Throwback Training Tunes vol. 10 - U2, Rush, Foo Fighters

Continuing the construction of a ‘Running Tunes’ playlist featuring at least one song from each of the last 20 years of the 20^th century.  Today’s additions to the playlist include songs from 1985, 1987, and 1997.  I’ve got several others currently being ‘auditioned’ on my training runs, but I’m always looking for more suggestions, so don’t be shy about passing them along in the comments.

Here’s the list as of the last update (click on song titles for links to videos):

’Ceremony’ - New Order (1981)

’Don’t Change’ – INXS (1982)

’Heartbreak Beat’ – Psychedelic Furs (1987)

‘Rain in the Summertime’ – The Alarm (1987)

‘Mandinka’ – Sinead O’Connor (1987)

‘Crash’ – The Primitives (1988)

‘Don’t Look Back’ – Fine Young Cannibals (1988)

’Always Saturday’ – Guadalcanal Diary (1989)

’Slide’ – Flesh for Lulu (1989)

’Head Like a Hole’ - Nine Inch Nails (1989)

’Forgotten Years’ – Midnight Oil (1989)

’Stone Cold Yesterday’ – The Connells (1990)

’Rush’ - Big Audio Dynamite II (1990)

’Mama Said Knock You Out’ - LL Cool J (1990)

’Three Strange Days’ – School of Fish (1991)

’Enter Sandman’ – Metallica (1991)

’Rearviewmirror’ – Pearl Jam (1993)

’A Murder of One’ - Counting Crows (1993)

’Looking Through Patient Eyes’ - PM Dawn (1993)

’She’ – Green Day (1994)

’Machinehead’ – Bush (1994)

And for today’s additions:

 ’Bad(Live)’ from Wide Awake in America – U2 (1985)  This song, or more accurately this version of this song, is one of my all-time favorite songs.  Not just for running, but for any reason.  I literally wore this tape out when I originally bought it based just on listening to this one song.  This is a staple of most any running playlist I make, and usually is the first song I listen to since it has a nice slow build which goes nicely with the start of a run as my body decides which parts are going to mock me over the next several miles.  I’m not that crazy about the studio version of this song from the Unforgettable Fire album, but this live version has an energy and emotion that somehow never gets old for me.  There are days when the intro and first few verses still give me the chills, after hundreds of listenings.  U2 at their finest.

’Time Stand Still’ – Rush (1987) Rush is a highly underrated band in the grand scheme of things.  Geddy Lee has an unusual voice, and there are lots of people who really don’t like their music, and probably even more that have never heard of them.  I wasn’t a big fan of theirs back when they were big, but I’ve grown to appreciate their music and their influence on others bands more as time has passed.  This is a great song for running, with some pretty poignant lyrics that are more meaningful to me now than they ever could have been back in the late 80s.  “Summer’s going fast, nights growing colder.  Children growing up, old friends growing older.  Freeze this moment a little bit longer.  Make each sensation a little bit stronger”.  I can certainly relate to that sentiment. 

‘Everlong’ – Foo Fighters (1997) Can’t have a training playlist without some Foo.  This isn’t my favorite Foo Fighters song (that would be DOA for those keeping score at home), but it is a great song for some energy while working out.  I’m partial to the studio version as a running song, but I really like the acoustic version of this as well that has appeared on a couple of Foo Fighters albums.  This is one of my favorite bands, so I have to resist the urge to add more and more of their songs.  This song will definitely get you fired up, and I never seem to get tired of it regardless of how many times I hear it.  Pointless trivia – lead singer Dave Grohl attended and dropped-out of the same high school that my wife attended.  To my knowledge she was not to blame.