Let's Go (radio edit) Calvin Harris feat. Ne-Yo

By now, many of you know that I drop my 12 year old son, Jake, off at school before heading to work on most days. Our daily 20 minutes in the car is an opportunity to catch up on sports, school, girls, his acting and theater writing lessons, Pony League baseball, Legos, etc. Twenty of the most special minutes of my day.

One of the highlights of our discussions is sharing in the music and conversations that are on the car radio during our trip. 104-KRBE is Jake's station of choice. The DJs play great music and you never know what the conversation of the day will be. Just this past Wednesday, it was radio interviews of "women who enjoy 'being with' men who have small umm... parts." I can assure you that our conversations on days such as those should be recorded for posterity. They are laced with laughter (by both of us) and snarky comments (by both of us). Truly a special kind of sharing between a physically pubescent son and his emotionally pubescent father.

Since I began power walking for health about 2 months ago, music has been an important part of my almost daily regimen. It's got to be fast and its got to be loud. I defy the stereotype of "if it's too loud, you're too old."

Anyway, on one particular day last week, I was driving east on Beechnut Street headed for Jake's school when a song came on the radio. I had never heard it before. It had a strong beat. I found my feet beginning that sensation when I start a walk. I knew immediately that I had to have that song in my playlist. At a stoplight, I pulled my cellphone from the seat next to me and used "Shazam" to find out the name of the song. It ended up being "Let's Go (Radio Edit)" by Calvin Harris featuring Ne-Yo.

That night, I downloaded the MP3 of the song from Amazon. Because the song had a pretty fast beat I put it in the coveted "third slot" in my play list. Let me explain what's so special about #3. The first two songs (about 6-7 minutes total, usually) are a warm-up period for me when my feet still ache (before the endorphins from exercise begin to kick in), so I walk somewhat carefully, at about 75% of my top speed. By the third song begins playing (when Mrs.TFT and I usually reach Cheltenham Drive), the endorphins have usually done their thing, my feet no longer ache, and I am ready to open up the throttle to full speed on my walking.

It's funny how the human body and mind become used to certain things. My "third song" has always been Stronger by Kelly Clarkson. When the new song "Let's Go" began, my mind immediately honed in on the fast, rhythmic beat. I really liked it. But it wasn't until the lyrics started that I was truly blown away.

I have never heard a 3-4 minute song laced with more postive exercise messages than this one. Now, I'm not naive. I know it's really about a guy trying to convince a girl to have sex with him. But for ME, it was about exhorting me to throttle up and really burn some calories.

"Let's go!"

"Make no excuses now"

"I'm talking here and now, I'm talking here and now."

"Your time is running out. Let's go!"

"It's not about what you've done, it's about what you're doing."

"It's all about where you're going, no matter where you've been."

"Tomorrow is good, tonight is better!"

"Let's go!, Let's go!, Let's go!... There ain't no better time, I'm talking here and now."

"Let's go! Right now is where you shine, I'm talking here and now, I'm talking here and now."

"Let's go!"

In my religion, it is said that during prayer, a person who really focuses his thoughts on a single phrase or even a single word, reaches a more spiritual place than the person who robotically and methodically chants every word of every service. This song is the exercise equivalent of that for me. The strong driving beat, the postive, insistent words of pushing one's self and working toward the twin goals of mental discipline and physical fitness. Wow. It is truly the perfect song for slot number 3 on my workout playlist. I hope you enjoy it too.