Soundtracked

Lists, Day 2: Workout Songs.

Ok...today, a more conventional playlist because I was apparently a distraction yesterday with the whole iPod Shuffle thing. I'm invoking one of Elle - on hiatus 's categorical references, "The playlist for a specific occasion of your choice" (and she even used my entry from "Invalid Item"  as an example ..."This one's about sayin' see ya later." ).

Today's specific occasion? When I used to work out and lift weights and run. It'll be a heavy early '90's mix...I made mixtapes for training purposes. Back when I was an upcoming star wrestler/football player/playground hero. Wish I still had those tapes...and that body. If the one I had now was still ok with exercising on a regular basis, I'd probably still pump these into my earholes. And I'd be mega-hot. Instead, I'm just an old, brokendown fat dude who can barely walk and gets out of bed most mornings wondering WTF happened to my joints, back, legs, arms, and head. And I've got sweet music to push along the adrenaline for things I'll probably never do again.

1) Ice Cube, "When Will They Shoot?"  : Shooting a takedown is one of the most basic scholastic wrestling maneuvers. Knowing your strategy, knowing when to shoot first and knowing how you'll react if your opponent shoots first is essential. Wrestling is 90% mental and 10% physical. Tell your grandson, Lyn's a Witchy Woman .

2) Public Enemy, "Tie Goes To The Runner"  : In 10th grade, I broke my right shoulder screwin' around in the practice room before a JV match...that could've meant going up to Varsity. I broke it again during summer football practice, and that blew up my junior year of wrestling. I was determined to come back my senior year and lead my crew...the rehab sucked. I was on the team, but still couldn't train or drill. My mom wouldn't sign the permission slip. So I could do warmups, and hit the weightroom for my legs, but that was it. So I would run circuits through the basement, up the locker room stairs (boys and girls ends) and over the pool balcony...determined that this conditioning would help me when I was able to come back. I had two tapes in my walkman that I knew where and when to turn them over; this and the Beastie Boys' Check Your Head...when you're runnin' for an hour or two a day, to get back to something you love, it's a great goal-setting track. The politics of it were second-fiddle, but still motivating.

3) Soundgarden, "Rusty Cage"  : By the time this came out, I was living with my dad and stepmom and had a weight bench in the middle of the bedroom I shared with my little brother. Tight as fuck. Two beds, two dressers, a busted-ass tv, and us...wanna do pushups? That's what the attic off our room was for. And I'd wake up, do a set of pushups and situps, and declare myself driven for whatever the days would bring.

4) Beastie Boys, "Pass The Mic"  : Again, another joint I would run to, believing in a better future. It's my jam, still to this day. Like, define me by that shit. I grew up to it, it soundtracked my life. I was figuring out writing in my downtime...just the basics. Just doing it. Figuring out a lot of shit. It's funny how this would show up later in my life too though...it went from "adrenaline jam" to "you got this" jam to "you can help people with this". Life's fuckin' crazy like that. It's an anthem, even if it's loosely specific.

5) Soul Coughing, "Super Bon Bon"  : I remember laying in bed one morning, clicking on my stereo in the room with the little kid brother, and hearing that Soundgarden had broken up. But the local station kept plugging this band's live performances with little clips of the song. I went out and bought the cd. "Super Bon Bon" is hella high-energy...like, unbeatable motivation. With crass and stomp. "Move aside, and let the man go through"...fuck...who doesn't want to be in the space to say that? The whole "look good" push didn't just happen because the internet blew up. Also, not sure what band could ever lead off a cd with that and then dial it right back down into "Soft Serve"  , maybe one of the most chill tracks of all time. The best comedown.

6) Stone Temple Pilots, "Sex Type Thing"  : Pretty sure this showed up in the weightroom, senior year. Balls-out adrenaline awesomeness. Didn't give a fuck about the lyrics...just knew that the beat, tempo and sound made me wanna do more reps.

7) Metallica, "Seek And Destroy"  : I was definitely not a metalhead growing up. My friends were...they were into that. Trying to fit in, when all I listened to was mostly hardcore rap? Awkward scene...being good at something and then getting those people to acquiesce. The older guys on the wrestling team would play this over and over...we had sweatshirts made with "Seek And Destroy" put on the back. I get it bro, but I would've rather came out to "For Whom The Bell Tolls".

8) Ice-T, "Midnight"  : Best way to start or end a workout. Punishing Led Zeppelin drums under some kickass samples and your boy Ice-T layin' down gang rhymes, like he wasn't doin' the "Pee Wee Herman"   in '86? Make me wanna rep up, Ice. No, really.

9) I know House Of Pain shows up on that mixtape.

10) So does cheap-ass cock-rock from the tail-end of hair-metal days. I had my own inspiration by then. I was nuts-deep into "Straight Outta Compton", and gave less of a shit about WASP or Poison or whatever that meathead coach was into during summer lifting sessions.

Uhh, I think I hit all the checkbox requirements here, right? I'm not disrupting anyone's thought process? Make a damn list! That's all you gotta do! Don't overcomplicate shit like I did yesterday...just do your thing. Listy-like .