The ultimate road trip song.
I’m driving to Milwaukee in November (Big Drive ’05). I will be in the car for not less than eighteen hours (one way). I plan to listen almost exclusively to the music stored on my iPod.
I currently have two thousand nine hundred sixteen (2,916) songs occupying just over half of the available space on the hard drive. That’s just over six days (6) of music. Since I will be in the car for only about one and one half days (1 ½) I’m looking to whittle it down to a playlist that can run, uninterrupted, continuously, for thirty six hours.
That means no skipping over songs, no lame songs, no songs I hate popping up accidentally (as is prone to happen with the shuffle feature). I want to hit “play” as I leave my driveway and not touch the iPod until I get to Milwaukee.
So I need suggestions. What are the ultimate road trip songs? Feel free to leave a long list, I’ve got plenty of storage space. All songs will be considered: upbeat to keep me awake, songs that have the word “road” in the title, songs about road trips, bonus points if you meet one (or more) of the first three criteria and also manage to do it with a song I love. Or even songs associated with road trips like Elliot Smith’s Miss Misery which was played over the closing credits of Good Will Hunting as Matt Damon’s character drove cross-country from Boston to California
-t
recommended download:
Eve 6, The Open Road Song
P.S. Waylon Jennings, Folks Out On The Road; Judas Priest, Headin’ Out To The Highway; The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Road Trippin’; James Taylor, Sweet Baby James; Semisonic, On The Road; Johnny Cash, I’ve Been Everywhere…
21 comments:
Shoulder to the Wheel and The Vast Spoils of America, both by Saves the Day
The Elizabethtown soundtrack is very good for driving. In addition, it's hard to go wrong on the road with things like Howie Day, Stephen Kellogg, Sheryl Crow (Every Day is a WInding Road--hello?)... "Road Outside Columbus" by OAR could work--will you drive through Ohio?
L, I'll need to preview those.
Anon, who are you. points for stephen kellogg, minus points for suggesting oar, howie day, and soundtracks or any collected work instead of an individual song. also I hate sheryl crow.
thanks for your input!
personally i have found counting crows makes for good driving music, as does ben folds (also in five form).
it may not be your thing, but beethovens 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 7th symphonies make good background driving music as well.
When I initially made the trip I heard Kenny Rodgers three times! Including his duet with Dolly Parton - "Islands in the Stream!" It had a big impact on me, as you can tell. Also, when I was lost in Chicago (within 5 minutes of Tyler leaving me), the radio played "I got a Brand New Pair of Roller-Skates." That was fun.
How about "Alice's Restaurant?" It's a good story and it'll eat up a good chunk of time.
You can have anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant. (Guthrie is a favorite of Jackie, as well.)
No classical. My goal is to drive, not fall asleep behind the wheel.
Have you not liked most of, if not all, the songs that I recommend you listen to? (post figuring out your particular niche in the genre)?
Have a little faith.
On a side, if you had agreed with Anon regarding OAR we would have had to stop being friends.
OAR does have a nice cover of U2's "Bloody Sunday" but yeah, I guess anybody can cover a good band.
Disagree on the OAR cover and that anybody can cover a great band/song. Or has everyone forgotten the horror that was 311's cover of "Lovesong"?
I actually really like 311's cover.
But not as much as the original.
Don't move out.
However, ditto that not everyone can cover a great band/song. Case in point: The Used/My Chemical Romance - Under Pressure. Oh, the horror.
anyone can cover a great song. I'm not saying the cover will be great.
Gin n Juice by NOFX, and Boyz N Tha Hood by Dynamite Hack, though, they are trememndous covers, and DH's version is better than the original.
oh, speaking of covers being better than the original, Stephen Kellogg's cover of My Sweet Carolina by Ryan Adams is waaaaay better than the Ryan Adams original.
Willie Nelson--On the Road Again
Tom Cochrane--Life is a Highway
Nick Drake--Road
Cake--Stick Shifts and Safetybelts
Django Walker (Jerry Jeff Walker's son)--Blacktop Texas Highway
Janis Joplin--Mercedes Benz
Tracy Chapman--Fast Car
Third Eye Blind--Motorcycle Driveby
AC/DC--Highway to Hell
Cake--Long Line of Cars
And what google produced:
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/roadsong.htm#no
When I hear Alice's Restaurant I think of my drive home from Boston every year and passing through Connecticut. I always heard that song at least once on my ride home.
Death Cab for Cutie - Passenger Seat
The Get Up Kids - Ten Minutes
Jimmy Eat World - The World You Love
how about that "know when to hold em/know when to fold em/know when to walk away/ know when to run" song? that's a favorite.
-sweet home alabama
-like a rolling stone
-thunder road
-the wino and i know (jimmy buffett
-long way home (from the garden state soundtrack)
I would not suggest putting a howie day song on your list. if you just turn on the radio you could probably hear "collide" like 80-90 times during your trip.
also tom, how could you go so long without hitting the "skip" button? don't you have MOODS?
sorry this comment is so long :)
I do have "MOODS" (I hope that's not an embarassing acronym). I want the songs on this playlist to transcend mood. To be so good they could change my mood.
So far I've seen some very good suggsetions. Life is a Highway, any Cake song, def. not Tracy Chapman though...man I hate that song. props for Ten Minutes, and I'll check out that one from garden state
What's with anon and his/her taste in music?
Anon, I give you props for Willie Nelson, Janis Joplin, and Third Eye Blind... Nick Drake rocks too.
But OAR? Sheryl Crow?? Tracy Chapman!???
....really? I mean.... really?
Tom - now that I'm home:
South Bound - MxPx
Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start - The Ataris
Normal Town - Better Than Ezra
Desperately Wanting - Better Than Ezra
Dancing with Myself - Billy Idol
Guns of Brixton - The Clash
A Favor House Atlantic - Coheed & Cambria
Dreaming of You - The Coral
Doing the Unstuck - The Cure
Oh! You Pretty Things - David Bowie
Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner - Fall Out Boy
I Know You Well - Face to Face
The Way - Fastball (come on, someone had to say it)
Guard It Closely - The Jealous Sound
12.23.95 - Jimmy Eat World
Every Ghetto, Every City - Lauryn Hill
The Everglow - Mae
Lucky Boy - Matt Nathanson
All I Need is a Miracle - Mike & the Mechanics
Candy Girl - New Edition
Heartbreaker - Pat Benatar
Somewhere Out There - Our Lady Peace
Fast Cars and Freedom - Rascal Flatts
21 and Invincible - Something Corporate
The Tension and the Terror - Straylight Run
....there, now I'm done. I swear.
Nobody puts Tracy in a corner! How can you not like Tracy Chapman? Sure, she may not "transcend MOODS" but she's a great artist.
And I would like to point out that while Jackie has not recommended any Arlo Guthrie yet, she did list a Kenny Rogers song.
For the record, Anon was ME, as I am lazy and crazy at work (planning for 2006 in advertising--you know how it goes). OAR because I'm truthfully a total hippie at heart who loves anyone who loves Bob Marley and weed, Tracy Chapman for reasons unknown, and Sheryl Crow because she's with Lance Armstrong, who is from Austin, and therefore I feel an obligation to like her.
Or something. I'm sure Tom suspected it with my rec. for Django Walker, as I don't think anyone that lives outside of the metro Austin area has heard of him. But yeah.
how does golden earring's "radar love" not get a mention yet?? the best driving song ever.
Well, ##NAME##, whaddya know? You've got quite a blog there. Not exactly what I was expecting, but good. Good going. I'll check back again. John ##LINK##
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