Rec Yard Run Playlist - Finally!

 

Okay, scratch the previous playlist for now.  We have breaking news! Tomorrow the famed Covid Lockdown 18 (those of us confined to our cells for over 100 days amidst transfer to new prison – see previous posts), we finally get to go outdoors!  To the prison rec yard! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!  Guys are so hyped, it’s like Oprah’s giving out cars or something!

 

So, in preparation for my first walk/run on the track since before Thanksgiving, I’m shifting to EPP (Emergency Playlist Preparation), all tunes with an upbeat jogging tempo.  This list is (mostly) ‘90s rap, a little something to get the old legs moving again.  I’m so excited!

 

1.     Hit ‘em Up (2Pac).  Basically Tupac and the West Coast crew calling out Biggie, Puffy, and the East Coast rappers. All fun and games until both Tupac and Biggie ended up dead.

 

2.     Hypnotize (Notorious B.I.G.). “Poppin’ them smooth since the days of Underoos.” That line always makes me laugh. (If you’re too young to know what “underoos” are, check out the interwebs.)

 

3.     I Left My Wallet in El Segundo (A Tribe Called Quest). I like this one because it’s a story, not the era’s usual braggadocio, killing, etc. An adventure tale where things don’t go quite as hoped.

 

4.     Juice (Notorious B.I.G.). An urban memoir: “I made the change from a common thief/to up close and personal with Robin Leach.” Before MTV Cribs, remember Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous? That’s when you knew you’d made it.

 

5.     Unbelievable (Notorious B.I.G.). “I got 357 ways to simmer, saute, I’m the winner all day.” Biggie knew how to “serve up” other rappers; makes me smile every time I hear him go off like that.

 

6.     0 to 100 (Drake). Most current song that I own, and it’s not that new.

 

7.     Warning (Notorious B.I.G.). Great beat for keeping up my running pace, plus a lot of clever slanted rhymes in here for a guy who claimed to not be that bright.

 

8.     Lose Yourself (Eminem). When I’m getting tired, this one will help me catch that second wind.

 

9.     Welcome 2 Detroit (Trick Trick).  Detroit’s call out that the West and East Coast rappers better not overlook them anymore.

 

10.  Run this Town (JayZ/Rihanna/Kanye). Rihanna’s contribution is great: “I’m just trying to change the color on your mood ring.”  Remember mood rings?  Hilarious!

 

11.  2 of Amerikas Most Wanted (2Pac & Snoop). “Nothin’ but a Gangsta Party.” This one in honor of all the wannabe gangstas in prison.

 

12.  Hostile Gospel (Talib Kweli). “The truth is hard to swallow/and it will leave you scarred tomorrow.”  Ain’t that the truth. Kweli is a smart guy, a great lyricist. So many clever, thought-provoking lines in this one.

 

13.  Eat to Live (Talib Kweli). Story about a family struggling to survive. Vivid picture of the lives of the impoverished. “Grandma say Jesus will be here any day/good ‘cause with nothin’ to eat/it’s gettin’ hard to pray.”

 

14.  Wu Banga 101 (Ghostface Killah, GZA, Cappadonna).

 

15.  Legend of the Liquid Sword (GZA). He’s from the Wu Tang Clan. Great voice, great beat.

 

16.  It’s Not a Game (Raekwon & GZA). “If you don’t stand for this life, you fall for anything/we plan our dreams/it ain’t a game/we don’t run game, we run businesses/watch us shine/watch the world be our witnesses.”

 

17.  We Will Rob You (Raekwon/Slick Rick/GZA/Masta Killa). Another story song. Maybe it's because I'm just a middle-aged White guy, but tales like this are more engaging to me than staccato yelling about how great you are.

 

Woohoo! Alright!  So, the 18 of us looked like extras from The Walking Dead. After 100 days in lockdown, we stumbled outside, pale, cringing at the sunlight, but – we made it! Let me tell you, never has an oppressive, barbed-wired, walled-in, guard towered, spotlighted blight of a so-called Rec Yard looked so beautiful!  Yes, the Morman’s say it’s in Missouri or someplace, but I may have just found Eden!

Country and Western Prison Playlist

 

So things have finally started looking up – relatively speaking – after 100 days of lockdown. We finally received our property!  Now that I have my MP3 player (Prison-Pod), I spent a couple hours piecing together a new playlist.  This one has the added benefit of drowning out MAGA Man’s snoring!

 

1.     Folsom Prison Blues.  Might as well jump right in with a classic, but let’s switch it up by going with a version by Keb Mo from Kindred Spirit: A Tribute to Johnny Cash.

 

2.     Bartender. This song sums up the attitude you get from a lot of guys in prison.  The “Oh, I f__ked up this time, might as well just sit here and take it.” No bitterness, just a resigned, “Oh well.”

 

3.     Tennessee Whiskey (Chris Stapleton version).  No offense to any Kentucky bourbon fans, but Jack Daniels is the woe-is-me country drink of choice.

 

4.     Whiskey Glasses (Morgan Wallen). What’s a country song without whiskey and women? Although, if you follow the news, old Morgan has some other issues to contend with right now.

 

5.     You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive (Patty Lawless). Hauntingly beautiful song. I’ve met some guys from the nearly mythical Harlan County, and it sounds like a pretty rough life. Melancholic story that puts things in perspective. For some, day-to-day life is a struggle.

 

6.     Beers and Sunshine (Darius “Hootie” Rucker). Not all country songs are about sorrowful drinking. Hootie picks us up a little bit. This song makes me think about the current state of the world, when he sings, “The only BS I need is Beers and Sunshine” and “…everyone’s down in a world gone crazy.”

 

7.     Allentown (Eric Church). Okay, just stop! Before anyone yells about this being a Billy Joel song and not country, it’s my playlist and my hometown, so I can include it if I want. Plus Eric Church makes it country.  I include this not only because I like my hometown, but because of some of the lyrics. You have to be tough to have grown up in Allentown back in the day. Granted, I missed a lot of this (thanks to my wonderful parents), but the ethos is passed down. As the song says, “It’s hard to keep a good man down, but I won’t be giving up today!”  This song speaks to my current situation, too.  Toughness and resiliency are needed even at the “easiest” prison. All I can say is, I won’t give up today. It’s just how we roll in A-Town.

 

8.     I See a Darkness (Johnny Cash). Performed here by the Man in Black, this song was written by one of the Oldham brothers (Will, I think) from the band Palace. He also goes by the name Bonnie Prince Billy. All I can say about this song is that I’m man enough to admit that at times it makes me cry. Sitting alone in the dark, thinking about some of the friends I’ve made in prison. We’ve seen the true Darkness, but we still hope that the love we have in us will win out, that family, friends and society will the true us.  “To live I wont’ let go.”

 

9.     Sometimes I Cry (Chris Stapleton). Life in Prison:  “There are days I can walk around like I’m alright/I can keep the pain from coming out of my eyes/but sometimes, sometimes I cry when I can’t do nothin’ else.”

 

10.  Stick that in Your Country Song (Eric Church).  A tale of the hard workin’, maybe mildly disillusioned American. A good old rebellious country shout.

 

11.  Sinners Like Me (Eric Church). A little drinkin’, a little growin’ up, a little regret, memories.

 

12.  In Color (Jamey Johnson). A family story about coping with tough times the best you can.

 

13.  Jack Daniels (Eric Church). No equivocation here.  Just straight up a man and his bottle, the bottle kicking his ass again and again.

 

14.  Nobody to Blame (Chris Stapleton). When he says, “Turned my life into this country song,” that about says it all.  Prison is one long country song, when you think about it.