If I was a shoe...

This track has been my favourite song for ages now and even though it isn't a free download I just have to post it. At 87bpm it's actually just a little on the slow side for running, but if you're like me and run better in the 90-95bpm range you could buy the mp3 you can up the tempo using Audacity (see the post Take Control of the BPM to see how). Or maybe the 87bpm will work for you. No matter what it has a super strong beat. So the track is Wenn ich ein Turnschuh waere by Die Goldenen Zitronen. I love everything about it, the music, the voice, the lyrics. For non German speakers he is singing about someone in Turkey trying to get in the the European Union who realises that he would have an easy time, be considered something of value, if he was a sports shoe (or a flat screen TV) rather than a human being. Certainly adds a new angle to the barefoot running debate! There is a sort of desperate sound to this song that goes so well with the story, and the story sums up so much with what is wrong with the world. After hearing this I became a huge Goldenen Zitronen fan. Die Goldenen Zitronen are officially punk, but this track is not really, well not too easy to put in a genre, experimental punk? Decide for yourselves.

Free Running Songs for October 2012 part 1

I've really reduced the amount of posts in the last few months. Part of it is just that I've been really busy, and also that my attention has sort of been else where. I've been massively geeking out over at Coursera. Anyway my Free Running Songs posts have gotten a lot more hits that the single video song posts. So unless I find a real gem, I'll just be sticking to the free download stuff, well at least for now. Oh and another post that has gotten a lot of hits, and that I think is worth a look at is Take Control of the BPM, in which I explain how to tweak the BPM of songs you already love, so if you missed that you might want to go have a look. 

OK so this time these free tracks are available at last.fm. I'll try to do an Epitonic post too before the end of the month.  

Freiheit by Tonic 94 BPM
German, hip-hop. unfortunately the last.fm page for Tonic is of another band that isn't this Tonic. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the lyrics to this. In fact I just love it. Its a fucking anthem to run to, to live to. Here's some bits of the lyrics I was able to pick up.

"es ist nie mals zu spat zu sein wenn du anfangst zu werden
Wege tragen Scherben damit du betriebst zu lernen
zu ehrer und begehren was dein Leben fuer ein Geschenk ist
...
jede deine schritte ist begleitet durch Freiheit
spreng die Ketten die Zeile und Leichtheit
ateme tief durch man dein Leben muss Frei bleiben"

which translates to something like this
"it is never to late to become, the path has shards so that you can learn to honor what a gift your life is ... every step in guided by freedom, cut the chains, the ropes and the easiness, breath deep man, your life must stay free".

You know I really like the sound of hip-hop but so usually is is barely masked 'my dick is bigger than yours' bullshit. German hip-hop is often much, much better than that. On last.fm there are several other runnable tracks from Tonic; Intro feat. Dj Corin (89 BPM), Monoton (93 BPM),  Letzten Tag (89 BPM),   Deine Entschiedung (90 BPM) and Wahrnehmung feat. Es-say (91 BPM) so go get your fill.


Séance on a Wet Afternoon by Girls Names 89 BPM
From Belfast.  Indie noisy pop.  


Erasers by Sequence Theory Project 90 BPM
Not too sure where these guys are from. Slow sad trip-hop. 

Flower Song by Jermook 95 BPM
Jermook are Russian, but it sounds like she's singing in an Asian language to me. Trip-hop but way more up beat than the last one.

Poor Droidcat by Psilodump 92 BPM
8-bit /  chiptune from Sweden. This track is AMAZING!  It is so good it makes my head hurt to listen to it.  

Jag Mötte Henne I Fredags by Bossfight 91 BPM
Also 8-bit but with some female vocals from fellow Swedes Bossfight. 

Heaven Sent

In a previous post (here) I recommended a song by the German band Monocular.  I was super excited when a month or so ago they released a new album, Pine Trees.  Pine Trees is probably as good as Somewhere On The Line, but since I was expecting it to be as good, it didn't blow my mind in quite the same way.


The track, The Street I Found, from the new album has a BPM of 92 and is very runnable. Even the lyrics of the chorus are very nice for running, "The Street I found was heaven sent". The song isn't on YouTube, or anywhere else I can find, but you can  listen to the first 30 seconds on Amazon, USA, FR, DE, UK, JP.  I like Monocular so much its hard for me to imagine that everyone wouldn't be moved by this, so just go buy it.  In fact buy the whole album.  

Stop Thinking Start Running

Here's a sweet little track from German Pea Sized.  Its electronia with female vocals.  The sound is sparse and as far as the lyrics go, they seem to be taking themselves or life a bit too seriously, or maybe its just that English isn't her native language, her voice is lovely though.  Also they let you download all their music for free or on a donation basis, which is cool.  To download this track, Stop Thinking, click here.  The BPM is 91 so perfect for a 180 strides per minute run.

Strong Bones

I'm on holiday, I wrote this post before leaving and am testing the schedule function of blogger.  So it worked.

Here's two songs from a band I recently started listening to, Rubyrough or Ruby Rough?  I'd classify them as down-tempo electronica with female vocals. I think I discovered them when last.fm made a similar playlist while I was listening to Monocular or Portishead.  The thing I like a lot about them too is that the album is really diverse, the songs don't sound alike. The singer is an American the music by a German. They are based in Berlin.


The first track, Skeletons, clocks in at 91BPM.  The video is awesome.




The second one is Ruby Red Glasses with a BPM of 89.  You can listen to a 30 second sample of the track here.  

Running Is Beautiful

Here's a truly gorgeous song: Beautiful by German electro trip-hoppers Monocular (she is singing in English). I can't find a video of it on YouTube, or a track of it on Soundcloud.  But I can listen to it on last.fm, so here's the link play on last.fm. I hope that works since I am not sure if you have to be signed up for and in to last.fm to listen.  Anyway listen to this, then go buy this amazing song. Its BMP is 92 so great for a 180SPM run.

If you want to buy, here's some Amazon links, these aren't affiliate links just putting them here to save you some time, and for anyone having trouble listening on last.fm, since Amazon has a 30 sec sample to whet your appetite.

Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.fr
Amazon.de

Have a Good Day

Another song by my kraut pop hero's Wir Sind Helden, Guten Tag. Guten Tag means good day, in have a good day, and is used like old fashioned English Good Day for Hello - who says Good Day anymore?  This was their first hit and the song that made them famous. Its a frantic little pop song with amazing lyrics, I looked around for an English translation of the lyrics and to my surprise the translations seemed really bad, they seemed to get the meaning just the opposite of what I understood listening. But this is the beauty of Wir Sind Helden, they play so much on words that it is kind of impossible to really translate. Anyway she sings

My voice against your mobile phone,
My fists against your nail lotion,
My teeth against those of Dr. Best and his son,
My soul against your gentle epilation.

It was on sale, on offer a special deal:
'Trade in a boring old life for new version'.
I just tried it out at home when I realised:
The product is broken – this is the complaint.

I won't trade anymore, I want my life back.

But in German you trade against something, so I always understood the against in the first 4 lines to meanin exchange for.  Then she sees that the products don't work as advertised. White teeth do not make you happy. But you can also kind of read the first four lines, with the against, just as against, like a rebel against. Anyway if you haven't done it yet, learn German, it's worth it for the Wir Sind Helden catalogue alone!


Its got a BPM of 92 so a bit on the fast side for a 180 SPR run, but not totally out of range.

"You don't have to dance, but move your heart"

I have moved around a lot in my life, but the country that I love best, is Germany.  I didn't have culture shock, when I arrived I felt like I had finally arrived home.  So its about time for some Germany music on my little blog!  So here's The Geek by Wir Sind Helden.

Wir Sind Helden (We Are Heros) is one of my favourite German bands, and very popular in Germany.  Their sound is pop rock and the lyrics are an amazing play on words.  Wir Sind Helden, are a reason alone to learn German.  I have copy and pasted an English translation of the text of this song below the video.

Oh and the BPM is exactly 90, and will get you running at 180 strides per minute.

Are too smart to draw any attention to your awkwardness
And not good-looking enough to get noticed
Do you know just how it is always to fall short
Just not far enough to get somewhere else
It hurts to be like you should
It hurts to be like you are
But when the quarterback comes to take off your glasses
Tell him: Thanks, but they're staying where they are
However, I do know
The wounded shall be the healers
The last shall be the first
Realise it: "The meek shall inherit the earth" 

The wounded shall be the healers
The last shall be the first
The first will be the last to realise that
"The geek shall inherit the earth"
Not your time, not your feet, not your beat, not your people
Not your world, and not your your pain
You don't have to fit in here, but look for something that belongs to you
You don't have to dance, but move your heart
It hurts to be how you imaging that have to be
It hurts to be how you imaging that you are
But when the homecoming queen comes to wake you up with a kiss
Tell her: Thanks, I didn't miss a thing
[Chorus]
It hurts to be like you ought to be
When your teacher asks you:
Shouldn't we see each other more often
It feels good to be how you imaging that you would like to be
When you tell him:
Lord, let this annoying man pass me by