Song of the Week #15
This week’s selection for Song of the Week has surprisingly been my most played song on Spotify for the past 3 years in a row, and likely will be for 2021 too. You may ask why this would be the case? Do I have a secret inkling for singing Ellie Goulding in the shower? Have I secretly been anticipating breaking Russ Helder’s 2006 world record for most consecutive listens of Starship’s “We built this city"?
I wish this were the case, but alas the answer is something different entirely. I’m sure that many of you who partake in the odd bicep curl, bike ride or a swing of a golf club, will have a couple of playlists tucked away in your phone (or iPod) for the gym or exercising. A special group of songs that allow you to drown out the rest of the world, get the adrenaline flowing and help push yourself to that new personal best time on a run, or a new 1 rep max on an exercise. My own playlist is no different - it is the 3rd iteration of such a collection, aptly named “Gym 3”. The genre span and individual song intensity have varied as my own tastes changed, along with the requirements for each playlist changing with it, depending on what I was so inclined to do for exercise. However, despite the playlist now including more variety than ever before (from Action Bronson to Duke Dumont) a few key anchors have bedded themselves firmly into any and all evolutions of the gym soundtrack.
This Song of the Week is just one of those tunes, and is particularly the song with which I finish every run - almost guaranteed. Whether it is sprinting the last 90 seconds on a treadmill, or powering up a hill at the tail end of a 5km jog, it never fails to pick me up for the final stretch. One listen and you’ll understand why. I hope it finds its way into your own workout routine - The Beast by New York hardcore’s ever-present kings, Madball.