of menace and energy from note one.   It also has to be mentioned that Iggy Pop is a physical specimen. That man has more energy in his tank at 66 than men a quarter of his age. So when you're feeling sluggish, imagine that you're Iggy Pop, “a street walking cheetah with a heart full of napalm”, “a runaway son of the nuclear A-bomb” and you'll find away to push past that wall.

1. Daft Punk - Around the World / Harder Better Faster Stronger – Alive 2007

Number one on the list goes to Daft Punk and their live performance of “Around the World/Harder Better Faster Stronger" from Alive 2007.   This entire album is made for running.  It is interesting, intense and motivating.  “The Robots”, as Pharell Williams calls them, have combined two of their most popular songs into something completely fresh and new, while keeping the integrity of the original.   The result is brilliant.   Push yourself to run “Harder Better Faster Stronger” and let Daft Punk help you get there.