Road Trip Songs – One Man’s Top 101

One of the best aspects of taking a long road trip is listening to some great tunes as you tear down the highway. The best road trip songs are those that capture the essence of the American culture and its lands. They are evocative, atmospheric and tie you to a particular place at a particular point in time. The more eclectic the better, since your mood will change often during your road trip.

This is not meant to be an all-encompassing list, just some personal favorites that happen to be in my iPod and CD collection. When I throw the suitcases into the war wagon before heading on the road, I make sure these ones are with me. Some of these road trip songs are the atmospheric ones I just mentioned. Many are just good rockin’ tunes to amp me up or keep me awake during a long day behind the wheel. When you’re approaching your tenth hour of driving at night on the Great Plains or on Highway 80 near the Bonneville Salt Flats, you’ll thank me for the inclusion of some loud music.

I could easily have made a list of a thousand, so I’m sure I’ve left out a ton of great road trip songs. I’ve tried to sprinkle the list with as broad a selection of genres as I could and from different eras. Since I consider Bruce Springsteen to be the patron saint of road trip music, I tried to hold myself in check and included just two of his songs.

Without Further Ado, My List of Best Driving Songs In No Particular Order

1. Lonesome, On’ry and Mean, Waylon Jennings
2. Lust For Life, Iggy Pop
3. Where the Streets Have No Name, U2
4. Gimme Three Steps, Lynyrd Skynyrd
5. Whiskey in the Jar, Metallica
6. Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen
7. Here Comes The Sun, The Beatles
8. Green River, Creedence Clearwater Revival
9. Shelter from the Storm, Bob Dylan
10. L.A. Woman, The Doors
11. Aqualung, Jethro Tull
12. Turn the Page, Bob Seger
13. I Feel Free, Cream
14. Flagpole Sitta, Harvey Danger
15. The Weight, The Band
16. Black Betty, Ram Jam
17. Slow Ride, Foghat
18. California Girls, The Beach Boys
19. American Pie, Don McLean
20. Radar Love, Golden Earring
21. I Ran, Flock of Seagulls
22. Better Now, Collective Soul
23. Driving My Life Away, Eddie Rabbitt
24. Rock Around the Clock, Bill Haley and The Comets
25. Who Do You Love, George Thorogood and The Destroyers
26. I’ve Been Everywhere, Johnny Cash
27. Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen
28. Ramblin’ Man, The Allman Brothers Band
29. Seven Nation Army, The White Stripes
30. The Way, Fastball
31. In God’s Country, U2
32. Interstate Love Song, Stone Temple Pilots
33. Run Like Hell, Pink Floyd
34. One Headlight, The Wallflowers
35. Stranglehold, Ted Nugent
36. Middle of the Road, The Pretenders
37. One Step Beyond, Madness
38. Ready to Go, Republica
39. Midnight Rider, The Allman Brothers Band
40. Life is a Highway, Rascal Flatts or Tom Cochran version
41. Little Deuce Coupe, The Beach Boys
42. Runnin’ Down a Dream, Tom Petty
43. Mississippi Queen, Mountain
44. My Sharona, The Knack
45. La Grange, ZZ Top
46. Saturday Night’s All Right for Fighting, Elton John
47. The Devil Went Down to Georgia, The Charlie Daniels Band
48. Call Me the Breeze, Lynyrd Skynyrd
49. The Immigrant Song, Led Zeppelin
50. Proud Mary, Creedence Clearwater Revival
51. Mexican Radio, Wall of Voodoo
52. Crazy Train, Ozzy Osbourne
53. Pretty Woman, Roy Orbison,
54. A Little Less Conversation, Elvis
55. Ride Like the Wind, Christopher Cross
56. Rebel, Rebel, David Bowie
57. Danger Zone, Kenny Loggins
58. Highway Star, Deep Purple
59. On the Road Again, Canned Heat
60. Wherever I May Roam, Metallica
61. Thank God I’m a Country Boy, John Denver
62. Can’t You See, Marshall Tucker Band
63. El Paso, Marty Robbins
64. Hotel California, The Eagles
65. Ride of the Valkyries, Richard Wagner
66. Dueling Banjos
67. Blitzkrieg Bop, The Ramones
68. Even Flow, Pearl Jam
69. I Just Want to Celebrate, Rare Earth
70. Night Moves, Bob Seger
71. Nothin’ Better to Do, LeAnn Rimes
72. Shamballa, Three Dog Night
73. Synchronicity II, The Police
74. Baba O’Riley, The Who
75. Ace of Spades, Motorhead
76. Ballroom Blitz, Sweet
77. Crosstown Traffic, Jimi Hendrix
78. Jump Around, House of Pain
79. Cult of Personality, Living Colour
80. Out in the Street, Bruce Springsteen
81. In a Big Country, Big Country
82. Queen of Hearts, Juice Newton
83. Under Pressure, Queen and David Bowie
84. Walking on Sunshine, Katrina and the Waves
85. Kashmir, Led Zeppelin
86. Rock the Casbah, The Clash
87. Twilight Zone, Golden Earring
88. Dreams, Brandi Carlile
89. Tangled Up in Blue, Bob Dylan or KT Tunstall version
90. Man in the Box, Alice in Chains
91. American Woman, Guess Who
92. Cocaine Blues, Johnny Cash
93. Tales of Brave Ulysses, Cream
94. Red Hill Mining Town, U2
95. Call Me, Blondie
96. Little Lion Man, Mumford & Sons
97. Dead or Alive, Bon Jovi
98. Hush, Deep Purple
99. On the Road Again, Willie Nelson
100. Paint it Black, The Rolling Stones
101. Independence Day, Martina McBride

Hopefully you enjoyed it. Let me know some of your personal favorite road trip songs. I’d love to download them for my next trip!