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In cars

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I’m not a big car person. I like driving long distances but I hate having to use cars to get around town. But nevertheless, I often like songs about cars and driving.

What are the best songs about cars and driving (“driving” could mean a motorcycle or a truck too)? Here are my favorites

Little Red Corvette — Prince
Racing in the Streets — Bruce Springsteen
I Used To Could — Mark Knopfler
Riding Along In My Automobile — Chuck Berry
1952 Vincent Black Lightning — Richard Thompson
Hot Rod Lincoln — Commander Cody
Blue Drive — Vetiver
Six Days On The Road — Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris
Ole 55 — Tom Waits

What are you favorites?

Reader Interactions

193Comments

  6. 6.

    Chet

    I know it’s more of a motorcycle song because of Easy Rider but I always liked “Born to be Wild” by Steppenwolf for driving.

    Another one of my favorites is “Running Down a Dream” by Tom Petty.

  9. 9.

    Peale

    Lord, I was born a Rambler man.

    ETA: Actually Midnight Rambler is better. I mean, someone had to commemorate those AMC vehicles. Corvettes and Mustangs can’t have all the best songs.

  12. 12.

    Another Scott

    Goin’ Mobile – The Who

    Cheers,
    Scott.
    (“Don’t listen to the lyrics too closely, though…”)

  22. 22.

    Doug!

    @Taiko:

    I forgot about that one and also about Brand New Cadillac because they involved someone other than the singer driving.

  24. 24.

    mai naem mobile

    Drivers Seat – Sniff and the Tears
    Drive South – Suzy Bogguss
    Does American Pie count? ‘Driving my chevy to the levee?
    Cars Gary Nyman
    There’s a bunch of country songs about trucks which I can’ be bothered to even remember.

  25. 25.

    SenyorDave

    Highway Star by Deep Purple
    Roadhouse Blues by The Doors (IMO the greatest song ever for riding with the windows open and the sound cranked up).

  26. 26.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?

    “I Can’t Drive 55” -Sammy Hagar
    “The Distance” by Cake
    “Autobahn” by Kraftwerk

  29. 29.

    Wag

    Cars by Gary Numan and the Tubeway Army
    Autobahn by Kraktwerk
    Born to Run and badlands by Bruce

  31. 31.

    quakerinabasement

    Mercury Blues
    By about a million different people. I heard it from David Lindley.

    Willing
    Little Feat

    +1 to Taiko for Mustang Sally

    Guilty Pleasure – Paradise by the Dashboard Light
    Meat Loaf

  39. 39.

    No One of Consequence

    Wow. Holes in this list you could drive a …. wedge through…

    Ahem.

    Red Barchetta – Rush
    Sausolito Summer Nights – Diesel
    Lord, Mr. Ford – Jerry Reed

  48. 48.

    frosty

    First one I remember: Hey Little Cobra. Two favorite semi-obscure (ie not Springsteen) road songs:

    Butterfly Boucher — Another White Dash
    Motels – (I’m gonna gun this sucker straight) Into the Heartland

  50. 50.

    Inventor

    Damn!
    This traffic jam!
    How I hate to be late…
    hurts my motor to go so slow…
    Damn!
    this traffic jam!

    I used to think that I was cool,
    runnin’ around on fossil fuel,
    but come to find
    what I was doin’,
    was drivin’ down
    the road to ruin

  51. 51.

    trollhattan

    @quakerinabasement:
    David Lindley rightfully owns that song.

    “2000 Miles” Pretenders
    “NSU” Cream
    “Crosstown Traffic” Jimi
    “Riding with the King” “Tennessee Plates” et al John Hiatt

  52. 52.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?

    Also:

    “Turbo Lover” by Judas Priest
    “Kickstart My Heart” by Motley Crue

    Heard those a lot playing Grand Turismo 3 on the PS2

  53. 53.

    Mary G

    “Running on Empty” Jackson Browne
    “No Particular Place to Go” Chuck Berry
    Any number of Allman Brothers songs@Roger Moore: second “Little Old Lady from Pasadena” When I lived up there and drove Colorado Blvd, would put the pedal down.
    “Thunder Road” Bruce Springsteen

  56. 56.

    mai naem mobile

    Janis Joplin – Mercedes Benz

    In other awesome news , an explosion in Brussels.

  61. 61.

    Laura

    Wheels on a gravel road –
    Man oh man, how I could go for a road trip listening to every song on this post!
    Old 55 has a very special spot in my little heart from the early days of me and my now Mr. Le sigh . . .

  65. 65.

    Laura

    Wheels on a gravel road –
    Man oh man, how I could go for a road trip listening to every song on this post!
    Old 55 has a very special spot in my little heart from the early days of me and my now Mr.
    Le sigh . . .
    Also, too, Jonathan Richmond and the Modern Lovers Roadrunner
    Lee Childs Hot Child in the City

  66. 66.

    frosty

    @Peale: Beep Beep

    A little Nash Rambler* was following me about one third my size
    The guy must have wanted to pass me up
    Cause he kept on tooting his horn
    Beep beep. Beep beep. His horn went beep beep beep.

    * I think he really meant a Nash Metropolitan. The Rambler would have been too big for this lyric.

  68. 68.

    The Moar You Know

    There Is Only One: Red Barchetta.

    I don’t even need to read the threat to know it’s already been mentioned.

  70. 70.

    stinger

    Fun, Fun, Fun and I Get Around — nobody sings about cars better than the Beach Boys. But then, I’m an old.

  71. 71.

    hellslittlestangel

    Let’s not forget the undeservedly obscure:

    “Bend Over I’ll Drive” — The Cramps
    “Warm Leatherette” — The Normal

  74. 74.

    cleek

    I Dream A Highway Back To You – Gillian Welch
    455 Rocket – Gillian Welch
    Pass You By – Gillian Welch

    she being brand new – e e cummings

  77. 77.

    MomSense

    Some good songs in this thread.

    Have to add You Got a Fast Car by Tracy Chapman.

  78. 78.

    Sonoran

    455 Rocket–Kathy Matea

    She had a 455 rocket
    The biggest block alive
    Couldn’t hardly wait just to take my turn
    She was made for the strait ways
    She grew up hatin’ Chevrolets
    She’s a rocket
    She was made to burn

  85. 85.

    Keith

    Faraway Eyes opening verse …

    I was driving home early Sunday morning through Bakersfield
    Listening to gospel music on the colored radio station
    And the preacher said, you know you always have the Lord by your side
    And I was so pleased to be informed of this that I ran
    Twenty red lights in his honor
    Thank you Jesus, thank you Lord

    always makes me chuckle

  86. 86.

    realbtl

    Shit, just put Let It Bleed on continuous loop at top volume. 1000 mi? Sure bring it on.

  87. 87.

    PappyG

    State Trooper – Bruce Springsteen
    Lost Weekend – Wall of Voodoo
    Ghost Rider – Suicide

    and a huge second (or third by this point) to The Passenger – Iggy Pop

  88. 88.

    cleek

    Adrian Belew – Old Fat Cadillac
    King Crimson – Dig Me
    Derek & The Dominos – Key To The Highway

  90. 90.

    recurvata

    ‘El Camino’, Elizabeth Cook.
    Your car is creepy man
    And not in a gangsta kind of way

  93. 93.

    SeattleCyclist

    Pizza King – Wussy
    Doesn’t even specifically refer to cars, but perfectly captures a reality that is so completely defined by the automobile that it doesn’t have to. Kind of like real life in America…..

    More obscure:
    Hot Ford by Farm Accident
    El Camino by The Naked Barbies

  94. 94.

    The Dangerman

    Uh-oh, there’s a flag on the field:

    Little Red Corvette

    I don’t think that song is about a car.

    ETA: You Can Sleep While I Drive (Melissa Etheridge)

  95. 95.

    JSinLA

    While not specifically about cars, I associate Jessica by The Allman Brothers and Green Onions from Booker T and the MGs as driving songs. Plus Freeway Jam by Jeff Beck.

  99. 99.

    gbear

    Driving – The Kinks (Arthur)

    Riding In My Car – NRBQ (All Hopped Up)

    edited to get the NRBQ stuff right

  101. 101.

    Это курам на смех

    Leo Kottke, Why Can’t You Fix My Car?

    Why can’t you fix my car?
    What kind of fool you are

    It’s not a Mercedes
    Why can’t you fix it please?
    Here I am on my knees.

    It’s just a Chevrolet
    I drive it every day

    Why can’t you fix my car?
    What kind of fool you are.

  102. 102.

    Funny Farmer

    So, so many good songs about cars, you’ve barely scratched the surface…

    from the Beach Boys, just about anything. 409, Fun Fun Fun, and Little Old Lady From Pasadena top that list IMHO…

    How about Reckless Driver and Reverend Jack’s Cadillac Church from Timbuk3?

    Workin For a Livin from Huey Lewis and the News and his hundred dollar car note…

    Did anybody mention Gary Numan and his song Cars yet?

    Just a gazillion songs about cars…

  103. 103.

    Gary K

    Well, this is totally off-the-wall, but I immediately thought of how David Lynch brilliantly uses Bowie’s “I’m Deranged” over the opening credits of “Lost Highway,” while a seemingly endless broken center line zooms by.

  105. 105.

    PappyG

    @raven: Cripes, I did not know he produced that. Never seen it, and probably never will now. I much prefer Sean Penn as an actor than director. It was actually based on my favorite Springsteen song ever, Highway Patrolman, also from the Nebraska album.

  106. 106.

    James Powell

    Every car/racing song by the Beach Boys, Jan & Dean, and the host of one/two hit surf bands. Tops are Fun, Fun, Fun & GTO.

    Every car/driving song by Chuck Berry. Tops are Maybellene & No Particular Place to Go.

    By the Time I Get to Phoenix, Glen Campbell, which is cheese but I like cheese.

  118. 118.

    daryljfontaine

    More motorcycles:

    Meat Loaf – Bat Out of Hell (“I’m gonna hit the highway like a battering ram on my silver Black Phantom bike…”)
    Love and Rockets – Motorcycle

    and my twisted favorite Not Doing the Speed Limit song:

    Offspring – Bad Habit

    D

  119. 119.

    The Dangerman

    Given I was born and raised in San Bernardino, how about some Bobby Troup love and “Route 66” ?

    ETA: Oops. Missed it at 55. Kinda fitting.

  122. 122.

    Waldo

    Well the girls would turn the color
    Of the avocado when he would drive
    Down their street in his El Dorado. …

    Pablo Picasso never got called an asshole.
    Not like you.

    – The Modern Lovers, Pablo Picasso

  124. 124.

    S-Curve

    Roadrunner, The Modern Lovers
    My House Has Wheels, Southern Culture on the Skids

  125. 125.

    NCSteve

    Stolen Car–Bruce Springsteen
    Pink Cadillac–Bruce Springsteen
    Racing in the Streets–Bruce Springsteen
    Cars–Gary Numan.

  126. 126.

    maryQ

    Jeffery Foucault Northbound 35.

    One of the best driving songs, AND one of the best sad break up songs, AND pays homage to Dover Beach by Mathew Arnold. What’s not to like?

  127. 127.

    Mike J

    Not driving, the opposite in fact. Parking.
    Back of a Car by Big Star

    For driving? Nothing beats going faster miles per hour. Road Runner by Johnny R

  129. 129.

    Claus Edcase

    Mercury Blues-David Lindley
    Harley David Son of a Bitch-Serge Gainsbourg
    (Special shout out to his Melody Nelson album)
    Key to Your Ferrarri-Thomas Dolby
    Drivin’ Kinks (Arthur)
    Passenger — Iggy Pop
    Car wheels on a gravel road–lucinda williams
    Drive she said – Stan Ridgeway

  134. 134.

    Adrian A Lesher

    Like a lot of car songs, these are really about sex. Rihanna, “Shut Up and Drive.” Bob Seger, “Night Moves.”

    There’s also “Brand New Cadillac” by the Clash, “Passenger Side,” by Wilco, and Scrubs, by TLC (“Hanging on the passenger side of his best friend’s ride, trying to holler at me.”), Wichita Lineman by Glen Campbell (lyrics by by Jimmy Webb: “I am a lineman for the county, and I drive the main road, searchin’ in the sun for another overload…”), “Rocket 88,” by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats (actually Ike Turner’s band, with songwriter Jackie Brenston singing, according to Wikipedia..this has been said to be the “first rock and roll song”).

  135. 135.

    trollhattan

    @gbear:
    They’re a local band so I don’t know how far awareness of them extends beyond the metroplex. That they’re known at all is a good thing!

  138. 138.

    JMG

    Glad somebody named “Dead Man’s Curve.” Having lost that draft pick, I will select “Tombstone Every Mile,” by Dave Dudley. Best country trucking song ever, plus it’s about Maine!

  140. 140.

    jetkestrel

    I’ve got a soft spot for “Interstate” by the Refreshments.

    There’s The Magnetic Fields’ “Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side,” too.

  143. 143.

    reality-based (the original, not the troll)

    “Baby, you can sleep while I drive” – Melissa Etheridge

    Come on baby let’s get out of this town
    I got a full tank of gas with the top rolled down
    There’s a chill in my bones
    I don’t want to be left alone
    So baby you can sleep while I drive
    I’ll pack my bag and load up my guitar
    In my pocket I’ll carry my harp
    I got some money I saved
    Enough to get underway
    And baby you can sleep while I drive

    link here –

    You can also see Etheridge and Springsteen do a great “Thunder road”

  144. 144.

    eclare

    “Be Thankful for What You Got” – William DeVaughn

    Though you may not drive a great big Cadillac….

  146. 146.

    The Golux

    I gotta go with the Bottle Rockets, “Thousand Dollar Car”:

    A thousand dollar car, it ain’t worth nothin’
    A thousand dollar car, it ain’t worth shit
    Might as well take your thousand dollars
    And set fire to it
    A thousand dollar car ain’t worth a dime
    You lose your thousand dollars every time
    Oh why did I ever buy a thousand dollar car

  148. 148.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    A couple that haven’t been mentioned yet:
    Rocket 88 by James Cotton (I think – it was one of those old blues guys Muddy, Little Walter, Howlin’ Wolf, etc. Seems like Bo Diddley should have had a good one too but I can’t think of it off the top of my head)
    Car Wheels on a Gravel Road by Lucinda Williams (there’s a couple others on that album that might qualify)
    Low Rider by War
    Long May You Run by Neil Young

  149. 149.

    Jim Parish

    Nobody’s mentioned “Convoy” yet?

    Throw in Cyndi Lauper’s “I Drove All Night”, too.

  151. 151.

    Jacel

    I’m glad to see some love already for “Driving” by The Kinks.

    A sleeper favorite by Jan & Dean is “Schlock Rod“. No other car worshiping song will sound the same after hearing this sick epic (Part 1 and Part 2).

    A favorite local band in 1970s Los Angeles that never broke through nationwide was The Naughty Sweeties. Their biggest local hit, “Alice“, is car related.

    Come to think of it, so is the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band’s song (and source of another band’s name) “Death Cab For Cutie“. Here they perform on a British TV show.

  154. 154.

    Cloudladder

    Bitchin’ Camaro by the Dead Milkmen.

    Bitchin’ Camaro, bitchin’ Camaro,
    donuts on your lawn,
    bitchin’ Camaro, bitchin’ Camaro,
    Tony Orlando and Dawn.

  155. 155.

    Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho

    Look at Miss Ohio – Gillian Welch
    Automobile Blues – Townes Van Zandt

  156. 156.

    opiejeanne

    Mutton Trucker – Joe Barnhill. Heard it while driving from LA to KC, probably somewhere in Oklahoma or Kansas.

    Highway to Hell. AC/DC?

  160. 160.

    Bill Dunlap

    C’mon, the R&R groundbreaker “Rocket 88” by IkeTurner’s band, tho not credited to him: “Goin’ round the corner, get a fifth; everybody in my car going to take a little nip.”

  163. 163.

    Scott Alloway

    My 409 – Beach Boys; When I Get My Wheels – Walter Egan; Old 55 – Tom Waits.

  164. 164.

    Scott Alloway

    DOA/Nightmare (We Were Flying Low) – Bloodrock. First heard this late at night in the mid-70son the Mass Pike heading to Connecticut from Maine. It’s a plane crash but … really haunting.

  165. 165.

    HuCat

    Driving with Your Eyes Closed – Don Henley;
    Driving too Fast – The Rolling Stones;
    Little Honda – Beach Boys;
    409 – Beach Boys…
    Gary Numan’s “Cars” goes without saying.

  166. 166.

    divF

    @Shell:
    “Diamonds on My Windshield” – Tom Waits. Very specific to driving in San Diego.

    I saw him perform this live in 1974 as an opening act for Frank Zappa, just after I pulled in from driving up from SoCal.

  167. 167.

    Bonnie

    She had Fun, Fun, Fun Until Her Daddy Took Her T-Bird Away by the Beach Boys, Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots by the Three Cheers, and Beep, Beep (can’t remember who did it).

  168. 168.

    Fnarf

    David Bowie, “Always Crashing In The Same Car”

    Go-Betweens, “Spring Rain” — “driving my first car, elbow in the breeze, with all these people I never ever need. These people are excited by their cars; I want surprises just like spring rain”.

    Smiths, “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out” — “driving in your car, I never want to go home”

    Tom Robinson Band, “2-4-6-8 Motorway”

    Buzzcocks, “Fast Cars”

    and best of all, Lucksmiths, “The Year Of Driving Languorously” — “darling, roll the window down, I can’t breathe”.

  176. 176.

    demit

    NRBQ’s “Me and the Boys”—
    “Just a bunch of guys gettin in the car, no matter who’s drivin or for how far…muffler’s little loud but we love that sound…”

    God, NRBQ was fun.

  177. 177.

    JR in WV

    “Pink Cadillac” – Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band

    I love you for your pink Cadillac
    Crushed velvet seats
    Riding in the back
    Cruising down the street
    Waving to the girls
    Feeling out of sight
    Spending all my money
    On a Saturday night
    Honey I just wonder what you do there in back
    Of your pink Cadillac
    Pink Cadillac

    I wanted to post this item earlier, but had to go to town, then helped Mrs J clean up after planting Iris on the creek bank, then fixed dinner, then got into the politics, but…. here it is!!!

  180. 180.

    Nero's Fiddle

    Terraplane Blues, Robert Jordan

    Also:
    Headed for an overload
    Stranded on a dusty road
    Kick me like you kicked before
    I can’t even feel the pain no more

  183. 183.

    Amir Khalid

    Trampled Under Foot — Led Zeppelin turn up the funk
    Brand New Used Car — Bruce depicts life through the eyes of a kid whose working-poor dad “sweats the same job from morning to morn” and still can’t afford a brand-new new car.
    Start Me Up — The Rolling Stones
    Ramrod — Bruce again. Funny that no one has mentioned it:: “She’s a hot-stepping Hemi with a four-on-the-floor, she’s a Roadrunner engine in a ’32 Ford” …Now that’s an old-school hotrod.

  184. 184.

    Amir Khalid

    @PappyG:
    A little-known connection between Bruce Springsteen and Sean Penn: before he married Madonna, Penn was briefly engaged to Bruce’s sister Pamela, who was in the cast of Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

  188. 188.

    galanx

    The greatest driving song is ‘Jessica’ by the Allman Brothers
    ‘A few that have been missed (driving, not cars):
    ‘Going Up the Country’; ‘On the Road Again’- Canned Heat
    “Truckin’ ” – Grateful Dead ‘Darlington County’ -Bruce Springsteen

  190. 190.

    Prufrocky

    “Thousand Dollar Car” by the Bottle Rockets
    “Let the Monkey Drive” by Sparks

  191. 191.

    Mo MacArbie

    “Jesus Built My Hotrod” – Ministry
    “Car Jam” – The Clash
    “Jerry Was a Racecar Driver” – Primus

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