If your favorite 14er was a song...

[ejfred]

We often ask the following question on our podcast:

“If (insert 14er being discussed) was a song…what song would it be?”

My favorite 14er is Uncompahgre, and the song I would pick is “A Higher Place” by Tom Petty. The day my friend and I hiked it was a bluebird day, and the slight challenge of the mountain, the company, it was an all-around awesome experience! Petty’s song is also uplifting and kind of motivational. It also helps that if you’re in the San Juans, you can’t go to a higher place than Uncompahgre!

Curious what song everyone would ascribe to your favorite 14er?

[greenonion]

We often ask the following question on our podcast:

“If (insert 14er being discussed) was a song…what song would it be?”

My favorite 14er is Uncompahgre, and the song I would pick is “A Higher Place” by Tom Petty. The day my friend and I hiked it was a bluebird day, and the slight challenge of the mountain, the company, it was an all-around awesome experience! Petty’s song is also uplifting and kind of motivational. It also helps that if you’re in the San Juans, you can’t go to a higher place than Uncompahgre!

Curious what song everyone would ascribe to your favorite 14er?

Fun idea for a thread! I’ll deviate a bit but will stick to a Tom Petty song since I love him and the Heartbreakers… All the 14ers remind me of The Waiting. Cuz it’s taking me soooooooooooooooo long to finish

(Also happens to be my fav TP song)
(Dire Straits’ Solid Rock ought to be someone’s favorite as Little Bear, Bells, or Cap)

[CaptainSuburbia]

If DeCaLiBron was a song it would be Counterclockwise by Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers because of the endless discussion on the direction to climb these. I did it clockwise though which is probably best.

I suppose it could also be Signs by 5 Man Electrical Band.

[jrbren_vt]

Never too Close - Gordon Lightfoot

"And so we tried, never too close
Never too near, dyin' in time
And so we cried but that is alright
We meant no one no harm"

[junkj]

"Tonight I'll be on that hill, 'cause I can't stop"

[MidsizeAl]

Phish's "Heavy Things" was stuck in my head the whole time on Little Bear:

Things have fallen down on me
Heavy things I could not see
When I finally came around
Something small would pin me down
When I tried to step aside
I moved to where they hoped I'd be

[JerJerBinks]

The last one I climbed was Huron and for that one I'd say Way out there by Lord Huron was playing in my head.
"I been unraveling since my birth, gonna wander out there and see what I'm worth"

Often times when I pull up to one of the busiest of places like Decalibron or Longs and see all the head lamps in the distance I think of All of the Lights by Kayne.

Lately my Spotify seems to have figured out I'd like to hear Stay Fly by three 6 mafia if I'm heading into the mountains.

[BillMiddlebrook]

Why not...

[cedica]

No favorites yet, it is always "Dopesmoker" by Sleep on the way up and "I'll Never Forget You" by Hüsker Dü on the way down.

[Mtnman200]

"Fly Away" by Lenny Kravitz

[Trotter]

At least on really steep no trail stuff on 13ers, I think of Celldwellers Switchback

A painful picture
That I can't forget
Now what I see
Is what I get

It's too late to look back
I've got no way to switch back
It's too late to look back
Ain't okay, I got no way to (Switchback)

(Switchback, switchback, switchback, switchback)
It's too late to look back
(Switchback, switchback, switchback, switchback)
I've got no way to switch back
Ha, it's too late to look back
I've got no way to switch back

[HikesInGeologicTime]

Interesting question! San Luis Peak makes me think of Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are," because as far as fourteeners go, it is simple, straightforward, and pretty much the opposite of exciting in terms of technicality...and all those things are exactly what I love about it, since like the narrator, "I never want to work that hard," whether at hiking or relationships.

Climbing mountains overall, that can go one of two ways. When it's bright and early (as in, sun's literally just coming up) and my pace feels strong enough that it seems like I'm on track to get back to my car before dark, I'm channeling one verse in The Killers' "When You Were Young":

"Can we climb this mountain?
I don't know
Higher now than ever before
I know we can make it if we take it slow
Let's take it easy
Easy now, watch it go"

Later on, when it seems like the summit should be getting closer but apparently isn't, it's the first verse from David Bowie's "Teenage Wildlife":

"Well, how come you only want tomorrow
With its promise of something hard to do
A real life adventure worth more than pieces of gold
Blue skies above, sun on your arms, strength your stride
And hope in those squeaky clean eyes
You'll get chilly receptions everywhere you go
Blinded with desire, I guess the season is on"

I'll put that song on repeat sometimes just to chastise myself for not picking less strenuous hobbies already. Then eventually I'll take the song off repeat to listen to the rest of the album, then put *that* on repeat so I'll eventually hear "Ashes to Ashes" again, which I feel really summarized my relationship to fourteeners near the end with its sense that the narrator is aware that he's destroying his own life because of his addiction but can't force himself to "stay clean tonight" (or ever) just yet.

"Tonight I'll be on that hill, 'cause I can't stop"

I hadn't considered that song or any of that album in relation to mountains before (which is odd, because I have a LOT of Springsteen in my collection, so he's a regular go-to when I want to hit "Play" on an artist and not have to think about stopping to find a new one for the duration of a hike), but now that I think about it, I could see Pikes or Longs as being in the "Darkness on the Edge of Town."