29. “Runnin’ Up On Ya” – House of Pain

I think that as far as we’re all concerned, there’re only two songs canonized in the House of Pain universe. One’s by Everlast after he left the group to go solo, and the other’s about a verb that’s not running. After one listen, I’m inclined to say “Runnin’ Up On Ya” is receiving pretty charitable treatment with its 29th place ranking here; apologies to the maybe four fans of Irish rap who will read this. – PS

Best line: I’ll drop ya like acid, ya might get blasted 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkxEr96c2Ic

28. “Runner’s High” – The Hold Steady

I love The Hold Steady and think Craig Finn is a genius. I honestly hadn’t really listened to this album much, but I had always admired its title, Teeth Dreams, because I have had teeth dreams before (dreams where all your teeth fall out supposedly indicate a sense of anxiety and nervousness). Anyway, it’s a good track, off of an album that’s probably underrated since it was their first without a steady keyboarder. -PS

Best line: He jerked around when we joked about the runner’s high. He said now that is one high I’ve never tried.

27.“Fuck and Run” – Liz Phair

There are two Liz Phairs. The one that most people of my generation probably know (the one of “Why Can’t I?” fame who kinda sucks), and the one who put out Exile in Guyville and some self-recorded stuff before that. “Fuck and Run” is from the latter Liz (chronologically, the earlier Liz, though), who really shook up up the 1990s indie scene that was pretty damn dude-heavy with her searing and straightforward lyrical delivery. -PS

Best line: You got up out of bed / You said you had a lot of work to do / But I heard the rest in your head / And almost immediately I felt sorry

26. “100 Miles and Running” – NWA

Just one of the many songs that NWA put out involving the police and tensions with the African-American community. It was produced by Dr. Dre but one of the notable guys on the track is actually MC Ren, who wasn’t featured as much in the film “Straight Outta Compton.” He’s the one who fires a pretty big shot at Ice Cube on this track. – CC

Best line: Only reason n—– pick up your record is cause they thought it was us

25. “Ready to Run” – Dixie Chicks

Musically, this song is very depressing. Sounds aside, if you watch the music video, you’ll notice that they abandon their would-be grooms at the altar and use a garbage truck as the getaway vehicle. They also have running shoes under their wedding gowns, leading me to believe they never really wanted to get married in the first place? That they were planning on doing this the whole time? Costing a lot of people a lot of time and a lot of money? Three broken hearts? Angry relatives? Bewildered friends? This song sucks. But I just found out it was nominated for a Grammy. What do I know? -RS

Best line: God, it’s so hard to choose, so let’s go with the final time Natalie Maines crows “ready to run” and the song is finally over. 

24. “Run Like Hell” – Pink Floyd

I’m not a huge Pink Floyd fan (the exception being the live version of “Comfortably Numb” that plays in The Departed when Leo and Vera Farmiga’s sexual tension boils over in her nearly vacant apartment), so I wasn’t exactly sure which song this one was. After listening, I recognize the opening, repetitive and echoey guitar riff, and would even argue it set the stage sonically for the even more iconic siren-y guitar stuff at the beginning of “How Soon is Now?” by the Smiths. -PS

Best lyric: Run run run run (etc.)

23. “Grandma got run over by a reindeer” – the Christmas Folks

It’s questionable that this song is on the list at all, since Christmas tunes are kind of a subaltern category of music, and this one is arguably one of the kitschier examples to boot. But, there’s “run” looking straight at me in the title, so I’ll shelf my curmudgeon opinions and Sterner said it should be top 10 which is preposterous but we found a spot that we comprised at. – JM

I guess the best line would be: She had hoofprints on her forehead.

22. “I Keep Running” – Ryan Adams

Ryan Adams once said in a 2014 interview about jogging: “after 15 minutes is when it gets hard. There’s a five minute interval where you’re like ‘God, I just wanna stop now because I’ve run now.’” This song came out in 2014, so it’s safe to say the line below references this. Wonder who RA listens to when he runs? – PP

Best line: I’m faster than the pain / That’s running through my veins / And you can’t break my heart if you don’t know my name / I keep running

21.“Take it on the Run” – REO Speedwagon

It’s such a good song that Pitbull sampled it for “Messin’ Around” with Enrique Iglesias. Upon doing some background search on the song, it was the ninth music video played on MTV but was not shown in its entirety due to some sort of technical difficulty. It’s not REO Speedwagon’s greatest hit – that title belongs to “Can’t Fight This Feeling” or “Keep on Loving You” – CC

Best line: You take it on the run baby / If that’s the way you want it baby / Then I don’t want you around / I don’t believe it / Not for a minute / You’re under the gun so you take it on the run

20. “The Long Run” – Eagles

Here we have the epitome of Dad Rock. If there’s one thing I know about most dads, it’s that they’re too busy tucking their t-shirts into their jeans to have the time for something as silly as jogging. I’m also not positive what this song is about. I think it could be about the importance of self care. It also seems to be about working on a broken relationship? Either way, it’s not a cool song, or an uplifting song, or even that entertaining of a song. I’m sorry I had to listen to it for as long as I did. -RS

Best line: Kinda bent, but we ain’t breakin’ in the long run