Hello all, I am starting my GA-ME hike in about 2 months and I have been busy putting songs on my MP3 player. I was wondering if anybody has any suggestions for good hiking songs, or good songs in general that i may not think of. Thanks a bunch. God bless.
Eustace
Dear Eustace:
Here are three excellent albums you can listen to straight through:
Joan Armatrading, THE SHOUTING STAGE (an unbelievably complete, coherent album; great, great songs and music; full of pleasant surprises; at times you’ll wonder how each song can possibly be better than the one you just heard, but it is, and then you can play the album in reverse order and wonder the same thing; one of the best albums ever put out by anybody).
Michael Hedges, AERIAL BOUNDRIES (an unusually gifted guitar player, with a style all his own; you won’t believe some of the things he does on his 10 string guitar [4 extra bass strings up top]).
Michael Hedges, LIVE ON THE DOUBLE PLANET (a live album, capturing all his energy and the incredible amount of fun he generated interacting with his audience; he sings on this one as well, with geat success; a very talented man who passed away at a young age in an accident; an absolutely superior talent in all respects).
Joe Frank, ROAD TO HELL (this is a one hour PBS program, where Joe Frank, tells a story, in a way you’ve never heard a story told; its imaginative, visual, creative, perceptive, and incredibly funny in spots–there’s real genius here–highly recommended).
Good luck–more if you want them.
Sincerely–Conan.
Conan
“40 Miles from Denver” by the Yonder Mountain String Band.
Whole album (“town by town”) is excellent too.
BT
BTrack
In the 70s I loved listening to John Denver especially Sunshine on my shoulders.
Roadrunner
Road to Nowhere - Talking Heads
This Woman’s Work - Kate Bush
St Mary’s - Sparklehorse
St Rick
Check out Walkin’ Jim Stoltz. If you don’t know of him, he’s a long-distance hiker who writes and performs his own music. He also does excellent multimedia presentations.
http://www.walkinjim.com/index.html
Lyle
Lyle
check out Towns Van Zandt:
“Everything is not enough
and nothing is too much to bear
Where you’ve been is good and gone,
all you keep is the gettin’ there.”
from To Live’s to Fly
I write stuff too.
Tha Wookie
“Apostrophe” by Frank Zappa
“Binge and Purge” by Metallica
“Live Scenes from New York” by Dream Theater
“The Big Book Comes Alive” by Joe and Charlie . . .
Kineo Kid
My personal hiking theme song is a Van Morrison tune that I believe is called “Higher Ground,” at least that’s the chorus–“He lifts me up and turns me around, puts my feet back on higher ground.” For those whose faith is an important part of the hike.
Rainbow
I prefered a mix of heavy stuff(i.e. Old Metallica, Nine Inch Nails, ect…)and a bit of goofy stuff like the Bloodhound Gang and George Carlin. Don’t forget to have a little for down time too. Dave Mathews, Enya, stuff like that. Music you can sing along to helps a lot up hill.
Nokia
Big on 70’s rock. Crosby, Stills, and Nash. Doobie Brothers, Fleetwood Mac, etc. If your memory is big enough add some instrumental stuff too. Also a book or two isn’t a bad idea either for nighttime.
Almost There
I like a lot of Allman Bros., Crosby, Stills, and Nash, The Doors, Pink Floyd, etc… I also take the Bogeyman remix by White Zombie, it’s perfect for playing on a night hike, kinda freaks you out.
Josh
I really enjoyed a mix of artists for different moods and motivational reasons. Here are some of my favorites:
Moby’s “Play”
Coldplay’s “X&Y”
Garbage
DMB
Enigma - anything
Buffett (of course)
Led Zeppelin
One song I made the mistake of taking was Ray Charles’s “Georgia on My Mind.” That was an AWFUL choice, and I still can’t listen to it without having a twinge of disdain for Georgia.
Lady Longlegs
One that got stuck in my head was one that somebody changed the words to early “On the trail again” from Willie Nelson’s “On The Road Again.” It was dumb, but every morning I would start off “On the trail again…” as we headed out of camp.
BTrack, I love the the YMSB!
Papa Smurf
Keane, ‘Somewhere Only We Know’
“I walked across an empty land
I knew the pathway like the back of my hand
I felt the ground beneath my feet
sat by the river and it made me complete.”
Loki
Black Rebel Motorcycle Group - Ain’t No Easy Way Out
Beth Orton - Water from a Vine Leaf
Dave Matthews Band - Dancing Nancies (2003 Central Park Concert version)
My Morning Jacket - Gideon
Coldplay - Speed of Sound
Neil Young - Long May You Run
Crosby & Nash - Urge for Going
Mike Doughty - I Feel Like I’m Looking at the World From the Bottom of a Well
Led Zeppelin - Ramble On
White Stripes - I’m Going to Pack It Up
John Mayer Trio - Good Love is On the Way
For starters…
Suvid
One of my fav’s for relaxing is a wonderful grp called “The Cowboy Junkies” (no it’s not really western) Their stellar collection was called “The Trinity Session”. It makes me smile just to think of it.
Leah