“Always something greener on the other side of that hill…”

…I was born a wrangler and a rambler and I guess I always will”

“Heard It In A Love Song” – The Marshall Tucker Band

No Depression columnist Grant Alden has a great post up on his site about America’s long-running romance with the open road and some of the great literature and music inspired by said romance. I can certainly speak to this in my own experience. Some of my favorite songs, movies, and books have centered around road trips (or life lived on the road). Alas, as Alden states, that romance may soon be coming to an end with gas prices at $4 per gallon and rising. If this is what kills cross-country travel, it would be a terrible shame. The road really is the best way to see our great land in all its variety and splendor.

Some of my happiest times have been spent on the road, loaded up with family or friends and a lot of Cd’s. I love the sights, sounds, and smells of the road and even the satisfaction of arriving at my destination. I can’t count the number of road trips I have been on and I have never regretted one of them. A few years ago my brother rode along with me when I drove cross-country for a move and it is one of my favorite memories. Another great road memory: tearing through western Maryland and Pennsylvania in the dead of night during a freak snowstorm with Diggity Dave on our way to Carl and Shayna’s wedding in Pittsburgh. Dave drove, I prayed (under my breath).

For me, no road trip is complete without a wide and varied selection of tunes, especially the all-important road songs.  I have listed some of my favorite road tunes below in no particular order, and I would love to hear what music you find essential to road trips. I don’t care what it is, just share what and why. I found that many of my favorites are by the same artists, so I have categorized them accordingly. Also, please note that what is listed is my favorite version of a song, not necessarily the original.

Steve Earle

• “Guitar Town”
• “Someday”
• “I Ain’t Ever Satisfied “
• “Nowhere Road”

The Allman Brothers Band

Pretty much their entire catalogue, but the ones that come to mind for our purposes here are:

• “Ramblin’ Man”
• “Midnight Rider”
• “Seven Turns”

Reckless Kelly

• “Desolation Angels”
•  “Set Me Free”
• “Vancouver”

“Desolation Angels” has one of my all time favorite opening lyrics:

I saw the same old streets for far too long
I put the rubber on the road
I left it all behind
And now paved with memories
Those streets are long since gone
Rubber on the road & the blood inside

And I’ve been around this land of opportunity
The road is hard and it don’t offer up immunity
I’ve rode this country hard, from sea to shining sea
I’ve shared a dance with Lady Liberty

Doesn’t that just make you want to gas up and head out?

 Chuck Berry

• “The Promised Land”
• “You Can’t Catch Me”
• “Memphis, Tennessee”
• “Little Queenie”
• “No Particular Place to Go”

The Grateful Dead

• “Truckin'”
• “St. Stephen”
• “Friend of the Devil”
• “Alabama Getaway”

John Hiatt

• “Memphis in the Meantime”
• “Drive South”
• “Slow Turning”
• “Walk On”
• “Dust Down a Country Road”
• “Riding with the King”
• “Tennessee Plates”
• “Paper Thin”
• “Child of the Wild Blue Yonder”
• “Crossing Muddy Waters”

Bruce Hornsby

•  “On the Western Skyline”
• “The River Runs Low”
• “The Valley Road”
• “Across the River”

Last Train Home

• “List of Sorrows”
• “Heartache Express”
• “My Sally”
• “Never Been To Memphis”
• “Louisiana”

Bob Dylan

• “Blowin’ in the Wind”
• “Highway 61 Revisited”
• “Lilly, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts”
• “Tangled Up in Blue”

Tom Waits

• “Lookin’ for the Heart of Saturday Night”
• “Heart Attack and Vine”
• “Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis”
• “Ol’ 55”

Bruce Springsteen

• “Thunder Road”
• “Born to Run”
• “Promised Land”
• “The River”
• “Cadillac Ranch”
• “State Trooper”
• “Darlington County”

Marshall Crenshaw

• “There She Goes Again”
• “Someplace Where Love Can’t Find Me”
• “Whatever Way the Wind Blows”

Ryan Adams

• “Answering Bell”
• “Trains”
• “The Sun Also Sets”

Blue Rodeo

• “Lost Together”
• “5 Days in May”
• “Hasn’t Hit Me Yet”

Creedence Clearwater Revival

• “Travellin’ Band”
• “Long As I Can See the Light”
• “Who’ll Stop the Rain”

Dave Alvin

• “King of California”
• “Long White Cadillac”
• “Rio Grande”
• “Everett Ruess”  

The rest will be random singles:

“There’ll Be No Next Time” – Louis Prima

“I Feel Fine Today” – Kevin Welch

“City of New Orleans” – Steve Goodman

“Operator” and “I Have A Name” – Jim Croce

“Pancho and Lefty” – Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson

“Roam” – B-52s

“Train Don’t Stop Here Anymore” and “Don’t Worry Baby” – Los Lobos

“So Long Baby Goodbye” – The Blasters

“Route 66” – Nat King Cole

“This Big City” – The Derailers

“Willin'” – Little Feat

“On the Road” – Lee Roy Parnell

“Turn the Page” – Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band

“Mama Knows The Highway By Heart” – Hal Ketchum

“Green Grass and High Tides” – The Outlaws

“No Sleep Til Brooklyn” – The Beastie Boys

“Running on Empty” – Jackson Browne

“Solsbury Hill” – Peter Gabriel

“Come Early Morning” and “Tulsa Time” – Don WIlliams

“Moonlight Mile” – Rolling Stones

“King of the Road” – Roger Miller

“America” – Simon and Garfunkel

“Country Road” – James Taylor

“Laid A Highway” – Tift Merritt

Now – if you’ve made it this far, what are some of your favorite road songs and why? 

Filed under: Music, Allman Brothers Band, B-52s, Beastie Boys, Blue Rodeo, Bob Dylan, Bob Seger, Bruce Hornsby, Bruce Springsteen, Chuck Berry, Creedence Clearwater Revival, cross country, Dave Alvin, Don Williams, gas prices, Grant Alden, Grateful Dead, Hal Ketchum, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Jim Croce, John Hiatt, Kevin Welch, Last Train Home, Lee Roy Parnell, Little Feat, Los Lobos, Louis Prima, Marshall Crenshaw, Marshall Tucker Band, Merle Haggard, Nat King Cole, No Depression, Peter Gabriel, Reckless Kelly, road songs, road trips, Roger Miller, Rolling Stones, Ryan Adams, Simon and Garfunkel, Steve Earle, Steve Goodman, The Blasters, The Derailers, The Outlaws, Tift Merritt, Tom Waits, Willie Nelson