(On Music) #1 Top 5 Songs About Running
In my life, music and running have become synonymous with one another. There is a rhythm—an art—to running, a certain poetry that describes an ongoing journey to better oneself. When I began running consistently, I couldn’t imagine running without music blaring from my AirPods. Now, I appreciate the art of running enough to forgo headphones on speed days and long runs, which require more mental focus.
Still, music remains one of the best supplements in a runner’s toolbox. Training can be monotonous, and alternative sources of entertainment lessen the boredom.
The beauty of running is in the very principle that you are a better version of yourself after completing every run. When I began running consistently, I was running from the version of myself who wasn’t a runner, to find the motivation to change. For me, this is the human experience.
Songs about running describe the human experience. No matter what grief, heartbreak, or troubles we run from, we keep moving forward.
In an effort to reflect on the music that has defined my running journey, I ranked my Top 5 songs about running. In each entry on this list, I interpret that the artist describes figuratively running from something specific in their lyrics. This list is solely my opinion, based on the definition I have outlined for “songs about running.” These 5 songs touch on the human experience in a way that inspired me to think critically, and keep on moving forward.
#5 “Growing Pains III” by Logic
Running from childhood trauma
Genius Lyrics | Listen on Spotify
Under Pressure (2014) by Logic is my favorite album of all time. “Growing Pains III” is one of the slower songs on the record, opening with a conversational skit between two friends, in which a drive-by shooting interrupts their dialogue. It is a representation of the violence-ridden childhood that Logic faced, which he describes in length throughout the album.
After the skit, Logic raps about the various forms of escape he has indulged in (nicotine, drugs, women) to move past the chaotic environment he was raised in. In a home where the next day is never guaranteed, these pursuits seemed the only logical way to move forward.
An interlude divides the song into two parts, transitioning towards a fantasy, a new life for Logic. Under Pressure was Logic’s first commercial success, with promise of a better future than his painful childhood. He becomes driven to achieve success, thinking that this will absolve him of his past. He uses the image of a TV, a common form of escape, to represent how this fantasy can be shut off instantaneously as he is snapped back to reality.
Despite Logic’s success, he is still perpetually running from the chaotic childhood he emerged from, making “Growing Pains III” #5 in songs about running.
#4 “champagne problems” by Taylor Swift
Running from love
Genius Lyrics | Listen on Spotify
evermore (2020), is my favorite Taylor Swift album. “champagne problems” is Swift’s heartbreaking depiction of the end of a relationship, in which the protagonist turns down a wedding proposal. The melancholic melody and candid lyrics combine to explain the unexplainable: when everything seems right but you know it is wrong all at once.
The essence of this song (and album) is in knowing the person you are with is a good person, yet not the right person for you. There is no easy way to describe this to someone, especially when one person gets down on one knee. Swift captures the gut feeling of “when you know, you know” beautifully here.
The song acknowledges the protagonist's own shortcomings in the relationship, which she hopes her partner will find in his next relationship. Her so-called champagne problems, which those in their shared life have ascribed to her, are mentioned throughout. Champagne is an allusion to the wedding proposal and arrangements made, and her refusal led to their friends speaking of her unkindly.
Throughout “champagne problems,” it is clear that the protagonist holds a lot of love for the person she sings about, yet knows he isn’t the one for her. It is a heartbreaking reality, in which she runs away from someone she loves and who loves her, to find something evergreen within herself.
#3 “RUNNING” by NF
Running from yourself
Genius Lyrics | Listen on Spotify
Hope (2023) by NF is a departure from the dark persona he has created for himself on previous albums, in which a more hopeful version of himself has emerged. “RUNNING” serves as the album’s outro, representing the album’s message of hope.
This song encapsulates my own running journey, as a song about running. Every day, I choose to run, which propels me beyond the individual I was yesterday. To truly commit to this lifestyle, there are inevitably pieces of myself I must leave behind. Accepting that I am better served moving beyond the past than living in it is a continuous process, as is choosing to run, which NF describes beautifully here.
#2 “Runaway” by Kanye West
Running from vulnerability
Genius Lyrics | Listen on Spotify
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010) by Kanye West is broadly considered one of his best works. “Runaway” may be the album’s crowning jewel, in which West details his struggle to be vulnerable with those he loves.
Throughout the song, West describes how his success, perfectionism, and work-ethic are an escape from being truly intimate with the women he dates. He always finds something wrong, a reason to be blamed, or an excuse to leave. He encourages his love to “run away” from him, yet also hints at a deep fear of what will happen if they do.
“Runaway” may be the best written depiction of the trope that it is easier to “leave before others leave you.” To be truly intimate, you must put your heart on line. There are various forms of escape, such as investing in your career. While success at work can be meaningful in its own right, it is not a replacement for genuine romantic love, the tenderness that being truly vulnerable with another can bring.
#1 “Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst” by Kendrick Lamar
Running from damnation
Genius Lyrics | Listen on Spotify
“Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst” is my favorite Kendrick Lamar song. When I used to run 1.5 miles after weightlifting, I would listen to all 12 minutes in their entirety, and it quickly began to become emblematic of my perpetual struggle to keep running.
It is not only that Lamar repeatedly says “I’m tired of running, tired of running” in the second half of the song, which is usually when I would begin to grow tired of running on the treadmill, but it is what Lamar is running from that is especially powerful. Essentially, my interpretation is that he is running from being damned for the sins of his past. Like Logic and many other rappers, Lamar lived a chaotic, violence-ridden upbringing. Finding success in rap led to another life entirely, yet Lamar can’t help but feel guilty about the past.
After repeatedly relaying the message that he hopes others remember him fondly (sing about me), he confesses that he has been living in sin and doesn’t know where to turn (dying of thirst). It is this battle that makes this such a beautiful song, one in which he is striving to leave a legacy while knowing he has sinned in the past.
The song ends with a recitation of a prayer, where the group receives holy water to absolve their sins and alleviate their thirst (!) Lamar writes about religion frequently in his music, implying here that faith in God and confession is the only way forward from a sinful past.
Choosing to love, choosing to run
In reflecting on these songs about running (from childhood trauma, love, yourself, vulnerability, and damnation) I have realized a common theme: we have to choose to love. There are endless ways to escape the present, from abusing substances to drowning yourself in work. But it is only when we choose to love, to be present with those in our lives, that we find the happiness that often evades us. For me, when I choose to run, I choose self-love, and am then able to give that to others.
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Ryan K. Beck can be reached at reflections@ryankbeck.com
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