Nicolle Galyon has quite the ear for good music. Considering she was named the 2019 BMI Songwriter of the Year and has penned hits for notable names such as Dan + Shay, Miranda Lambert, and Camila Cabello, if we were going to ask anyone to curate the perfect quarantine workout playlist, it would be her.
The hit songwriter has put together the ultimate collection of songs to work out those abs, arms, and quar...antine.
Photo courtesy of Ashley Hylbert
Nicolle Galyon
HARD QUAR PLAYLIST
Courtesy of Nicolle Galyon
- Always Been The End of the World | Patrick Droney —it’s not that I want the world to end, it’s just that sometimes it feels like that’s the better option when you’re on round 11 of a Tabata arm workout. When working out, I usually start my music and then forget that I need water or a towel or to return a text. So, this is that soundtrack to the last 3 minutes of stalling before you actually get to the sweat. If you’re into songs that sound epic that were probably written in a home studio in East Nashville, this is your perfect warm-up jam.
- See Through | The Band Camino — You know that “first chord of the opening song of a concert” rush? You know that “I think I’m a professional athlete about to run out the tunnel to get announced” feeling? You know that “someone just handed me my first set of keys to a car” high? This song is that. And therefore, why I have started every workout with it for the past year. Sometimes it gets 3 repeats. It doesn’t matter how early the kids woke us up, or how deep a rut I am in, the energy of this chorus makes me think I’m Michael Jordan and it’s 1994. If you’re in the market for a natural steroid or you don’t know about The Band Camino yet, this is a good place to start.
- 3 Minutes | JP Saxe — Let it be known that I’ve done the math. I can burn the equivalent of 3 oz of wine calories in 3 minutes of burpees. So do not even come at me about how working out isn’t rewarding. And don’t tell me that “buying ourselves houses with our heartbreak songs” doesn’t sound like the ultimate motivation to be a songwriter like JP Saxe. And for those wondering, other things I can do in 3 minutes: Make a paloma. Apply an exfoliating facemask. Lose 3 consecutive games of Chips & Guac on House Party. Not wash my hair (again). Refresh my Instagram feed 10 times looking for a new sweat set. If quarantine with your significant other is making you think that divorce is coming soon, this song will surely motivate you to get that ultimate revenge bod in…you guessed it…3 minutes.
- Borderline | Tame Impala — I’m certain this song came into my orbit through a gen z Instastory. Because the internet’s algorithms would otherwise never suggest something so cool to this SUV-driving, millennial mother. And according to my 19-year-old brother, Tame Impala is “a real one”. (That’s a good thing, according to the Gen Z dictionary I just googled.) So, I feel great sharing this one with you. These lyrics revolve around the idea that maybe you’ve gone too far in some way. And it seems to always time out to play while I’m running past our local pizza place, so that is a perfect sentiment.
- Dream, Girl | Hailey Whitters — If you don’t know about Hailey Whitters, you don’t know about country music. Her Heartland-infused record is a workout playlist all its own. But this clever take on being a dream girl is the kind of empowerment I need in my workout around minute 20. If you’ve ever gotten drunk at the Basement East. Or you like the truth that hits like whiskey in a wine glass. Or being serenaded by the raw vocals of a girl you swore you went to high school with, all while getting that Netflix & Chill body right, then you need this song in your ears immediately.
- Golf On TV | Lennon Stella feat JP Saxe— File this one under: not the most obvious song to pump you up. Also file under: song I wish I’d written. And I have to say, quarantine and golf on tv, “neither of those things make sense to me”. This song is subtle brilliance. And goes great with jump lunges & superman push-ups.
- Breaking Up Was Easy In The 90’s | Sam Hunt — I haven’t been a distance runner since I had kids. But this whole being inside all day for months thing basically has me training for the Olympics. So I clock a lot of road miles in a town that doesn’t have a lot of roads. (Have I mentioned I’m quarantined in my hometown of Sterling, Kansas? It’s one square mile.) Every run gets real nostalgic, real fast. The football bleachers. The ice cream joint. The Co-op parking lot. It’s like Sam Hunt knew I was going to be sweating on my old stomping grounds when he wrote this. For an almost ballad, this song will raise your heart rate & sentimental value simultaneously.
- Hoodie | Hey Violet — In honor of what I’ll be wearing to the swimming pool this summer. Because let’s be honest, not even the Music City Marathon could undo the entire bag of my kid’s Easter Candy I made disappear during a Tiger King binge sesh.
- Hole In The Bottle | Kelsea Ballerini— Because I drink an entire one every night. That’s all.
- Supernova | Caitlyn Smith— This. This is the ultimate cool down song. The “lay down and close your eyes, put your hand on your heart and acknowledge that you are strong and sweaty and ready for your next meal” song. I’ve known Caitlyn Smith as a fellow songwriter for many years, but I get so carried away in this masterpiece, I forget that it’s even her singing. I highly recommend you all find a bed of green grass and let your heart return to its resting rate to these 2 minutes and 36 seconds of musical genius.