From ‘Skidmarks On My Heart’ to ‘Steppin’ Out,’ we built the ultimate road trip playlist
If Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start of summer, then it’s also the first weekend of road trip season, and your next joy ride needs a soundtrack. Great as it is, you can’t keep The Modern Lovers classic “Roadrunner” on repeat indefinitely — here’s a dozen critics’ picks to kick-start your next trek to the beach, the Berkshires, or wherever the summer months take you.
Read more US beats Hungary to stay alive for ice hockey world quarterfinals
4 Non Blondes, “What’s Up”
When you’re facing many miles to drive, you want something that everyone can get into. Enter: “What’s Up,” the anthemic 4 Non Blondes song. You might not like this song. But even if you don’t, I bet you’d enjoy yelling it at the top of your lungs. Few of us have the pipes of a belter; it doesn’t really matter if you can match what Linda Perry is doing with this song. The build, the yelling, the quiet come down at the end. Are you young? Are you wild at heart, desperate for a better world? Everyone in the car is, for the duration of your group performance. (Lisa Weidenfeld)
Duke Ellington, “Diminuendo in Blue and Crescendo in Blue”
Driving music doesn’t need to be about driving. What it needs to be is self-driving: accelerator minus brake, pedal to musical metal. It also helps if it’s longer rather than shorter: more room to vroom. So it’s hard to top Duke Ellington’s 14-minute version of “Diminuendo in Blue and Crescendo in Blue” — with crescendo very much dominant — from the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival. One of the most famous performances in jazz history, it landed Ellington on the cover of Time magazine. The crowd goes nuts. So will you, in a safe-driving sort of way, of course. (Mark Feeney)
Bo Diddley, “Road Runner”
Beep beep, Mr. Richman, let Bo Diddley by. With all due respect to The Modern Lovers, Diddley’s “Road Runner” predates the recording of “Roadrunner” by over a decade, and 65-plus years after its release his chugging 12-bar blues are still conducive to cruising above the speed limit. The tune’s not without a local tie; Aerosmith covered the song for their 2004 record “Honkin’ on Bobo,” complete with Steven Tyler’s raspy growl of “eat my dust!” Play the original, play the cover, play both — just don’t forget that “Road Runner” is two words, not one. (Victoria Wasylak)
The Proclaimers, “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)”
“I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” is perfect as the third or fourth song on your road trip playlist, for when you’ve made it to the open road, the here-we-go energy is peaking, and you’re ready to sing at the top of your lungs. This 1988 single (1993, in the US, on the “Benny & Joon” soundtrack) from brothers Charlie and Craig Reid has everything: a steady, propulsive beat, lyrics that are easy to belt out, and straightforward vocal harmonies on the chorus, which you can dive into while you try to match those wonderful Scottish accents. (Eric R. Danton)
Joe Jackson, “Steppin’ Out”
Most road trip songs are made for sun-drenched open roads, but Joe Jackson’s 1982 single “Steppin’ Out” celebrates when people “Get into a car and drive/To the other side” after night has fallen, when stars and maybe a few buildings are twinkling against the sky’s inky expanse. The song’s sparkling pianos and perpetual-motion beat add a hint of glamour to even the briefest escape from the everyday, while Jackson’s winsome vocal opens up on the vowel sounds in a way that makes any moment it soundtracks feel five times more massive. (It’s a great sing-along, too.) (Maura Johnston)
Sniff ‘n’ the Tears, “Driver’s Seat”
With its four-on-the-floor beat, this little miracle by an otherwise obscure British band kicks into gear straight away and stays there, making it an ideal highway song. “Doing all right,” murmurs frontman Paul Roberts as if he’s in casual conversation, gazing out the windshield. “A little jiving on a Saturday night.” (The song is actually about dancing.) While maintaining its steady, asphalt-chewing pace, “Driver’s Seat” builds with a series of add-ons that reward the surround-sound of your car speakers at top volume — an ominous power-chord riff, sweet call-and-response backing vocals, some space-age Moog flourishes. Remarkably, this unfortunately named band shot out of the gate with this song — it’s the first track on their 1978 debut, “Fickle Heart” — but have spent the rest of their long career trying to find their way off the service road.(James Sullivan)
Indigo Girls, “Closer to Fine”
Even Barbie understood the power of “Closer to Fine,” the Indigo Girls’ 1989 banger about finding comfort in ambiguity. It was perfect in the 2023 movie “Barbie,” when the doll barrels toward the “real world,” but long before the film thrust the song into popular discourse, women journeying across America were belting it as they moved to new cities, fled failed relationships, or embarked on the confusing milestones that songwriter Emily Salier encourages us to embrace. Like any great road trip song, it has a crescendo that a driver can’t help but yell: “Got my paper and I was free!” (Esther Mobley)
Madonna, “Ray Of Light”
The vehicle is a rented Mini convertible, pure white. There’s only so much of Martha’s Vineyard to explore — it’s impossible to get lost when heading half an hour in any direction takes you to the coastline — but the teeniness of the car is maximizing the experience for two parents and a 9-year-old. So they drive wherever, until the sun just begins to droop. And as the golden hour opens its arms, the playlist they’ve been blasting all afternoon reaches its apex and “Ray of Light” comes gushing out of the speakers, Madonna whooshing across time and space in a fever of ecstatic bliss. And the only arm that remains in the car is the one holding the steering wheel.(Marc Hirsh)
The Go-Go’s, “Skidmarks On My Heart”
It’s a classic tale of “girl loves boy, boy loves his car.” Belinda Carlisle and her Go-Go compatriots head into a musical drag race with “Skidmark on My Heart,” a punk-pop nugget that whooshes so rapidly it will leave you with whiplash and an accelerated heartbeat. It’s not only one of the catchiest songs from their 1981 debut, “Beauty and the Beat,” but also one of the band’s cleverest lyrically. “I buy you cologne, you want to axle grease /You say, ‘Get a mechanic,’ I say, ‘Get a shrink,’” she sings to the grease monkey who has stolen her heart, and likely her tire rims as well. We never know whether Carlisle can pull the emergency brake on her misguided love, but it’s a fun ride while it lasts, and the kind of song that leaves you drumming on the steering wheel as you buzz along to beat. (Christopher Muther)
T.I., “What You Know”
Nothing captured T.I’s Atlanta cool better than his 2006 smash hit “What You Know.” Not only did it serve as the lead single from his fourth studio album, “King,” but it was used to promote his movie “ATL” that was released the same year. On the synthy and brassy track, T.I. is confident as ever with his lyrical bravado beaming bright. What makes “What You Know” a must-add to any road trip playlist is the sonic smoothness it effortlessly possesses. Even though the song may reference a decades-old rap beef, T.I. was in tip-top shape and reminded folks why he will always run the South. (Candace McDuffie)
The Young Veins, “Take A Vacation!”
While The Young Veins’ “Take A Vacation!” came out in 2010, its surf-rock sound evokes the spirit of the 1960s. With the song’s layered vocal harmonies, warm guitar tone, and many beach-themed lyrics, it could easily fit in on a California sound compilation album alongside The Beach Boys and The Mamas & the Papas. In addition to this summery feel, the band’s frequent refrain of “we’re going, going, going very far” makes it a fitting soundtrack for a long drive.(Annie Sarlin)
Asleep at the Wheel, “(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66”
Is there a better road trip song than what might be the iconic song about a road trip? “(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66” takes you down that famous highway from Chicago to Los Angeles, with galloping name-checks of places along the way. Inspired by an actual cross-country drive, the song was written by Bobby Troup in 1946 and first recorded by the Nat King Cole Trio. There’ve been hundreds of versions since, by everyone from Chuck Berry to Asleep at the Wheel, Ray Charles to The Rolling Stones, and even William Shatner; build a playlist and you can get your kicks on your next trip.(Stuart Munro)
Post Comment