My Running Music

4 min readSep 23, 2023

September 23, 2023

Most days I run to the post office for my mail; about a mile; ten minutes. Music helps. Not long ago I happened to run a similar distance but found it puzzlingly hard going. Then I realized I’d done it musicless — which really made a difference.

I’d been using ancient technology — a Walkman playing cassette tapes. Four decades ago, my then-partner helped me make some with my favorites, using a tape recorder. One tape has some coughing because I did it during a cold.

Eventually my old Walkman started to malfunction. I searched eBay for a replacement. Most listings said “for parts only.” (Why try to sell an obsolete gadget that doesn’t even work?) I did buy one supposedly operable, but it didn’t work properly either.

My wife came to the rescue, setting me up with an iPod as a birthday gift. Not actually the latest technology, but a big advancement for this Neanderthal. I was delighted — now I could even add some goodies that had never made it onto my ancient cassettes. Unlimited during the free trial period.

So I set to work creating a list. I had for reference not only my few personal cassettes (a couple had gotten damaged or lost) but boxes full of others, most not touched in decades. Including tons of Irish music, which I love. I played many that seemed promising (using a clunky old cassette player), searching for keepers. Wound up with a list of over 50 songs.

I also racked my memory to think of others — like Here Comes the Sun, Flashdance’s What a Feeling, Wichita Lineman. I like lively, strongly melodic, uplifting, inspiring music. (I sometimes have to ignore lyrics — or even amuse myself substituting my own.)

Downloading them wasn’t real user-friendly. Merely trying to open the “Apple Music” catalog often drove me nuts. And the selection wasn’t comprehensive. Some Irish favorites, and others, strangely absent. And when I realized Pachelbel’s Canon and The City of New Orleans lacked the verve of the versions on my old cassettes, I searched for alternate recordings — in vain.

Still, I’m thrilled to have this new, distilled, curated core playlist — making me especially look forward to my postal runs.

Here’s the full list. I’d welcome anyone’s further suggestions!

Hail to the Chief