The Top Five Pump-Up Songs of All Time

You're running a 5k road race. You're currently in 2nd place, about 10 seconds back from the leader. There's one kilometer to go before the finish. Suddenly, a car pulls up beside you, with massive speakers and a sub-woofer bouncing in back. What song do you want that car to be playing?

You're lifting in the gym, every one's watching--the football coach, the scouts, the cheerleaders. You have five more bench presses to go, but the lactic acid is already starting to build up and your muscles ache. Suddenly, a surround-sound, Dolby-digital speaker system appears beside you. What song do you want to hear?

You're taking a chemistry test. There are 50 multiple choice questions to go, and you only have 10 minutes left. You snuck an I-Pod into the exam room. What song do you want to hear at full blast?

This is one of the more important questions I will tackle on this blog, and one of the more difficult. There are so many songs. There's the rap pump-up songs, the jock jam pump-up songs, the heavy metal pump-up songs.

Please let me know if I left any song out--I am willing to revise this list, as I probably cannot remember every great pump-up song.

5. Lose Yourself, by Eminem
The crescendo is key. It starts off so gently and then slowly but surely explodes. The lyrics also play a very important role in making this such a great pump-up song. They allow you to put such a singular focus on the task at hand.

4. Remember the Name, by Fort Minor
Remember the beat--it is freaking awesome.

3. Get By--the Remix, by Talib Kwali featuring Kanye, Busta Rhymes, Mos-Def, and Jay-Z
This song is the total package. Great lyrics which you can understand. A chorus you can sing to (a very important feature of any great pump-up song). A fantastic beat. This song originally turned me on to rap, and it has turned me on time and again before a long run.

2. War, from the Rocky Soundtrack
Eye of the Tiger gets most of the attention, but this is the best pump-up song from Rocky. The greatest fifteen seconds in all of music begins at the 4 minute mark of this orchestral, synthesizer-filled medley.

1. Come With Me, by Puff Daddy (from the Godzilla soundtrack)
I really struggled with the rest of the list, but there is no question that this is the number one pump up song of all time. After listening to this, you could run through a wall. In case you haven't heard of the song, a YouTube clip of it is at the bottom of this post.

Honorable Mention: Eye of the Tiger, Encore--with Linkin Park and Jay-Z, Final Countdown, Highway to Hell, One Mic, Get that Dirt Off Your Shoulder, Meet the Mets

Others Worth Mentioning: Heat, Shake Your Tailfeather, The NBA Live 1998 Theme Song, Enter Sandman