Running is Good For Your Ears: 20 Years of LCD Soundsystem’s 45:33

Every Sunday, milk crate revisits an iconic piece of music history—artist, album, or otherwise—as a part of our weekly crate digging series.

Design by Sophie Parrish

By Nick Hendrickson

I would by no means call myself a runner, but early this morning I awoke to the brisk Boston air, threw on a pair of sneakers, and turned on 45:33 by LCD Soundsystem. I’ve listened to the track before, albeit in chunks due to its lengthy run time, but I felt like I would be doing a disservice to the track to write about it without once listening to it while in the scenario it was designed for. I’ll be the first to admit as well, that it was kind of electrifying.

45:33 is a one track studio album released by LCD Soundsystem in collaboration with, of all things, Nike. The song originally came out exclusively on Nike’s Music Store in the iTunes library in late 2006 as part of their Nike+ Original Run Series. The song is mostly composed of the electronic synth-pop sound we’ve all grown to love from the band, with scattered vocals found few and far between. It sounds both entirely improvisational, but so methodically planned and written, which may just come with the length of the track being forty six minutes; almost sounding like a jam session with James Murphy and company.

LCD Soundsystem has been a common staple in my music rotation since early high school, although 45:33 never really found its place among my playlists. I think the daunting run time had me steer clear for a long time, it just never really fit; but it’s because I never listened during its intended purpose. I laced my sneakers and went out into the city to do some research, and instantly this track found its footing. It has the classic LCD Soundsystem-isms that make the song fun to run to. The electronic beat, fun piano loops, and instrumental layering that’s so dense yet so satisfying, but the real star of the show comes in the methodical pacing. The song works as a perfect regulator for the run, it made me feel like I was working towards something, an end. The rhythm and the synths perfectly guide both the song and the runner as it starts out and gradually builds to a high-energy electronic melange composed of what sounds like every instrument on earth. It’s thrilling. 

In later releases of the album, 45:33 is separated into six different parts, with parts one through three starting off the track. The track begins with only a synth that slowly builds and multiplies with a piano and gospel-esque clap. The building synth allows the runner to build up their speed and find their pace, while the stagnant piano provided a consistent beat for my feet to land on. It continues into a hypnotic cycle of repetition, and “Part Two” enters with drums, guitar, and a light vocal from Murphy himself, really getting the song moving. This is when I realized the treat I was in for, I felt like I was flying. The simple beginning to the song is the perfect set up for success and it only gets better from there. “Part Two” slowly fades out into an early instrumental of the song “Something Great” that would appear on their next record Sound of Silver (2007), which is quite possibly my favorite song of theirs. The wavy electronics and chimes made this a fun part of the run, but the instrumentals are so ingrained within the lyrics in my head that when I thought about it too hard it made me sad. A clash between the instrumentals and lyrics that I love.

“Part Four”, also titled “Out In Space,” is when the pace really begins to pick up. A funky electric guitar mixes with an alarm like synth, which acts against the drony lyrics that accompany it. However, like most LCD Soundsystem songs, the stark collision between the two only makes it more interesting. It’s placed perfectly in the track, right after momentum has been built and has been kept at a steady pace throughout “Something Great”, “Part Four” presents a challenge, telling me that I could do more; rooting me on.

“Part Five” is the final push, the last lap that “Part Four” is preparing me for. The beat picks up dramatically and becomes even more repetitive than anything previously. The robotic lyrics drowned in vocoder almost seem like they’re teasing you. “Saying things always makes your mornings come slower,” “I am filled with electricity.” It’s pushing me to finish the final lap, the home run stretch.

Then it stops, angelic synths rain down with the company of a choir. The song pivots in its final act to a Brian Eno like ambient track. By this point I was at the Charles River Esplanade, the portion near Beacon Hill, and was taking it all in. I’ve seen these sights a million times, but the accompaniment of “Part Six” made me feel a bit differently. I experienced a track in a way that I had never before, and this was the final congratulations. 

Going through my most played songs, I’ve realized that I can pin most of them to exact moments and activities throughout my life. Hanging out with friends at the beach, going on a hike, driving around my home town; the music we listen to on a consistent basis almost always has an activity intertwined with it, but that’s always in retrospect. 45:33 is different, the activity is part of the creation of the song, it’s built around the run. James Murphy had said that he refined this song over a couple of runs on the treadmill, which he later admitted was a lie, but I would never be able to tell. I’m not making any promises that I’ll keep running, but if I do, I’ve finally found a place to set this song.