Summer Road Trip Songs

By Amy Nutt


There's nothing like a great soundtrack for your road trip to really make the miles fly by. Rather than just bringing a collection of your favorite CDs, why not look into making your own mixed disc with all the favorite songs of everyone who will be going along on the trip.

With the right tunes, you can really enjoy even the longest of road trips. Just think back to all the movies you've seen where they play upbeat music as the characters speed across the countryside. We all want to be like that, so, while you can't montage your trip into a two minute scene, you can certainly spice it up with some good music.

Choosing Summer Road Trip Songs

Your songs don't have to actually involve road trips, but it sure lends a fun air if they talk about traveling and cars, which is why most of the tunes on the majority of song lists are all about being on the move. This just seems appropriate for a car full of people whizzing down the highway and they are also usually songs that you already know and can sing along to.

Look for songs that are upbeat and will keep you bobbing your head and tapping the steering wheel . . . the last thing you want is to fall asleep to some slow ballad that doesn't inspire anyone in the car to sing. Songs that are easy to sing along to are an excellent way to draw fellow passengers out of their stupor and get them bouncing around and air-strumming to the music.

When you do find those songs for a road trip, it's a good idea to put a lot onto your disk or MP3 player. This is because a long trip will quickly exhaust your options. You don't want to be listening to the same ten songs over and over again every hour! So consider putting at least 50-100 songs together for your road trip compilation. This will give you a good 4-8 hours of music and you won't have to get bored of any particular song, unless, of course, you want to and hit repeat over and over.

If you are having troubles finding enough songs for the compilation, recruit your passengers. Get them to each chip in 10 or 20 songs that they enjoy and you can all be introduced to some new tunes while also enjoying your own favorites. Mix the song order up a bit so you won't have each person's favorites all in a row . . . this way it will be more interesting for everyone and if there is something you don't really like, it's only one song long.

While you will most certainly have your own favorite music, there are a few timeless pieces that simply must be included on every summer road trip song list. Here they are:

Top Road Trip Songs

- Hotel California, The Eagles - Ramblin' Man, The Allman Brothers - Highway Star, Deep Purple - California Dreaming, Beach Boys - Life is a Highway, Tom Cochrane - Truckin', Grateful Dead - Light My Fire, The Doors - Roadhouse Blues, The Doors - American Woman, Guess Who - One Headlight, The Wallflowers

This list could go on for days, as you can well imagine, but these are some of the best songs out there for listening on the road. They are great to sing along to, they boost morale and get everyone bopping in the car, all ingredients for a great summer road trip song list.

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