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My Gen X Playlist: Running to Stand Still – Darius Rucker

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I saw a random ad for a fire sale on used vinyl and CDs. It’s been a long time since I bought any kind of music. Since I donated my turntable years ago, I went to check out the CDs.

Surprisingly, this sale drew a decent crowd. The demographic was on the greyer side. That made sense – CDs and vinyl are old school. There were a few twenty/thirty somethings sprinkled about. Funny how they stuck out like sore thumbs, but I still thought it was cool they were into analog music.

Everything was 60% off and CDs were priced at a fraction of the records. What a steal. I ended up buying an 80’s compilation, a more recent U2 CD and Brandi Carlile’s debut. Not bad for six bucks.

I knew most of the songs on the 80’s compilation. In fact, I could’ve made that exact compilation since I already had most of the music. It turns out I knew all but one on the Brandi Carlile album. What a great find. I left U2 to be a surprise. I could’ve easily listened to the entire album online before buying it, but where’s the fun in that? And what did I learn? Not all U2 albums are created equal. My appreciation for The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby soared. It’s not easy to replicate their greatness. Even though my new to me U2 CD was a bust, the Brandi Carlile find easily outweighed U2’s meh.

I found this cool clip of Brandi Carlile explaining how she was heavily influenced by The Joshua Tree. She seemed like she might sing a U2 song before the clip was cut short. That sent me down a rabbit hole. In my search for that cover, I discovered Darius Rucker performance of Running to Stand Still. I know people talk shit about Hootie, but you’ve got to admit, the dude can sing. And I love how Dan Patrick describes it at the end.

That’s sneaky good.

So true.

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For a complete playlist, please click here.

For the Spotify playlist, please click here.

And so she woke up
Woke up from where she was lyin' still
Said I gotta do something
About where we're going
Step on a steam train
Step out of the driving rain, maybe
Run from the darkness in the night
Singing ah, ah la la la de day
Ah la la la de day
Ah la la la de day

Sweet the sin
Bitter the taste in my mouth
I see seven towers
But I only see one way out
You gotta cry without weeping, talk without speaking
Scream without raising your voice
You know I took the poison from the poison stream
Then I floated out of here, singing
Ah la la la de day
Ah la la la de day
Ah la la la de day

She runs through the streets
With her eyes painted red
Under a black belly of cloud in the rain
In through a doorway
She brings me white golden pearls
Stolen from the sea
She is ragin', she is raging
And the storm blows up in her eyes
She will suffer the needle chill
She's running to stand still

15 thoughts on “My Gen X Playlist: Running to Stand Still – Darius Rucker”

  1. You spurred in me a memory of lying flat on my living room floor blasting a Hootie CD with a friend, who happens to be a great guitar player and whose taste I really trust. We were high as a kite at the time. Afterwards I said, “That’s some really basic pop there, isn’t it.” And he replied, “Yep. But it’s still good.” Thanks for the memory and the chuckle. Right you are.

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  2. Oh, do they talk shit about Hootie? I remember when Hold My Hand came out. I couldn’t listen to it enough and still remember a particularly windy day, pumping gas, with that song blaring from my car. 🙂 Such a good feeling.

    Haven’t listened to U2 in a while, and this brought back a lot of great memories of my high school jr year and a boy I shouldn’t have taken for granted. 🙂 Occasionally your posts are like that. So much comes whooshing back with a song.

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    1. I really liked Hootie when they first came out. I think they’re great. I have a few friends that didn’t like mainstream music and bashed them. I didn’t agree with them. I liked your story about pumping gas with them blaring out the window. That made me smile.

      Memories of high school romance… A few U2 songs come to mind – “All I Want is You” and “One”. U2 does a cool duet with Mary J Blige on One. I like when I found unique collaborations like that.

      Thanks for sharing. I always enjoy your comments.

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  3. Was the U2 album ‘Songs of Innocence’? My kids were permanently turned off to U2 after they preloaded that album onto everyone’s iPod in 2014, whether they wanted it or not. I could never convince them that U2 was a good band after that marketing fiasco.

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    1. Oh no! The good thing about the young folks, they eventually check out the older music and hopefully your kids will get a taste of U2.

      The album was No Line on the Horizon. It was released in 2009. I was reading YouTube comments and people loved it. I’ve been giving it a second chance. What I’ve noticed is that many of the older songs have this growing swell that this album doesn’t have. The old stuff is really good. I hope your kids discover them one day.

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    1. I was hooked after hearing The Story for the first time. What she can do with her voice is amazing. She created a group called the Highwomen with a bunch of other country stars that I didn’t know. Pretty good stuff.

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    1. It was No Line on the Horizon. Apparently, a lot of U2 fans love it. Maybe it needs time to grow on me. I’m not sure if I’ll get there, but tv I’m going to be open minded.

      How is How to reassemble an atomic bomb? I’ve listened to a few song before, but they didn’t grab me.

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      1. Kinda meh as well. 21st Century U2 I just don’t much care for. Reassemble was just released..like stuff cut from dismantle..the only 21st Century album i.like is all that you can’t leave behind from.2000. 1979-2000 is the only era i care for

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  6. A bit late to the game, but glad I’m getting caught up. Rucker has a magnificent voice and this song is well-suited to him. I was a closet “Hootie” fan–never turned the dial when their songs came on, but never bought any of their music. In retrospect, that was a mistake. Thank you for the trip down memory lane.

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