A Change Of Mart

One man's journey from fatness to fitness!

In truth, I don't tend to listen to music when out for a walk. Without getting all "hey man", I prefer to listen to nature and just think about things as I plod the streets and cycle paths of the area. Besides, it's also difficult to hear people coming up behind you when you have the Manics or the Killers blaring out at 100 decibels into your shell-like.

That said, I love listening to music, particularly the two bands named above, and maybe one day I'll invest in one of those new fangled iPods and stick a pair of headphones on. In the meantime, I'll have a bit of fun putting together the 90 minutes of music I'll be playing on that 5 mile walk. All of the songs mean something to me and I'll explain why alongside a YouTube video of the music.

Enjoy.

"A Dustland Fairytale" - The Killers - 2008 - 3 minutes 45 seconds

What a start to the playlist with this, one of my all time favourite songs!

This particular video is chosen simply because of Brandon's incredibly emotional perfomance near the end; it's a song about his mother (meeting his father) who, at the time, was battling cancer (she sadly passed in 2010) and it comes out through some very raw but brilliant lyrics. There is another superb live version of this from Glastonbury 2019 and it's a real "hold your phone light up" moment.

I lost my own Mum to cancer in 1992, aged 47, and although we were estranged at the time, I often wonder how my life would have been different had she lived. We weren't close but you only get one Mum in life. The song is a beauty and perfect as a "walk-starter" with its careful build-up before exploding into pace and power (bit like my walks then, ahem!).

"International Blue" - The Manic Street Preachers - 2017 - 4 minutes 35 seconds

This was the second song off the album "Resistance Is Futile" and therefore is an ideal choice for the second spot on my Ultimate Walking Playlist.

A lot of buildup to this song online but when I first heard it, fell deeply in love with it straight away. Very "rocky", very "spiky" and more than a few nods to their greatest ever hit "Motorcycle Emptiness", it is unbelievably catchy. Try walking at a normal place with this blasting through your headphones. It would be impossible.

Filmed in the French resort of Nice, the video perfectly complements the song too, more great work from the genius that is Kieran Evans so I've selected this as the video on here rather than the more usual live version.

Vive Le Manics!