Hit the Road: 14 songs about driving
We dedicated the May/June 2023 issue of Hagerty Drivers Club magazine to the deep connections between music and cars, including several fun lists featuring your favorite car songs. Come back often or click the Music & Cars tag to stay up to date on these stories as they roll out online. You can also jam with our custom Music & Cars playlist on Spotify, available here.
Countless songs address the freedom of driving. Among thousands of candidates, we’ll start by nominating two seemingly disparate numbers, both of which illustrate a great through line of American song—the liberating spirit of adventure and exploration that hitting the highway represented. “See the U.S.A. In Your Chevrolet” was made famous by Dinah Shore in 1950, though the jingle—written by Leo Corday and Leon Carr—was originally sung for the TV show Inside U.S.A. with Chevrolet by Peter Lind Hayes and Mary Healy. Later covered by Pat Boone and even the cast of Glee, after decades of service as a recurring Chevrolet jingle, its luster has by now largely worn off. Conversely, the status of the once-obscure garage rock classic “Roadrunner”—by Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers—continues its ascent to musical standard-dom, its popularity growing like the sprawling suburbia that its narrator simultaneously celebrates and seeks to escape.
And, of course, no discussion of the freedom that cars offer would be complete without “Born to Be Wild,” made famous by Steppenwolf and its appearance in the 1969 film Easy Rider, which is about two meaning-seeking, drug-dealing Californian rebels on an impromptu trip across the American Southwest and South on old Harley choppers. Amusingly, this all-American standard was written by a Canadian sessions musician, Mars Bonfire (real name Dennis Eugene McCrohan). He was broke and out of work and planted in Los Angeles when he penned the timeless anthem, a ditty that turned out—in the way these things do—to be just as useful for breathless corporate marketers as for nonconformists quitting their jobs and hitting the road.
Here are 14 more songs that celebrate the freedom of driving…
Bruce Springsteen
“THUNDER ROAD”
There were ghosts in the eyes of all the boys you sent away
They haunt this dusty beach road
In the skeleton frames of burned out Chevrolets
Somewhere in Maine, Stephen King is listening.
M.I.A.
“BAD GIRLS”
Cover me, cause I’m changing lanes
That’s not the purpose of driver aids and you know it, M.I.A! They’re meant to complement proper use of mirrors, not replace them completely.
Sonic Youth
“SHOOT”
Can I have the car keys? I wanna go for a ride
Can I have the car please? I’m going out for a while
Can I have the car now? I wanna drive all around
Can I have the car, dear? I’m gonna leave this town
This feels like the lyrical equivalent of Mom? Mom? Mom? Mom? Mom? Mom? Mom? Mom? Mom? Mom? Mom? Mom?
Iggy Pop
“THE PASSENGER”
He sees the sight of hollow sky
He sees the stars come out tonight
He sees the city’s ripped backsides
He sees the winding ocean drive
And everything was made for you and me
All of it was made for you and me
‘Cause it just belongs to you and me
So let’s take a ride and see what’s mine
Someone sure is selfish.
The Allman Brothers Band
“RAMBLIN’ MAN”
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
Yes, but the JetBlue women can’t stand you.
Wilco
“PASSENGER SIDE”
Hey, wake up, your eyes weren’t open wide
For the last couple of miles you’ve been swerving from side to side
You’re gonna make me spill my beer
If you don’t learn how to steer
Team Wilco lasted exactly one stage before the FIA banned them from ever competing in the WRC again.
Foghat
“SLOW RIDE”
Slow ride
Take it easy
Slow ride
Take it easy
Slow ride
Take it easy
Slow ride
Take it easy
Slow ride
Take it easy
I hear you, man. Now tell it to all the bozos over on r/idiotsincars.
Pearl Harbor and the Explosions
“DRIVIN’”
(Drivin’)
Back on the streets when it feels so right
(Drivin’) Drivin’
(Drivin’)
It’s just tonight, I feel the only cure is drivin’
(Drivin’) Drivin’
(Drivin’)
I’ve got no time to think of how you feel
(Drivin’) Drivin’
(Drivin’)
Behind the wheel, so now I gotta drive it, drive it
(Drivin’) Drivin’
Contrary to popular belief, this is not a song about golf.
The Modern Lovers
“ROADRUNNER”
With the radio on
I’m in love with Massachusetts
With the radio off, however, I prefer South Dakota.
The Cars
“DRIVE”
Who’s gonna hold you down when you shake?
Who’s gonna come around when you break?
Such a subtle nod to the Plymouth K-car.
Chuck Berry
“NO PARTICULAR PLACE TO GO”
Ridin’ along in my calaboose
Still tryin’ to get her belt aloose
All the way home I held a grudge
But the safety belt it wouldn’t budge
Cruisin’ and playin’ the radio
With no particular place to go
And that, friends, is why we heed recall notices.
War
“LOW RIDER”
All my friends know the low rider
Yeah, but so does Karen from the neighborhood watch, and you just know she’s got 911 on speed dial.
Gary Numan
“CARS”
Here in my car
I feel safest of all
I can lock all my doors
It’s the only way to live
In cars
Is it, though?
The Breeders
“DRIVIN’ ON 9” (Ed’s Redeeming Qualities cover)
Drivin’ on 9
Drivin’ on 9
Drivin’ on 9
Also not a song about golf!
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Come on Chicago! Lake Shore Drive!!!!!
Some of these are great picks, but honestly you whiffed on some real obvious choices. Where is “Red Barchetta” from Rush? (Literally has a car (Ferrari) in it’s title!) Beach Boys- take your pick. “Highway Star”? Reverend Horton Heat? “Flirtin with Disaster”? Where is “Radar Love”? “Rocket ’88”? This list was a good start, but just that…a start.
And the one that started it all…Rocket 88–March 1951 by…Ike Turner and his Kings of Rhythm. Yeah, that Ike Turner. Also called the first rock ‘n roll song…
I know there are way too many road songs to whittle the list down to less than about 5,000, but DANG, you missed a classic motorcycle song: ” ’52 Vincent Black Lightning.”
One of the best,in my opinion,must be Radar Love,by Golden Earing.Very strong “automotive” sound!
Don’t worry baby by the Beach Boys and Dead man’s curve by, I believe Jan and Dean, are classic car tunes.
Of course it’s a crappy list.
Y’all do realize Hagerty does their lists crappy on purpose , right ?
That’s the way they get you guys click and comment and spend more time on their website .
So they can sell more commercials and ads on the site. The price of the ad sales is directly related to the views and clicks and time spent on the page .
If they made the list of songs like anyone who’s ever listened to songs would have , then y’all would not be on here commenting and spending more time on their site .
“ a little gasoline “ by Terri Clark might be about driving .
“Drive “ by Alan Jackson might be about learning how to drive .
It was only the number one country song for 6 weeks . So probabaly no one has ever heard of it .
Of course you’d have to have listened to music to be aware of these songs
“Three chords and the truth “ by Sara Evans mentions “pulled in for another tank of freedom “
Could be about driving I guess .
I WILL SAY HIGHWAY STAR, DEEP PURPLE AND PANAMA, VAN HALEN AND DETROIT ROCK CITY, KISS!
Per Springsteens auto biography He didn’t learn to drive until he was into his 20s. Instead, the young Springsteen relied on a bicycle to get around, or he hitchhiked. However, when his then band Steel Mill had to drive cross-country in three days, Springsteen, then 21, was pressed into disastrous service.
Where’s Radar Love.
James Dean’s favorite ‘car tune’ during the summer of 1955 …was Chuck Berry’s “Maybellene.”
What? No “Radar Love” by Golden Earring? Great driving song
These three great songs should make the list: “Rocket 88” by Ike Turner, “Highway 49” and “Gear Jammer”, both by George Thorogood and the Delaware Destroyers. Check ’em out!
Not all great songs about cars and driving need words. Multiple hot-rods owners and car fanatic Jeff Beck wrote and played some of the greatest, edgy and hard-driving road songs ever. He mimicked the sound of V8 engines with his guitar. Spine-tingling stuff…