The News Wheel Automotive News Staff
We’ve already shared some of our favorite road trip music. Now, we thought we’d explore some of our top tunes that feature cars in case you need some more selections to add to your next travel playlist to help set the mood for your journey.
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Morgan
One of my favorite songs about cars/driving is “80s Mercedes” by Maren Morris. It’s the perfect song for cruising with the windows down, especially on backcountry roads when the weather warms up.
Articles by Morgan Pritchett
Amanda
“Life Is a Highway” by Rascal Flatts will always be a classic road trip song. It’s definitely the best thing to come out of the “Cars” movie.
Articles by Amanda Drago
Aaron DiManna
There are almost as many songs about cars as there are cars, but one of my favorites is and will always be “Silver Thunderbird” by Marc Cohn. It’s the perfect mixture of smoky-voiced singing, piano-led blues rock, and heartfelt nostalgia. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that I have some pretty clear childhood memories of tooling around town with my dad and brother jamming out to this tune, which has no thematic relevance whatsoever — but it’s a rad song you should probably listen to anyway. Honorable mention: Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car.”
Articles by Aaron DiManna
Kimiko
This is entirely hokey, corny, and cheesy — but I low-key love “Déjà vu” by Dave Rodgers. It began as a song for Initial D, a racing-themed anime, but you may know it as “That meme song that plays in every YouTube drifting compilation ever.” Its lyrics are a little ambiguous when it comes to cars and driving, but the song itself is almost inseparable from drifting and racing imagery. On a less-goofy note, the “Mad Max: Fury Road” soundtrack is phenomenal, and completely captures the intensity of a cinematic car chase through a brutal wasteland.
Articles by Kimiko Kidd
Caleb
I agonized over this one, but my final answer was always going to be Tom Petty. With its relentlessly propulsive beat, nasty fuzz guitar riff, and evocative lyrics, “Runnin’ Down a Dream” is the perfect song about the experience of driving, the perfect song about listening to music while driving, and the perfect song to play while driving. Also in my top 5: “Brand New Cadillac” by the Clash, “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road” by Lucinda Williams, “Son of Mustang Ford” by Swervedriver, and “Windfall” by Son Volt.
Articles by Caleb Cook
Whitney
Andrew McMahon’s “Maps for the Getaway” is one of my go-to driving songs. Even though the singer and his love are low on cash and paid holidays, they enjoy the constant of having gas in the tank, maps to navigate by, and the permanence of their relationship (“somehow you’re still riding in my car…” “all we have is time…”). For me, it’s a lighthearted, grounding song that pays tribute to recent road trips…and future ones that my husband and I will go on. Honorable mentions: Joshua Radin’s “Vegetable Car” and Death Cab for Cutie’s “Soul Meets Body.”
Articles by Whitney Russell
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Whitney Russell is a current resident of Dayton, though her spirit can be found beach-bumming in Puerto Rico (the land of her half-Puerto Rican heritage). When not adventuring through the exciting world of car news, she can be found hiking with her husband and their two dogs, visiting nephews and nieces, discovering new memes, thrifting, decorating, crafting, woodburning, researching random things, and escaping into a great movie. See more articles by Whitney.
