I’m in an even more upbeat mood than usual today, having just purchased a new car for the first time. I was twenty when I bought my first used car down in Tennessee. I got nearly nine good years out of the thing, adding 80,000 miles to the odometer along the way. It’s very cool to have new wheels, especially since my old getup was rattling so loud it sounded like I was dragging “Just Married” cans behind it.
So tonight seems the perfect night to ask about driving songs. I love a good road song. Some of my favorites include Lee Roy Parnell’s “On the Road”, and K.T. Oslin’s “Hey Bobby.” The former captures how hitting the road can help you let go of the past that’s holding you down. The latter is about taking your love interest for a ride in your new car, driving out to the country and getting busy. If that plotline sounds familiar, it’s because Brad Paisley’s “Mud on the Tires” was cribbed from it.
What are your favorite driving songs?
My favorites are “On The Road Again” (the only Willie song I liked when I was a kid) and “King Of The Road” by Roger Miller.
Congratulations on the new car!
The first two that came to mind was…
Route 66 – The Wayne Hancock version
Route 88 – The LeRoi Brothers
“A Little Gasoline” by Terri Clark and “A Little Past Little Rock” spring to mind. Both leaving songs- two very different moods. (And two amazing singers!)
“On a Bus to St. Cloud, penned by Gretchen Peters and sung by Trisha Yearwood (although Jimmy Lefavre had a fine version as well).
The bridge is one of the most haunting musical moments I’ve ever heard: You chase me like a shadow/And you haunt me like a ghost/And I hate you some, and I love you some/But I miss you most
For something a little less sad, “Drive” by Alan Jackson.
yay 4 ur new car!
one of my favs would be Reba’s “I’d Rather Ride Around With You”
and “Get Out Of This Town” by Carrie Underwood.
my favorite songs for driving would include:
-“This Kiss” by Faith Hill
-“Blessed” by Martina McBride
-“Perfect,” “A Real Fine Place To Start,” “I Keep Looking,” and “Suds In The Bucket” by Sara Evans
-“Any Man Of Mine” by Shania Twain
-“No One Else On Earth” by Wynonna
and some others ^^
(I’m gonna set a driving playlist soon on my Ipod! :D)
Also, cribbing is an awfully strong term to use for “Mud of the Tires”. They have similarities in theme and content, but are distinct enough to be considered different songs. It’s only natural for certain concepts in country music to repeat themselves.
Blake, are you going against the boss!?:)
(see Kellie Pickler album review for those who are wondering…)
WILLING–Linda Ronstadt
I’M MOVIN’ ON–Elvis Presley
GENTLE ON MY MIND–Glen Campbell
COUNTRY ROAD–James Taylor
MIDNIGHT FLYER–The Eagles
ROSE OF CIMARRON–Poco
DRIVE MY CAR–The Beatles
As usual, I go uncoventional. But just to satisfy anyone with a taste for classic 60s C&W “road” songs, here are two that I’m surprised haven’t been mentioned:
GIRL ON THE BILLBOARD–Del Reeves
SIX DAYS ON THE ROAD–Dave Dudley
My favorite driving song of all time is Springsteen’s “Born to Run.” I just get going and before I know it I’m going 25 miles over the limit. A close second is “Two Pink Lines” by Eric Church. Don’t as me why. Everytime I get in the car I want to hear it.
Six Days on The Road – Dave Dudley
East Bound and Down – Jerry Reed Hubbard
Rambling Fever – Merle Haggard
8 More Miles To Louisville – Grandpa Jones
Midnigth Flyer – The Osborne Brothers
Here’s a Texas flavored list:
Diesel Driving Daddy – Aaron Watson (featuring Dale Watson)
Cars, Trucks And Me – Adam Hood (we’ll call him an honorary Texan for the sake of this list)
1970 Monte Carlo – Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash
Call of the Road – Brandon Jenkins
Back Roads – Brandon Rhyder
Homesick Gypsy – Chris Knight
I’ll Make It Home – Drew Kennedy
The Rock Island Line – Eleven Hundred Springs
L.A. Freeway – Guy Clark
Down The Road Tonight – Hayes Carll
Drive You Off My Mind – Josh Grider
The Truck Song – Lyle Lovett
The Road Goes On Forever – Robert Earl Keen
Down the Road – Rodney Hayden
Southside of Heaven – Ryan Bingham
To me, great driving music are songs that I can rock out to and sing at the top of my lungs…so here are a few of my faves.
“Days Go By” – Keith Urban
“Down in Mississippi” – Sugarland
“Flat on the Floor” – Carrie Underwood
“Lookin for a Good Time” – Lady A
“Life is a Highway” – Rascal Flatts
“Livin’ on a Prayer” – Bon Jovi
Those are just a few I have on my road trip playlist on my ipod…there’s too many to post but there’s the first few haha
THAT’S a great list Brody! Glad to see someone here on the same page as me. Some of my favorite artists. I’ll add…
Good Luck…Good Truckin’ – Dale Watson
Whevever Kindness Fails – Joe Ely (version)
Did anyone notice Wayne pronounces Route “Rout” while Asleep at The Wheel, and Nat, pronounce it “Root”? All I know it’s some great travelin’ music! Wayne “The Train” has a lot of it!
Sara Evans’ “The Great Unknown” off of her No Place That Far album.
Some of my favorites –
Good Time – Jessica Andrews
Break Down Here – Julie Roberts
If I Dont Make It Back – Tracy Lawrence
She Just Might Have Her Radio On – Trent Tomlinson
Ride – Shelly Fairchild
I agree with a “A Little Gasoline” by Terri Clark.
I am sure that there are others but I cannot think of them right now.
“Four On The Floor” by Lee Brice is a good driving song. “Long Gone” by Lady A.
“Renegades Rebels and Rogues” – Tracy Lawrence
“Drive” – Jeffrey Steele
“Tennessee” – Marcel
There are a lot of good songs that work for driving. I’ve had my HHR since April and it’s still fun to drive, even if someone brushed it in a parking lot and took paint off my bumper.
Some of my favorites:
A Little Gasoline – Terri Clark (Chris D. beat me to this one)
Lonely Alone – Reba
Three Mississippi – Terri Clark
You Win My Love – Shania Twain (you just have to ‘go faster, faster’ if Shania says so)
and of course Sleep While I Drive – the Trisha Yearwood recording of it
“Modern Day Romance” always reminds me of the road…must be the flat on the Stingray
Best Driving songs would have to be (IMO):
Days Go By – Keith Urban
You Win My Love – Shania Twain
6 Days on The Road – Swayer Brown
Girl on The Billboard – The Road Hammers
Mud On The Tires – Brad Paisley
Some I like are:
Free And Easy – Dierks Bently
Wide Open Spaces – Dixie Chicks
Crazy Dreams – Carrie Underwood
Independance Day – Martina McBride
Live Like You Were Dying – Tim McGraw
“455 Rocket” – Kathy Mattea
“Smoky Mountain Rain” – Ronnie Milsap
“Get Out Of This Town” – Carrie Underwood (hopefully her next single
“I’ve been Everywhere” – Johnny Cash
I like “Get Out Of This Town” – Carrie Underwood too that make for good travelling.
Giving into recentism to name a song that is mostly about a life’s journey but has lyrics referencing life on the road: “The Long Way Around” by the Dixie Chicks.
BORN TO BE WILD–Steppenwolf
ROLL DOWN THE HIGHWAY–Bachman/Turner Overdrive
and…
VIVA LAS VEGAS–Elvis Presley*
*-or as it is occasionally known as, “Viva Lost Wages” (LOL)
ON THE ROAD AGAIN – Willie Nelson
WHO WOULDN’T WANNA BE ME – Keith Urban
DAYS GO BY – Keith Urban
SOMEBODY LIKE YOU – Keith Urban
Anything by Elvis, I also love BORN TO BE WILD that Erik listed.
UP – Shania Twain
HONEY I’M HOME – Shania Twain
Ah, there’s too many I like to make a good list!
even though the title may not suggest it, but “anything for love” by james house is one of the best songs coming up in the first few minutes of road-trip. in the same category is steve earle’s “guitar town” and wade hayes’ “the day she left tulsa” (… in a chevy in the pouring down rain) and jo dee messina’s “hearts carolina, tails california.
tany tucker’s “riding out the heartache”, trisha yearwood’s “the song remembers when” and chely wright’s “she went out for cigarettes” also cover interesting aspects of road-trips.
my absolute favorite album to ride along to on a mountain-road is dwight yoakam’s “tomorrow’s sounds today”. not one song about driving as such, but the music sounds like going from one flowing bend to the next and the next and ….
a v8, a beautiful stretch of road and this cd make a threesome that’s quite tough to beat.
The song’s not about driving but it made me speed one day and get a ticket…. “The Boys Are Back In Town” from Patty Loveless.
Also, “Modern Day Bonnie And Clyde” from Travis Tritt has a good pedal-down groove to it
I second ‘455 Rocket’ (and all the rest of northtexas’s picks)- I can’t believe I forgot to add that one to my list of favorites …
CCR: “Up Around the Bend”
The Band: “The Load”
Jackson Brown: “Running On Empty”
Johnny Cash: “One Piece At a Time”
Sara Evans: “Missin’ Missouri”
Billy Currington: “Good Directions”
Michael Martin Murphey: “Carolina In the Pines”
Mary Chapin Carpenter: “Down at the Twist and Shout”
Jerry Reed: “East Bound and Down”
Grateful Dead: “Truckin'”
Life Is A Highway which was one of the songs in the movie Cars. Nice one and congrats on the new ride.
“ROCKY TOP” !! …especially on game day!
:-)
If I’m gonna listen to “Life’s A Highway” it’s gonna be the Tom Cochrane original. Same goes for Mark Cohn’s “Walking In Memphis.” I’d rather listen to his original than listen to the remake from Lonestar, though they did an OK job w/it. That song works for a ‘driving’ song too.
Here’s another Jeffrey Steele song that fits a driving theme “Running’s What I’m Running From.”
Matt, I’m in total agreement with you on both of those songs. It amazes me that RF took out the one country element of “Life Is A Highway”, the harmonica.
I also really like Eddie Rabbit’s “Drivin’ My Life Away.”
TRAMPLED UNDER FOOT–Led Zeppelin
LIFE IN THE FAST LANE–The Eagles
BAKER STREET–Gerry Rafferty
Cry On The SHoulder of the Road- Martina McBride
A Little Past Little Rock- Lee Ann Womack
On The Road Again- Waylon & Willie
Me and Bobby McGee- anyone who sings it!
No one noticed that about Wayne Hancock? How about this…In the video 455 Rocket by Mattea (written by Gillian welch and David Rawlings btw) The song is about an Oldsmobile, but at the very end of the video her and the band are in a Buick. A couple of observations.
Forgot to add a Road song…
8 Miles a Gallon by Scott Miller and the Commonwealth
My I-pod driving playlist is…
Turn The Page-Bob Seager
Stairway To Heaven – Led Zeppelin
Wipe That Smile Off Your Face – Our Lady Peace
You Know You’re Right – Nirvana
Sympathy For The Devil – Stones or GNR
Ride On – AC/DC
Love, Reign O’er Me – The Who
Yellow Ledbetter – Pearl Jam
Worthless – One Less Reason
Alcoholin’ Ass – Hell Yeah
Don’t Drink The Water – DMB
Lateralus and Sober – Tool
Money – Pink Floyd
The Entire Yourself Or Someone Like You CD by Matchbox 20
11 A.M.- Incubus
Change – Blind Melon
Kiss My Country Ass – Rhett Atkins
and Living On The Edge – Aerosmith
sorry, not country stuff
didn’t read…I’m an idiot..haha