The Top 10 Road Trip Tracks According to Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone recently released an updated list of its Top 500 songs ever. The magazine polled more than 250 musicians, artists and producers to come up with its definitive list and we trawled through it to find the top ten road trip tracks among them.

Like any list of this kind, it’s going to be contentious. Where’s Highway to Hell? Where’s Route 66? There’s no sign of Steppenwolf, no Sheryl Crow or Cyndi Lauper, no Wilson Pickett or Willie Nelson.

Take a look at the ten road-themed tracks we did glean from the Top 500 and then have at it in the comments.

Old Town Road Lil Nas X

Squeaking in at number 490 is the earworm of 2019 Old Town Road by Lil Nas X featuring country boy Billy Ray Cyrus. The story of cowboy runaway it became the longest-running Number One of all time.

Singalong: “Riding on a horse, ha, You can whip your Porsche, I been in the valley. You ain't been up off the porch, now” 

Cross Road Blues Robert Johnson

At number 481 is Robert Johnson’s Cross Road Blues, the 1936 ballad of betrayal on the road that some say is about Johnson selling his soul to the devil in exchange for his guitar-playing genius.

Singalong: “I went to the crossroad, fell down on my knees. I went to the crossroad, fell down on my knees, Asked the Lord above, ‘Have mercy, now, save poor Bob if you please.’”

Little Red Corvette Prince

His Purple Highness makes several appearances in the Top 500, and who could argue against 1982’s Little Red Corvette (at number 360 on the Rolling Stone list) being on any road trip playlist? Prince reportedly even wrote the song in the back of car – guitarist Lisa Coleman’s Ford Edsel. It was, however, pink.

Singalong: “And honey, I say Little Red Corvette, Baby, you're much too fast (Oh, oh), Little Red Corvette, You need a love that's gonna last.”

Leader of the Pack The Shangri-Las

In 1965 The Shangri-Las sang about The Leader of the Pack - a bad boy biker who came from the wrong side of town and the girl whose “folks were always putting him down.” Coming in at number 316 if the lyrics of this teen tragedy don’t get you revved up then maybe the motorcycle sound effects will.

Singalong: “As he drove away on that rainy night I begged him to go slow. But whether he heard, I'll never know.”

Wichita Lineman Glen Campbell

Glen Campbell’s 1968 ode to the lonely working man who spends his life on the road is said to have come to him as he crossed the Kansas-Oklahoma border. Rolling Stone places Wichita Lineman just oustide the top 200 at 206.

Singalong: “I am a lineman for the county, And I drive the main road, Searchin' in the sun for another overload.”

Thunder Road Bruce Springsteen

The first appearance by The Boss in our list is his 1975 banger Thunder Road, a tale of Mary and her boyfriend who have “one last chance to make it real.” The title is borrowed from a 1958 film starring Robert Mitchum as a bootlegger with a Ford two-door sedan which can’t be caught. Thunder Road has previously been voted the greatest song of all time by a Pennsylvania university radio station but is only 111 on the Rolling Stone list.

Singalong: “Lying out there like a killer in the sun, Hey I know it's late, we can make it if we run, Oh oh oh oh Thunder Road, sit tight, take hold, Thunder Road.”

Roadrunner The Modern Lovers

The Modern Lovers’ Roadrunner didn’t get off to the fastest start. Recorded a s demo in 1972 it wasn’t released until four years later. But then this road trip tribute about a kid in a car with the radio blasting took off as fast as the simple two chords that power the song. Rolling Stone reckons it’s significant enough to rank at 77.

Singalong: “Roadrunner, roadrunner, Going faster miles an hour, Gonna drive to the Stop 'n' Shop, With the radio on at night, And me in love with modern moonlight.”

Fast Car Tracy Chapman

As newly minted driver it was Tracy Chapman’s Fast Car that was, more often than not, playing on the Audioline tape player in my first car. The freedom of the road, and the prospect of escape was in 1988 - and still is - especially powerful. Rolling Stone puts Fast Car at 71 on its list.

Singalong: “You got a fast car, I want a ticket to anywhere, Maybe we make a deal, Maybe together we can get somewhere.”

Gasolina Daddy Yankee featuring Glory

Kicking off the Rolling Stone Top 50 and the second-highest rank road trip song on the list is one that , we must confess, we totally missed. 2010’s Gasolina by Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee was inspired by the cat calls of drivers offering girls a ride to parties. This reggaeton smash should get your motor running.

Singalong: “A ella le gusta la gasolina, (Dame más gasolina), Cómo le encanta la gasolina, (Dame más gasolina)”

Born to Run Bruce Springsteen

Springsteen said that he wanted to make “the greatest rock record I’d ever heard” when he wrote Born to Run about a pair of young lovers on the roads of New Jersey. At number 27 on the Rolling Stone Top 500 he certainly came close.

Singalong: “In the day, we sweat it out on the streets, Of a runaway American dream, At night, we ride through mansions of glory, In suicide machines, Sprung from cages out on Highway 9, Chrome wheeled, fuel injected and steppin' out over the line.”

For more road trip tunes check out these “melody roads” that Rattle & Hum as you drive.