One of the most popular road songs ever written and a prime force behind the international popularity of Route 66, “Get Your Kicks on Route 66” was penned by jazz musician Bobby Troup in 1946
With its neon signs, rustic truck stops, and scenes of classic Americana, no other road captures the imagination quite like Route 66. Driving this highway through the heart of the country is the quintessential American road trip and it deserves a rocking soundtrack to match. So, fuel up the vehicle and press play on this collection of 12 perfect songs selected for your next trip on the Mother Road!
No Route 66 playlist would be complete without Chuck Berry’s 1961 version of this R&B standard. Although covered by other artists ranging from The Rolling Stones to Depeche Mode, Berry’s cool delivery and bluesy guitar and piano serve as the perfect backdrop to getting “your kicks on Route 66.”
Turn this 1972 classic on for its Route 66 reference (“Well, I’m a standin’ on a corner in Winslow, Arizona”), but keep it playing for its low-key, country-rock charm.
Visit Cadillac Ranch, a Texas art project featuring ten half- buried Cadillacs (and one of the route’s most photographed stops), while grooving along to the pounding beat of this 1980 rock n’ roll song.
A must have on any Route 66 playlist, this 1974 rock classic has lyrics that burn themselves into your brain and a tune that you can’t help but sing along with as you cruise across America.
No Route 66 road trip playlist would be complete without a few slower jams. This 1988 song, while not one of the band’s most well-known, haunts with lyrics like, “Sixty- six – a highway speaks / Of deserts dry / Of cool green valleys / Gold and silver veins / All the shining cities.”
With lyrics like “It just goes to show / Someday we gotta go / Feel the heart strings / sinking fast / Another treasure found / Another tumbling down,” this 1997 country-rock song breaks our hearts a little as it tells of the demolition of the Coral Court Motel on Watson Road (Route 66), in St. Louis in 1995.
This Randy Newman song, performed by James Taylor, was featured on the soundtrack of Disney Pixar’s Cars. A slower tune, it’s a beautiful song that speaks to time and change and evokes the nostalgic feeling present as you pass through some of Route 66’s abandoned towns.
This aching portrayal of the lonely life of a rodeo cowboy mentions one of Route 66’s most famous towns, Amarillo, Texas. The traditional fiddle intro and Strait’s characteristically smooth vocals make this 1983 song a Route 66 playlist standard.
This 1992 track while a little heavy handed with the highway metaphor is almost impossible not to sing along to. Covered by other artists including Rascal Flatts this song made its way onto the soundtrack of the Route 66 inspired Disney Pixar film Cars. Tom Cochrane’s version is my favorite.
11. Tucumcari Tonight by Brian Langlinais
This upbeat bluesy song about a man getting home to his baby in Tucumcari, New Mexico, will get you revved up while you’re driving on the open road. When your energy is flagging, give yourself a hit of this blues rock, steering wheel pounding ditty.
The Eagles make a second appearance on my list with this tune, possibly inspired by the band members’ journeys on Route 66. It’s a long and intricate rock ballad that serves as the perfect backdrop for driving westward into the sunset.
Worth Pondering…
If you ever plan to motor west Travel my way Take the highway that’s the best Get your kicks on Route 66
These road trip songs will make your next drive across Texas a memorable one whether you’re driving a roadster or an RV
Texans’ love for Texas runs deep and unsurprisingly, the musically inclined among us tend to share a common muse—the state itself.
Musicians have written endlessly about their affection for and occasional vexation toward the Lone Star State. There are thousands and thousands of songs about Texas. So many so that the sheer number of Texas tunes has spawned its own subset of songs—songs about songs about Texas.
In one such tune, aptly titled “Songs About Texas,” Pat Green sings, “I tell you friends there’s a song in every town,” implying that there’s a song about every Texas town.
A thorough internet search proves that Green isn’t entirely right, but he isn’t entirely wrong either. Though there isn’t a song for every one of the state’s many places—the great state of Texas boasts more than 1,200 incorporated cities—there are several stellar songs about Texas towns which I started assembling here.
The music showcased in my playlist stretches across decades, genres and, of course, the state’s varied geography. On the list are Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys’ “I’m a Ding Dong Daddy from Dumas,” Waylon Jennings’ “Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)” and George Strait’s “Amarillo By Morning.”
You can peruse the full list of songs about Texas towns below.
Key lyrics: God painted the bluebonnets in the fields / By a tough little scrub oak on an East Texas hill / And he plucked the star from a lone star sky / And he put it in the twinkle of a cowboy’s eye / The wide open spaces he made wild and free / Texas as far as any eye can see / And he made her sons grow tough and strong / They still cry when they hear a sad song
Key lyrics: Amarillo by mornin’/ Up from San Antone/ Everything that I got / Is just what I’ve got on / When that Sun is high / In that Texas sky/ I’ll be buckin’ at the county fair / Amarillo by mornin’ / Amarillo I’ll be there
Bandera: “Bandera Waltz” by Ernest Tubb
Key lyrics: I danced with an angel one night ‘neath the stars / While cowboys were singing and playing guitars / The tune they were playing was a beautiful waltz / And they called it Bandera and the Bandera Waltz
Key lyrics: All the way from Beaumont / With a white rose in my hand / I could not wait forever babe / I hope you understand
Brownsville: “Brownsville Girl” by Bob Dylan
Key lyrics: Brownsville girl with your Brownsville / Curls, teeth like pearls shining like the / Moon above / Brownsville girl / If you show me all around the world, Brownsville girl, you’re my honey / Love
Key lyrics: When the sun comes up on a sleepy little town / Down around San Antone / And the folks are risin’ for another day / ‘Round about their homes / The people of the town are strange / And they’re proud of where they came / Well, you’re talkin’ ‘bout china grove / Oh, China grove
College Station: “Traveler’s Song” by Flatland Cavalry
Key lyrics: Well, I miss College Station / Them boys were good to me / Well, I burned North Gate down / I been the life of the party / I seen that twelve man town / Through a tailgate sea
Corpus Christi: “Corpus Christi Bay” by Robert Earl Keen
Key lyrics: I worked the rigs from three to midnight / On the Corpus Christi Bay / I’d get off and drink till daylight / Sleep the morning away / I had a plan to take my wages / Leave the rigs behind for good / But that life it is contagious / And it gets down in your blood
Key lyrics: Did you ever see Dallas from a DC-9 at night? / Well Dallas is a jewel, oh yeah, Dallas is a beautiful sight / And Dallas is a jungle but Dallas gives a beautiful light / Did you ever see Dallas from a DC-9 at night?
Key lyrics: Her name is Rio and she dances on the sand / Just like that river twists across a dusty land / And when she shines, she really shows you all she can / Oh Rio, Rio dance across the Rio Grande
Dumas: “I’m a Ding Dong Daddy from Dumas” by Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys
Key lyrics: I reckon you all don’t know me at all / I just got here today / My home is way down in a little town / It’s not so far away / Everybody for miles around / Calls me by my name / Now that I am in your fair town / You must do the same / For I’m a / Ding dong daddy from Dumas / You ought to see me do my stuff
Key lyrics: From thirty thousand feet above / The desert floor, I see it there below / A city with a legend / The west Texas city of El Paso
Fort Worth, “Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind?” by George Strait
Key lyrics: Cold Fort Worth beer, just ain’t no good for jealous / I’ve tried it night, after night / You’re in someone else’s arms in Dallas / Does Fort Worth ever cross your mind?
Key lyrics: Galveston, oh Galveston / I still hear your sea waves crashing / While I watch the cannons flashing / I clean my gun / And dream of Galveston
Haskell: “West Texas Highway” by Lyle Lovett
Key lyrics: I’m mighty glad / You were going my way / In your brand new clothes there / And your great big Chevrolet / I’m going down to Haskell / Got a woman down in Abilene
Houston: “Houston (Means that I’m one day closer to you)” by The Gatlin Brothers
Key lyrics: Houston, Houston means / That I’m one day closer to you, oh honey / Houston, Houston means / The last day of the tour and we’re through / Well honey, you and God in heaven above / Know I love what I do for a living, I do / Ah, but Houston, Houston means / That I’m one day closer to you
Huntsville: “Huntsville” by Merle Haggard
Key lyrics: They caught me on a caper that I planned for days / And proved everything I’ve done / I’m on my way to Huntsville / But I’m looking for a chance to run
Key lyrics: Rumor spreadin’ ‘round / In that Texas town / About that shack outside La Grange / And you know what I’m talkin’ about / Just let me know if you wanna go / To that home out on the range / They got a lot of nice girls
Laredo: “The Wheels of Laredo” by The Highwomen
Key lyrics: On a winter night in Webb County, Texas / On the North Bank of the mighty Rio Grande / I was watching the jungle fires a-burnin’ / Across the border of a not-so-distant land / And the echoes of the church bells that were swingin’ / Could be heard from Guadalupe Market Square / There was a girl down there in the south side of the river / She had feathers tied into her long black hair
Key lyrics: Flatter than a tabletop / Makes you wonder why they stopped here / Wagon must have lost a wheel or they lacked ambition one / On the great migration west / Separated from the rest / Though they might have tried their best / They never caught the sun / So they sunk some roots down in the dirt / To keep from blowin’ off the earth / Built a town around here / And when the dust had all but cleared / They called it Levelland, the pride of man / In Levelland
Luckenbach: “Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)” by Waylon Jennings with Willie Nelson
Key lyrics: Let’s go to Luckenbach, Texas / With Waylon and Willie and the boys / This successful life we’re livin’ / Got us feuding like the Hatfields and McCoys / Between Hank Williams’ pain songs and / Newbury’s train songs and ‘Blue Eyes Cryin’ in the Rain’ / Out in Luckenbach, Texas, ain’t nobody feelin’ no pain
Marfa: “Marfa Lights” by Kaitlin Butts
Key lyrics: Oh I’ll be your cosmic cowgirl / If you’ll be my moonlit sky / I’ll chase you around low and high, yeah / We’re just out of reach, we’re just out of sight / Like the Marfa lights / Like the Marfa lights
Memphis: “Memphis Texas” by Cooder Graw, Chip Taylor & Carrie Rodriguez
Key lyrics: If you’d like to get to know me / I know who I am / Lay off that sweet talk / Let go of my hand / Just take one step back / And give me some space / Don’t stay away / And I’ll take you someplace
Midland: “Fair to Midland” by Dwight Yoakam
Key lyrics: Fare to Midland is all that I need / If I had fair to Midland, I’d take the first seat / On a fast train, bus, or plane / Which ever proved the quickest way for me
Nacogdoches: “Buenos Noches Nacogdoches” by Billy Walker
Key lyrics: Buenas noches Nacogdoches / I bid farewell to you, I’m leaving town today / Buenas noches Nacogdoches / I’ll shake the dust off my boots and ride away
Key lyrics: Lead off with the Cotton-Eyed Joe / Buckin’ winged, and heel and toe / Hold me close for the Pecos Promenade / Big sign hangin’ by the door / Sawdust on an old dance floor / Tip your hat for the Pecos Promenade
Port Arthur: “Port Arthur Waltz” by Harry Choates
Key lyrics: He, mignonne / I know I’m leaving Port Arthur, jolie fille, chérie / Oh, chère, mais, moi j’connais, j’mérite pas ça
Key lyrics: North of the border of Old Mexico / I rode one day to the cowtown of San Angelo / A hot sun was glowing, a hot breeze was blowing / Still not as warm as the lips that I waited to kiss
San Antonio: “New San Antonio Rose” by Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys
Key lyrics: Deep within my heart lies a melody / A song of old San Antone / Where in dreams I live with a memory / Beneath the stars all alone / It was there I found beside the Alamo / Enchantment strange as the blue up above / A moonlit pass that only she would know / Still hears my broken song of love
San Benito: “The Valley” by Charley Crockett
Key lyrics: I’m from San Benito, Texas / Down a dirty dusty road / There was sugarcane and cotton / How I used to watch it grow
Key lyrics: Headin’ on down to Santa Fe / Seem like I have / Lost my way / There was something I did not see / But, oh Lord she had a hold on me
Selma: “Velma from Selma” by Augie Meyers
Key lyrics: Velma from Selma / Won’t you please tell me what to do / You wanna be my lover / We got some ground to cover / ‘Cause I sure don’t wanna be no enchilada
South Padre: “Somewhere Between Texas and Mexico” by Pat Green
Key lyrics: South Padre Island to the Brownsville Bay / My heart is healing with each breaking way / But I got some real friends and they’re ready to go / Somewhere between Texas and Mexico / Somewhere between Texas and Mexico
Sweetwater: “Sweetwater, Texas” by The Charlie Daniels Band
Key lyrics: And if the good Lord see the way / To let me live one more day / I’m so tired of being alone / Gonna ride a white horse over Durango Mountain / And make Sweetwater Texas my home
Key lyrics: The nights would pass so quickly / But there’s a feeling that still lingers on / As we pass around the tomb / That big yellow moon lights us up / ‘Neath the Terlingua Sky
Texarkana: “Texarkana” by R.E.M.
Key lyrics: 40, 000 stars in the evening / Look at them fall from the sky / 40, 000 reasons for living / 40, 000 tears in your eyes
Texas Ranger Museum, Waco
Waco: “Wacko from Waco” by Billy Joe Shaver
Key lyrics: I’m a wacko from Waco, ain’t no doubt about it / Shot a man there in the head but can’t talk much about it / He was trying to shoot me, but he took too long to aim / Anybody in my place, would have done the same / I don’t start fights, I finish fights, that’s the way I’ll always be / I’m a wacko from Waco, you best not mess with me
Waxahachie: “Waxahachie” by Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall, and Jack Ingram
Key lyrics: Waxahachie, are you still on 35? / Are you still an all-night drive from Louisiana? / Waxahachie, I can be there by 4 a.m. / Looking for a long-lost friend / That’s what you’ve always been / Waxahachie / Ooh, Waxahachie
Key lyrics: I hear you singing in the wire / I can hear you through the whine / And the Wichita lineman / Is still on the line
Worth Pondering…
You’ve heard the old Willie Nelson country music song with the lyrics, “On the road again. Just can’t wait to get on the road again…” We’ll be singing this song for sure.
These road trip songs will make your next drive across America a memorable one whether you’re driving a roadster or an RV
Road trips are about more than just travel; they represent creating shared memories, the anticipation of arriving somewhere exciting, and, crucially, a tolerance for everyone else’s music taste. RVing with Rex will bring back memories of scream-singing in the car and hopefully help you create new ones this spring break.
My playlist features songs about traveling, songs about vacation destinations, songs that might make you nostalgic for road trips past, and most importantly, songs to sing at the top of your lungs.
Key lyrics: On the road again / Just can’t wait to get on the road again / The life I love is making music with my friends / And I can’t wait to get on the road again / On the road again / Goin’ places that I’ve never been / Seein’ things that I may never see again / And I can’t wait to get on the road again / On the road again / Like a band of gypsies we go down the highway / We’re the best of friends / Insisting that the world keep turning our way / And our way
Key lyrics: I’ve been everywhere, man. / Crossed the desert’s bare, man. / I’ve breathed the mountain air, man. / Of travel I’ve a-had my share, man. / I’ve been everywhere. / I’ve been to Boston, Charleston, Dayton, Louisiana, / Washington, Houston, Kingston, Texarkana, / Monterey, Faraday, Santa Fe, Tallapoosa, / Glen Rock, Black Rock, Little Rock, Oskaloosa, / Tennessee to Hennessey, Chicopee, Spirit Lake, / Grand Lake, Devil’s Lake, Crater Lake, for Pete’s sake.
“Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)” by Waylon Jennings with Willie Nelson
Key lyrics: Let’s go to Luckenbach, Texas / With Waylon and Willie and the boys / This successful life we’re livin’ / Got us feuding like the Hatfields and McCoys / Between Hank Williams’ pain songs and / Newbury’s train songs and ‘Blue Eyes Cryin’ in the Rain’ / Out in Luckenbach, Texas, ain’t nobody feelin’ no pain
Key lyrics: If you ever plan to motor west / Travel my way / Take the highway that’s the best / Get your kicks on Route 66 / It winds from Chicago to LA / More than two thousand miles all the way / Get your kicks on Route 66 / Now you go through St. Louis / Joplin, Missouri / And Oklahoma City looks mighty pretty / You’ll see Amarillo / Gallup, New Mexico / Flagstaff, Arizona / Don’t forget Winona / Kingman, Barstow, San Bernardino / Won’t you get hip to this timely tip / When you make that California trip / Get your kicks on Route 66
Key lyrics: Everyday is a winding road / I get a little bit closer / Everyday is a faded sign / I get a little bit closer to feeling fine / He’s got a daughter he calls Easter / She was born on a Tuesday night / I’m just wondering why I feel so all alone / Why I’m a stranger in my own life / Jump in, let’s go / Lay back, enjoy the show / Everybody gets high, everybody gets low / These are the days when anything goes
Key lyrics: Well, we know where we’re going / But we don’t know where we’ve been / And we know what we’re knowing / But we can’t say what we’ve seen / And we’re not little children / And we know what we want / And the future is certain / Give us time to work it out / Yeah / We’re on a road to nowhere / Come on inside / Taking that ride to nowhere / We’ll take that ride / I’m feeling okay this morning / And you know / We’re on the road to paradise / Here we go, here we go
Key lyrics: Life’s like a road that you travel on / When there’s one day here and the next day gone / Sometimes you bend, sometimes you stand / Sometimes you turn your back to the wind / There’s a world outside every darkened door / Where blues won’t haunt you anymore / Where the brave are free and lovers soar / Come ride with me to the distant shore / We won’t hesitate / To break down the garden gate / There’s not much time left today, yeah
Key lyrics: Almost Heaven, West Virginia / Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River / Life is old there, older than the trees / Younger than the mountains, growing like a breeze / Country roads, take me home / To the place I belong / West Virginia, mountain mama / Take me home, country roads
Key lyrics: Trailer for sale or rent, rooms to let fifty cents / No phone, no pool, no pets, I ain’t got no cigarettes / Ah but, two hours of pushin’ broom buys a / Eight by twelve four-bit room / I’m a man of means by no means, king of the road / Third boxcar midnight train, destination / Bangor, Maine / Old worn out suit and shoes, I don’t pay no union dues / I smoke old stogies I have found, short but not too big around / I’m a man of means by no means, king of the road
Key lyrics: Well, I’m running down the road tryin’ to loosen my load / I’ve got seven women on my mind / Four that wanna own me, two that wanna stone me / One says she’s a friend of mine / Take It easy, take it easy / Don’t let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy / Lighten up while you still can / Don’t even try to understand / Just find a place to make your stand and take it easy / Well, I’m a standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona / And such a fine sight to see / It’s a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford / Slowin’ down to take a look at me
Key lyrics: I don’t know where I’m goin / But, I sure know where I’ve been / Hanging on the promises in songs of yesterday / And I’ve made up my mind / I ain’t wasting no more time / Though I keep searching for an answer / I never seem to find what I’m looking for / Oh Lord, I pray you give me strength to carry on / Cause I know what it means / To walk along the lonely street of dreams / Here I go again on my own / Going down the only road I’ve ever known / Like a drifter I was born to walk alone / And I’ve made up my mind / I ain’t wasting no more time
Key lyrics: Let us be lovers, we’ll marry our fortunes together / I’ve got some real estate here in my bag / So we bought a pack of cigarettes and Mrs. Wagner’s pies / And we walked off to look for America / Cathy, I said as we boarded a Greyhound in Pittsburgh / Michigan seems like a dream to me now / It took me four days to hitchhike from Saginaw / I’ve gone to look for America / Cathy, I’m lost, I said though I knew she was sleeping / And I’m empty and aching and I don’t know why / Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike / They’ve all come to look for America / All come to look for America / All come to look for America
Key lyrics: The Mississippi Delta / Was shining like a National guitar / I am following the river / Down the highway / Through the cradle of the Civil War / I’m going to Graceland / Graceland / In Memphis,Tennessee / I’m going to Graceland / Poorboys and pilgrims with families / And we are going to Graceland / My traveling companion is nine years old / He is the child of my first marriage / But I’ve reason to believe / We both will be received / In Graceland
Key lyrics: I wanna run, I want to hide / I wanna tear down the walls / That hold me inside / I wanna reach out / And touch the flame / Where the streets have no name / The city’s a flood, and our love turns to rust / We’re beaten and blown by the wind / Trampled in dust / I’ll show you a place / High on a desert plain, yeah / Where the streets have no name, ah-ha / Where the streets have no name / We’re still building and burning down love / Burning down love / And when I go there / I go there with you / It’s all I can do
Key lyrics: Hit the road Jack and don’t you come back no more, no more, no more, no more / Hit the road Jack and don’t you come back no more / What you say? / Hit the road Jack and don’t you come back no more, no more, no more, no more / Hit the road Jack and don’t you come back no more / Woah Woman, oh woman, don’t treat me so mean / You’re the meanest old woman that I’ve ever seen / I guess if you said so / I’d have to pack my things and go (That’s right) / What you say? / Hit the road Jack and don’t you come back no more, no more, no more, no more
Key lyrics: Sunset through a windshield, I can see it now / Like a picture in a frame (picture in a frame), oh / Blue jeans and t-shirts, who we were / We wore it like a name (like a name) / I wish I could go back to those days / When the town was the whole world / And love was the girl next door / Soundtrack was a song in the dark / I miss those days when our dreams were there for chasin’ / But time was better wasted / We were summer young and livin’ for a Friday / And freedom was a highway / Freedom was a highway
Key lyrics: It was a beautiful day, the sun beat down / I had the radio on, I was drivin’ / Trees went by, me and Del were singin’ little Runaway / I was flyin’ / I felt so good, like anything was possible / Hit cruise control and rubbed my eyes / The last three days the rain was unstoppable / It was always cold, no sunshine / I rolled on, the sky grew dark / I put the pedal down to make some time / There’s something good waitin’ down this road / I’m pickin’ up whatever’s mine / Yeah, runnin’ down a dream that never would come to me / Runnin’ down a dream
Key lyrics: Truckin’, got my chips cashed in / Keep truckin’, like the do-dah man / Together, more or less in line / Just keep truckin’ on / Arrows of neon and flashing marquees out on Main Street / Chicago, New York, Detroit and it’s all on the same street / Your typical city involved in a typical daydream / Hang it up and see what tomorrow brings / Dallas, got a soft machine / Houston, too close to New Orleans / New York’s got the ways and means
Key lyrics: Big wheels keep on turning / Carry me home to see my kin / Singing songs about the south-land / I miss ‘ole’ ‘bamy once again and I think it’s a sin / In Birmingham they love the Gov’nor, boo-hoo-hoo / Now we all did what we could do / Now Watergate does not bother me / Does your conscience bother you, tell the truth / Sweet home Alabama / Where the skies are so blue / Sweet home Alabama / Lord, I’m coming home to you, here I come
Key lyrics: I’m on my way to New Orleans this mornin’ / Leaving out of Nashville, Tennessee / They’re always having a good time down on the bayou / Lord, and Delta women think the world of me / Lord, I was born a ramblin’ man / Tryin’ to make a livin’ and doin’ the best I can / When it’s time for leavin’, I hope you’ll understand / That I was born a ramblin’ man
Worth Pondering…
You’ve heard the old Willie Nelson country music song with the lyrics, “On the road again. Just can’t wait to get on the road again…” We’ll be singing this song for sure.
These road trip songs will make your next excursion a memorable one whether you’re driving a roadster or an RV
Don’t get me wrong—I love urban life. But sometimes a visit to a local park or neighborhood walk doesn’t quite satisfy your need for an escape to the open road. Time to hit the highway for that classic American tradition: the road trip.
Of course, you can’t drive in complete silence—well, you can, and we sometimes do, but the very thought may give you a flat tire—so here’s my list of the best road trip songs to get your motors running and kick your highway journey into high gear. Whether you’re off to a state or national park or an extended cross-country road trip, here are the 13 best sounds to keep your engines purring. Crank up classics from the Eagles, the U2, Ray Charles, the Man in Black, John Denver, and even some Willie (and there’s plenty more where that came from). So grab your keys, pack up the RV, and crank up the volume. It is road trip time!
Nothing beats hitting the open road where you can escape the stress of work, bills, city life, and just be free, man. Just ask tireless road dog Willie Nelson. The Red Headed Stranger penned this 1980 country hit—the ultimate get-the-hell-out-of-town anthem—where else, but the back of his tour bus.
Music has always had the power to educate. Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire” taught us more 20th-century American history than a year’s worth of eighth-grade social-studies classes. And when it comes to geography, there is no better musical resource than this name-dropping country ditty, first released with North American locales in 1962 by Canadian crooner Hank Snow.
In four verses, 91 places are rattled off in rapid-fire succession—destinations both big (Chicago and Nashville) and small (Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and Haverstraw, New York). The song has been covered many times and adapted for different regions of the globe, but we’re partial to the Man in Black’s 1996 rendition simply because his weathered, gravelly bass-baritone suggests a man who has indeed been everywhere.
This opening track from U2’s landmark 1987 LP, The Joshua Tree, is an ideal kick starter for any road trip especially if you’re wandering about the California desert where this classic yucca plant is commonly found. From a whisper, the sound of an organ builds up like the start to a gospel hymn. It’s over a minute before the Edge’s guitar and Adam Clayton’s bass kicks in. More time passes before Bono’s vocals touch-down. By then, you’re ready to hit overdrive and wail along: “I want to run/I want to hide/I want to tear down the walls that hold me inside.” Though the song is about Bono’s vision of an Ireland free from class boundaries, it has inspired countless highway warriors to venture out to those places where the streets truly have no name. Or where they at least have weird names!
The gospel-choir intro to this upbeat single, off 1985’s Little Creatures, makes for a great start to any road-trip mix. The song celebrates the journey over the destination. Not every end point is a good one, but we’ll be damned if this march doesn’t have us enjoying the ride.
The Eagles took flight in 1972 with their debut single: a quick but mellow song of praise to the romance of the road where a world of troubles can be shucked at the mere sight of a girl (my lord!) in a flatbed Ford. Cowritten by frontman Glenn Frey and his friend Jackson Browne, the song’s rejection of worry and release into a relaxed and happy adventure are perfect for relieving tension on a long drive. And as the lyrics gently urge: “Don’t let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy.”
This R&B standard, written in 1946 by Bobby Troup, has been covered by everyone from Nat King Cole to the Rolling Stones to John Mayer, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bing Crosby, Asleep at the Wheel, and Depeche Mode. The song uses a twelve-bar blues arrangement and the lyrics follow the path of Route 66 which traversed the western two-thirds of the U.S. from Chicago, Illinois to Malibu, California. We’re partial to Chuck Berry’s 1961 rendition which matches the 2,400-mile pilgrimage on the connecting iconic highway to a T. Who better than the father of rock & roll to accompany a trip past greasy-spoon diners, tiny towns frozen in time and striking Americana landscapes?
Fiendishly simple with its descending piano chords, “Hit the Road Jack” is sung from the perspective of a philanderer being rejected by his lady. By all rights this 1961 R&B classic should win a prize for being impossible not to sing along to: “What you say???” screams soul hero Charles to his velvet-voiced Raelettes. The track’s most memorable use in a road trip appears in the 1989 comedy movie The Dream Team.
Because of college pigskin rivalries, this song could not be made today! College football is a matter of life and death down there. Skynyrd was born deep in SEC country: The boogie-rock brothers were from Jacksonville, not Alabama, and cut the track in Georgia. Could you imagine a bunch of Gators fans cutting a tune that could in any way be construed as “Roll Tide”? Yankees and rivals love to mock and loathe the Crimson Tide, but when this ditty plays, every human in the room, no matter the allegiance, becomes a temporary, gen-u-wine southern country folk.
Let us pause, and acknowledge the fact that this song has been recognized by the U.S. Library of Congress as a national treasure. Mmmm. Written and performed by Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, and lyricist Robert Hunter, the catchy, bluesy tune—off 1970’s American Beauty—turns the band’s misfortunes on the road into a metaphor for getting through life’s constant changes. And really, what’s a good road trip—or a good life—if you can’t exclaim at the end, “What a long, strange trip it’s been”?
Okay. We know how heavy-handed these metaphors are and how forced the rhymes are. We never said every song on this list was a masterpiece. But we dare you not to sing along with the chorus of this 1991 tune—especially on a highway. Maybe no one ever listens to the song in its entirety, but one or two “life is a highway”s are pretty much mandatory.
The little sister to Tom Cochrane’s “Life Is a Highway,” Sheryl Crow’s 1996 hit unabashedly co-opts the use of automotive byways as metaphors for life’s ups and downs. The “wacky” characters in Crow’s songs are often a bit much for my liking—in this case, a vending-machine repairman with a daughter he calls “Easter” (what?)—but the chorus gets us fired up for some hairpin turns even when we’re cruising down a seemingly endless straightaway. The song takes us back to San Francisco’s Lombard Street whose residents probably have this tune swirling in their heads 24/7.
The tale of the hobo, the migrant farm worker, and the dust bowl refugee are as pure 66 as the image of the Corvette and soda shop. This 1965 Roger Miller classic has got to be one of the most lighthearted hobo songs making it perfect driving or even wishing you were driving. Regardless, it’s a timeless everyman’s anthem and darn if it isn’t catchy.
John Denver’s signature song is the official state anthem for West Virginia. It has been played at every West Virginia University Football game since 1972 as their theme song. But did you know that the song was actually inspired by another state? Bill Danoff and his wife, Taffy Nivert, wrote the classic song with help from Denver. Nivert grew up in the Washington D.C. area and one day she and Danoff were driving down an old road in Montgomery County, Maryland called Clopper Roads. Danoff started singing about the winding roads they were driving down and it had a ring to it.
Worth Pondering…
You’ve heard the old Willie Nelson country music song with the lyrics, “On the road again. Just can’t wait to get on the road again…” We’ll be singing this song for sure.
Travel essentials to maximize your mobile vacation
Good morning. Trying to think of a single thing that’s bad about the outrageous amount of daylight we have right now, and…drawing a blank. It’s simply magnificent at every level especially in an RV.
Desire to travel! Desire to escape! Desire to reconnect with nature! The sense of wanderlust is stronger than ever and the idea of hitting the open road to find a change of scenery may be on your mind. At the end of the road, what will you find? Perhaps that is where your journey is just beginning.
Jetting off on vacation by plane has its advantages like efficiency and built-in downtime.
But the disadvantages can outweigh the upsides: Air travel means missing out on the freedom and sense of adventure that come with road-tripping. The open road affords unplanned discoveries and cultural oddities taking in the view at a scenic overlook for however long you like and the feeling of satisfaction when you stop and stretch your legs out in the fresh air. A road trip is its own reward, no matter your destination.
GPS and smartphones have made taking a road trip easier than ever before but all you really need are miles of asphalt (which America has in abundance), an RV packed with supplies of your choice, and activities to keep you entertained during down time. Our wanderlust stays alive through the memories of the joy and fulfillment our travels have brought us in the past and the hope of realizing travel dreams again this summer.
Summer is full of life and excitement. It’s as thrilling as it can be calm and serene.
According to an annual American Automobile Association survey, more than two-thirds of American families take vacations each year with 53 percent opting for road trips. The global pandemic forced us to quarantine indoors for several months leaving many with cabin fever; RVing is proving to be the perfect solution. With many popular vacation destinations no longer an option due to closures, restrictions, and safety concerns, more and more people are turning to camping and RVing.
A recent Ipsos research examining consumer interest and planned actions on travel choices in light of the COVID-19 crisis suggests that RV travel and camping provide an appealing vacation option for American families. According to the research, 46 million Americans plan to take an RV trip in the next 12 months. If you’re one of those families, we hope these suggestions keep you on the right path.
