Let me tell you something you already know. Working out can be hard. If it weren't everyone would do it and
Michelle Obama would need to find a new cause to champion. Next thing you know Game of Thrones has all the nudity and violence of Angry Birds Epic. One of the best ways to get through a tough
workout is a good playlist for the task.
Something to get the blood pumping and motivate you to go that extra
mile. Some choices for a great workout
playlist are obvious, like 80’s training montage tracks and pop songs about
breakups that reference the Nietzsche quote about not being killed and becoming
stronger as a result, because that’s definitely what old Freddie had in mind. However, there are also great workout songs to
be found all around us; in the sounds of nature and the rhythm of the
city. Or even better, not that.
· “I’ll Make a Man out of You” from Mulan
What makes this song a surprising choice for getting amped isn't so much that it’s from a Disney movie, but more that it was performed by Donny Osmond, who is best known being a giant square and having a discomforting relationship with his sister. In his defense, though, he probably wouldn't use the word “amped.” Despite Osmond’s blandness, “I’ll Make a Man out of You” makes for a great workout song. It’s essentially one of the aforementioned training montage tunes but in an animated movie from the 90's. It also has lines like “let’s get down to business/ to defeat the Huns” and others comparing us to rivers and typhoons. Before long we believe that the fate of all of China rests on our squats so when the time comes we can deliver a royal beat down to Attila himself.
·
“Tear Me Down” from Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Not many stage musicals have the edge needed to produce a great workout song, but not many musicals are about a transgender German punk singer either. Although Hedwig has gotten some mainstream attention now that it has moved to Broadway with Neil Patrick Harris in the titular role, that doesn't change the play’s punk roots. Most of the music performed by Hedwig and her incredibly-cool-but-also-emotionally-significant named band The Angry Inch was written and tested in dive bars and drag clubs in the early 90’s. Maybe the hardest rocking song in the musical is “Tear Me Down.” While some workout songs are effective because they encourage us to become better, “Tear Me Down” instead reminds us of our own inherent fortitude as Hedwig calls herself the new Berlin Wall while daring any challengers to try to tear her down.
Not many stage musicals have the edge needed to produce a great workout song, but not many musicals are about a transgender German punk singer either. Although Hedwig has gotten some mainstream attention now that it has moved to Broadway with Neil Patrick Harris in the titular role, that doesn't change the play’s punk roots. Most of the music performed by Hedwig and her incredibly-cool-but-also-emotionally-significant named band The Angry Inch was written and tested in dive bars and drag clubs in the early 90’s. Maybe the hardest rocking song in the musical is “Tear Me Down.” While some workout songs are effective because they encourage us to become better, “Tear Me Down” instead reminds us of our own inherent fortitude as Hedwig calls herself the new Berlin Wall while daring any challengers to try to tear her down.
· Pokémon theme
The original Pokémon theme as a workout song is kind of a “staring you in the face the whole time” deal. Perhaps no other song in history has so elegantly captured blind ambition. The very first line is a declaration of intent to “be the very best, like no one ever was.” Seconds later there is a line about untapped potential, or “the power that’s inside.” Then there’s some stuff about friendship or something. Long story short, it’s your destiny to claim your rightful place on that elliptical you've been waiting for. You know, the good one, that that one guy is always hogging. Well, not this time pal, because Ash Ketchum is my gym buddy.
·
“How Bad Do You Want It” by Tim McGraw
Country songs tend to fall into one of two categories: incredibly depressing ballads or easy going depictions of care free small town life by the creek with a beer in hand. Neither end of that spectrum lend themselves to motivation, but in 2004 Tim McGraw released the album Live Like You Were Dying, opening with the track “How Bad Do You Want It.” The song is about doing whatever it takes to reach your goals, in this case becoming a country singer but it’s not much of a reach to project your dreams of having a rockin’ bod onto it. McGraw goes so far as to suggest you should be willing to sell your soul by kicking off the song with a retelling of the legend of blues icon Robert Johnson. If you don’t know the legend of Robert Johnson, the idea is that he sold his soul to become a blues icon. It was a remarkably punk notion considering that same year McGraw teamed up with Nelly to create this soft-core gentle back rub of a catastrophe.
Country songs tend to fall into one of two categories: incredibly depressing ballads or easy going depictions of care free small town life by the creek with a beer in hand. Neither end of that spectrum lend themselves to motivation, but in 2004 Tim McGraw released the album Live Like You Were Dying, opening with the track “How Bad Do You Want It.” The song is about doing whatever it takes to reach your goals, in this case becoming a country singer but it’s not much of a reach to project your dreams of having a rockin’ bod onto it. McGraw goes so far as to suggest you should be willing to sell your soul by kicking off the song with a retelling of the legend of blues icon Robert Johnson. If you don’t know the legend of Robert Johnson, the idea is that he sold his soul to become a blues icon. It was a remarkably punk notion considering that same year McGraw teamed up with Nelly to create this soft-core gentle back rub of a catastrophe.
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