A Saturday Long Run with My Friends, Bob, Mick, Van, Ian and Others.
A Life Without Music?
I recently read a tweet that asked if you would take a risk to win $5 million but if you lost you could never listen to any music for the rest of your life. I instantly knew I would never take such a risk. I love music and listen to a wide variety of styles whenever I can. On my weekday morning runs I typically listen to podcasts that are focused on running topics or news based or human behavior and psychology or something related to music. There are also days that I decide to run without listening to anything. Silence in the predawn hours on empty streets can be a great feeling. Moving through neighborhoods with virtually no people or traffic and hearing yourself breathe allows you to focus on whatever you want to. But Saturday long runs are some of the best times for music listening.
Remembering Good Times with Old Friends
Last night as I was thinking about my Saturday morning run I decided to make a playlist of some of my favorite artists. I went through my digital music library and just quickly selected one or two songs from a variety of artists. Without giving it a lot of thought I selected some hits and some deep cuts. But most were songs I hadn’t heard in quite a while. So today as I ran 13 miles on the Clinton River Trail I put the playlist on shuffle and had two hours of memories. As each song started I would remember a time, place or person I associated with that song. These artists were like old friends and we reminisced as I ran on the solitary path.
Some of the friends I ran with this morning included,
of course, my friend Bob who told me about some girl trouble he was having. (Don’t Fall Apart on me Tonight)
Then my friends Mick, Keith, Ronnie and Charlie told me about some of their girl trouble too. (Miss you)
Next I had a nice surprise when my friend George came by. Not surprisingly, he also had some girl trouble. (Ocean Front Property)
It was a nice change of pace to listen to my friend Ian and his chums tell me about his days as a youth in England. (All the Young Dudes)
A little later a friend I met decades ago but haven’t heard from in years came by. His name is Sly and I’m never quite sure what he’s talking about but he’s brings good energy to my run. (Thank you Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)
The good energy stayed when Lou started talking about Sweet Jane. but after that he got quiet and told me about his coach back in school (Coney Island Baby)
Two old friends, Waylon and Willie, came by later with a story about cowboys. (Mammas don’t let your Babies grow up to be Cowboys)
Then it was back to girl trouble from my friend Todd (who we used to call Odd Todd) even though we liked having him around. (Hello It’s Me)
Around mile 10 as I ran along the beautiful Clinton River, my friend Marvin started telling me his concerns about the environment. (Mercy, Mercy, Me)
My pace really picked up when Robert and his mates, Jimmy, John Paul and John decided to Rock and Roll.
There were so many more friends, songs and memories that I can’t begin to list them here. But it was great to hear from Van “the Man”, Johnny, Joe, Jimmy, Eric, Arlo, Al and many, many others. And if you think all my friends are old, I heard from newer friends that my sons introduced me too, but I’ll save those for another post.