Christine's Work Out Playlist

Last week's unseasonably warm weather brought with it a raging desire to exercise, get in shape, and actually be able to squeeze into a decent short size come June. I haven't worn regular shorts for several summers (maternity bermuda shorts definitely don't count), and I am determined to don some this summer, mainly because the less clothes I can get away with while chasing after three small children in the humidity-drenched heat of summer, the better. So one day last week I took a half hour to walk and run, and I came back feeling fantastic. I was refreshed, energetic, and pumped to lose weight.

And then I got sick, and I haven't exercised since.

Yeah, that's kind of pathetic. I'm finally starting to feel better (illnesses tend to dig in with both heels and hang around in our house), so I'll probably get out again today or tomorrow, since my strange desire to work out is still lingering.

This is an anomaly, folks, and I'm not going to let the opportunity to exercise while I actually feel like it slip by.

But the point of this post is the playlist I put together specifically for the purpose of taking my mind off of my aching muscles while I pound away at the pavement and will the calories to melt off of my thighs. Stephen and I each have iPods, and we love them. (Remember that I officially declared CDs obsolete? That decree definitely holds sway in our home.) He has more opportunity to use his as it's intended, but I use mine plenty here at home since we have a docking station. (Actually, this is the only sort of stereo we have. Our CD player pooped out a couple years ago, and so our docking station and record player are hooked up together, living harmoniously and bridging the different technologies that they each represent. It's a beautiful thing.)

So the playlist. I know that each person thinks that he or she has the end-all, be-all taste in music and that other people just don't have a clue when it comes to musical preferences. My husband and I shamelessly act the same way about our music. Stephen and I do a lot of overlapping, but then we also do a lot of diverging, too. He's got very indie, very acoustical taste in music, and he does a great job of bringing new, unheard-of bands and artists into our home. I like a fair amount of his favorites, with the notable exceptions of Bright Eyes and Mark Kozelek. (My musically-trained ears just can't take the off-key whininess.) I cling to the old alternative groups, as well as a lot of old-oldies, like Ella, Nat, Frank, Bing, and Dean, plus newbies like Michael and Harry who sound old. We also have lots of classical music, both on records and on the iPod, as well as musicals, and lots of high church worship and chant that we like to play on Sunday mornings. It's a pretty eclectic mix at the Case casa, but one thing I will assure you of: you will never, never hear a country singer.

I believe we had that written into our marriage vows.

Without further ado, I share with you the first ten songs that are present on the 75 -song strong playlist creatively titled "Work Out." You need only continue reading if you actually care about my taste in music. If not, then feel free to click over here and laugh at white people.

1. "Supermassive Black Hole" by Muse (alternative)
2. "Comfort Eagle" by Cake (alternative)
3. "Battle of Who Could Care Less" by Ben Folds (rock)
4. "Pardon Me" by Incubus (metal)
5. "Ain't Nothing Wrong with That" by Robert Randolph and the Family Band (pop/hip-hop)
6. "Lady Madonna" by The Beatles (pop)
7. "1979" by Smashing Pumpkins (alternative)
8. "Everything in Its Right Place" by Radiohead (alternative)
9. "Virtual Insanity" by Jamiroquai (r&b)
10. "Rock Your Body" by Justin Timerlake (pop)

The playlist also includes favorites by The Shins, Frou Frou (perhaps my only group with a woman represented), Stevie Wonder, Franz Ferdinand, and Outkast, as well as lots and lots of others. There are tons more songs by Radiohead, Incubus, Jamiroquai, Cake, and the Pumpkins, some of my cherished favorites. Notably missing is Sufjan Stevens, who proves to be just a little too esoteric for working-out purposes, as well as the oldies I mentioned earlier, whose lilting strains don't exactly make me want to shake my booty. This playlist needed to rock, and let me assure you, despite my lack of formal exercise lately, we have still put the songs to good use. I have a fantastic video of the boys dancing to "Runaround" by the Blues Travellers, but my slow internet won't load it, so for now you'll just have to imagine the sight of two toddlers bobbing up and down quickly to jazzy, harmonica-infused rock. And their absolute favorite song to dance to is by a group called Natalie Portman's Shaved Head. As weird as it sounds, their 80s-themed ballad is just incredible. (If you watch the second video in this post, you can hear a snippet of the song and watch two little guys jam out to it.)

I realize that the whole dancing thing makes us less-than-ideal Nazarenes. But you know what? Who cares. We dance, we laugh, and we do end up exercising in a way. And God willing my sons will grow up knowing what the right kind of music is.

And that would be a beautiful thing.