Some things were just made for each other. Coffee and cigarettes. Syrup and pancakes. Sonny and Cher. Driving and music. My mom likes to drive with the music turned down, which blows my mind. Especially if I'm alone, I'm not comfortable in a car without blaring music.
Music + cars can set the scene for so many of life's best moments. Roadtrips with friends. Lonely solo trips at night to nowhere. Retarded YouTube videos. Backseat hookups. Getting pulled over by racist/oldfashioned cops. Car accidents. Music can make the difference between a rather mundane trip from point A to point B and an otherwise awesome experience.
I tried to limit the list to songs that make direct literal or figurative references to the road, road trips, or anything to do with a car. Considering there are about a billion songs that qualify, I guess I didn't limit myself too much.
(This is my "Unlisted" [artists I haven't used yet] list)
1 - Wilson Phillips - Hold On
[See video above intro for clear justification]
2 - Set Your Goals - Flight of the Navigator
"These twelve hour drives / They are nothing when I / I'm with all of you / Yea it's the road that calls my name!"
3 - Bloc Party - Price of Gasoline
I haven't had a car for quite some time now, so I'm not really able to commiserate with the rest of you when you complain about gas prices.
4 - Polar Bear Club - Parked in the Parking Lot of Your Heart
Like most of the bands on here, I'm surprised these guys haven't found their way onto any of my lists.
5 - The International Superheroes of Hardcore - Seat Belt
"Never forget! Never forget!"
6 - Something Corporate - I Woke Up in a Car
Gahhhh this "embedding disabled" shit is finally for real. Fuck you Universal.
7 - Sunny Day Real Estate - Two Promises
"His heart breaks at the road he must take / The road that will lead to the end"
8 - The Mountain Goats - This Year
"I broke free on a Saturday morning / I put the pedal to the floor / Headed north on Mills Avenue / And listened to the engine roar"
9 - Dashboard Confessional - Shirts and Gloves
"When I'm back from the road, and you're out on it / And I'm tired of this distance / And I believe it's over, it's over-rated."
10 - Alkaline Trio - She Took Him to the Lake
"Do you remember when they both drove out of state? / Stealing kisses behind her cousin's back / with a love so strong, tell me, who could wait?"
11 - Tom Petty - Runnin Down a Dream
"I felt so good, like anything was possible / I hit cruise control and rubbed my eyes"
12 - Jason Collett - Almost Summer
There's nothing more high school than driving around aimlessly, getting high in a parking lot, and hooking up.
13 - Matt Pond PA - Curves in the Road
If I were a girl, Matt Pond would make my panties drop.
Curves In the Road (Bonus Track) - Matt Pond PA
14 - Jackson Browne - Runnin on Empty
"Looking out at the road rushing under my wheels / Looking back at the years gone by like so many summer fields"
15 - Dixie Chicks - The Long Way Around
The Dixie Chicks are badass. No way around it. This song resonates a lot with me, and no song on this list fits as well as this one.
16 - Frank Turner - The Fastest Way Back Home
"Darling oh my darling you know that everywhere that I go,
I'm just trying to find the fastest way back home."
17 - Latterman - Fear and Loathing on Long Island
"With my sight and mind blurred within those miles.
I'll get home again feeling lost and alone in these walls i know."
There are no roadtrips in Singapore, and I'm too scared to drive.
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