I’ve been thinking about my next road trip after finding out about a company called Turo. Turo is a car rental marketplace where travelers can rent any car they want, wherever they want it, from a nationwide community of local car owners, making Turo a great option for car rentals for a road trip. They have a much wider price range than standard rentals, so they are a great resource for adventurers who want to hit the open road.

Anyhow, I started creating a road trip song list and thought I would share the beginnings with y’all!

I listen to my non-classical music collection (currently 1,649 hours, 55 minutes, and 10 seconds of music) while in the car; the only two genres not represented in my non-classical collection are rap and hip-hop. I don’t care for the vulgarity that is too often present in songs in those genres.

My specific road trip play list would have two types of songs on it: songs I can sing to and songs I can tap my foot to (left foot; the right foot is working the gas and brake pedals). So maybe my ideal road trip play list would have songs that I can both sing to AND tap my foot to. Here are a few of them, in no specific order other than the order in which they popped up in my head:

“Generation Clash” by Accept, 1989

Lots of songs by Queen would make this list, including, of course, “Bohemian Rhapsody” (think “Wayne’s World”). Queen’s 1975 album, “A Night At The Opera” probably is on my list of Top 10 albums of all time. The album itself would make a great road trip listen. This, possibly, is my favorite song from the album:

“39” by Queen, 1975

Back in 1973 as a freshman at Texas A&M University, a friend and I would road trip to football games in his Firebird. Both of us were huge fans of The Doobie Brothers. Here’s one of their songs that we were always playing on our road trips, and which would still be on my road trip playlist 40+ years later:

“Rockin’ Down The Highway” by The Doobie Brothers, 1972

After graduating from Texas A&M University, I hung out with a different crowd since everyone from college took jobs in different cities. That was when I discovered Fleetwood Mac, and this next song became a road trip staple:

“Never Going Back Again” by Fleetwood Mac, 1977

Lots of songs by Creedence Clearwater Revival and, after their breakup, John Fogerty would also make the list. CCR and Fogerty just have that natural driving rhythm in almost all of their songs. Here, let’s go with a song that has a car title:

“Hot Rod Heart” by John Fogerty, 1997
(Let’s go riding, cruising down the open road,
We can put the top down, listen to the radio….)

A song from my Lost Music Decade, which means I only recently discovered it:

“Hunting Humans (Insatiable)” by Rainbow, 1995

Since I’m a huge Paul McCartney fan, I love a song with good bass in it. McCartney, Peter Cetera of Chicago, Tiran Porter of The Doobie Brothers, and Wayne Nelson of Little River Band are my four favorite bassists. Here’s one of my favorite driving songs from Little River Band:

“No More Tears” by Little River Band, 1983

I always knew the following song as “Things Go Better With Rock.” I never could find the song anywhere until a couple of years ago when I accidentally discovered the real name of the song and the name of the group.

“Turn Up The Radio” by Autograph, 1984

Neil Young plays the celeste in this next song. One of my favorite songs by CSN&Y.

“Queen Of Them All” by Crosby Stills Nash & Young, 1999

I did many a road trip in college with Bachman-Turner Overdrive playing on the car’s tape deck. BTO is similar to CCR in that almost every song makes a good road trip song. Here’s one of my favorites:

“Roll On Down The Highway” by Bachman-Turner Overdrive, 1974
(The time’s real short, you know the distance is long.
I’d like to have a jet but it’s not in the song….)

By now everyone probably is asking, “Where are The Beatles? Where are The Beatles?” Fear not, dear readers. I’ve simply been trying to decide what one song from The Beatles should be in this post. I can’t decide….

Still haven’t decided….

Nope.

Haven’t decided yet….

Still stumped….

Okay.

I think I have it.

How about this one since it was one of my favorite riding songs from high school, a time when I didn’t have a car so I didn’t drive. But friends had to put up with me singing this song over and over and over again on the way to Whataburger, or Sonic, or the dance hall. Maybe I wanted to be a paperback writer….

“Paperback Writer” by The Beatles, 1966

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