This is the sixth installment in a continuing series calling out songs that should be in every horror fan’s running (or exercise) playlist. For this installment, it’s about DEATH — that final oblivion and what lies beyond. I just finished the Rock and Roll Half Marathon here in St. Louis, so running playlists are TOP of mind for me and I felt it was time for another post in this series. These are definitely tempo songs. For these additions to the playlist, I’ve attempted to follow in some way the storybook process of dying here — death, haunting / passage and the beyond.
On with the dark tuneage. ::
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16
“People Who Died” — Jim Carroll
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STEP ONE — DEATH — Poet, artist and “Basketball Diaries” author Jim Carroll and his band give us this incredible punk ode to his fallen comrades. This still sounds as fresh as the day it was recorded. AWESOME for pace. So many people dead, so much love. A HUGE RIP to Jim Carroll himself as well.
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17
“The Ghost of You Lingers” — Spoon
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STEP TWO — HAUNTING / PASSAGE — I absolutely love these guys and this album was a TOTAL monster. Annnnd… This song was among the best on the album and was one of the best songs of 2007, IMHO. Haunting, bittersweet and driven, this one will drive you through the miles.
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18
“Eternal Life” — Jeff Buckley
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STEP THREE — THE BEYOND — One from the great Jeff Buckley. The man was simply taken from us FAR too soon. Perhaps this is a perfect artist and metaphor to represent the final step in this list, for it is through his art, through masterful songs like this one, that Buckley found a true measure of “Eternal Life.” This is a full-on rocker with more punk rumble, reckless abandon and virtuosic punch than you can shake a stick at. Drive that tempo for this one, too. Hard. Feel those chills.
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Get out there and do it (he says more for his own benefit than anything)!
Here’s PART I.
Here’s PART II.
Here’s PART III.
Here’s PART IV.
Here’s PART V.
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THE STRANGE, FAR PLACES 