Just plodding along on the treadmill at the gym listening to the ipod go through the big shuffle, something happened when “Sailin’ On” by Bad Brains came screaming through the headphones. Perhaps it was the speed-of-light intensity of Dr Know’s guitar racing to the end of the world against HR’s vocals, but suddenly, I wasn’t moving.
When the song finished, I reprogrammed the ‘pod to play Rock for Light and immediately I was thrown into that chaotic world of early eighties hard core punk where no band seemed to ever play faster or with more passion than Bad Brains whose punk fueled Rasta love was the hardest, most searing music I’d ever heard. I kept speeding up the treadmill, and extending the time. The music kept me moving, a big takeover, and when I looked down my feet looked like they weren’t even moving so extreme was the disconnect between sound and light in that strange return to Heaven.
Not until I ran out of songs did I want to stop, but I ran much longer and much faster than usual. Good thing I don’t have the whole album on the ‘pod. I could see myself speeding the treadmill beyond all reason and flying off into the ski machines behind me. That would have been so punk rock stage diving cool in a suburban thirtysomething kind of way, but then they might have banned me from their club.
James Brush is a teacher and writer who lives in Austin, TX. He tries to get outside as much as possible.
[…] back with a post-operative Friday Random Ten and something for me to remember: Cimbing trees + Excessive workouts + Furniture moving = hernia repair surgery. It’s been jazz and painkillers since Wednesday. […]