Flyover America: 10 (More) Songs for an American Road Trip

Nothing mockable here, my dear. And, after all, if our lovely readers didn’t mock me for Mac Davis and Shelley West, then they are clearly exceedingly nice people and we have nothing to fear.

And yes, America may be among the most beautiful and poignant songs of all time. Thanks for the video. I love all Simon & Garfunkel albums for nighttime driving in particular.

Thanks lady. Are we the only two people in America who don’t get beat up for posting a top 10 list? Can we possibly be that good and right? Come on people!

I can’t mock either of you because “Mexican Radio” by Wall of Voodoo is on my official road trip CD. :-)

That is a very brave thing to admit in public. Lucky you that no last names are required, eh? ;-)

On a separate note—so not nice of you to plant that earworm in my head.

Two that always go through my head when I travel to particular places:

I Love LA, by Randy Newman

and

Dirty Water, by the Standells.

I will be singing Mexican Radio for the rest of the night too, don’t worry.

I Love LA made me think of another good one: “Hell Looks a Lot Like LA” by Less Than Jake. It seems like you may have already been introduced to another LTJ classic, “Never Going Back to New Jersey” in a previous post.

I love your list, but would have to add Sweet Home Alabama (Skynyrd; obvious, but still a great song and a crowd pleaser); and 2) Thunder Road (The Boss; because it is one of the Best. Songs. Ever.) I’d probably throw in a bit of old-school hip-hop—Joy and Pain (Rob Base), Wild Thing (Tone Loc), Now that We Found Love (Heavy D), and anything by En Vogue. Because you need some tunes for dancing in your seat as you drive.

Oh…and you need a little JT in there, too. Mexico, Steamroller, How Sweet It Is. And some Motown. And how about American PIe?

Okay, at this rate, my road trip is going to need to be Jersey to Seattle to fit it all in. :)

Gwen

Ah, but we had some loose rules keeping us in line—had to have a state or place name in the song title or in the core of the song and, since it’s Flyover America, had to be about someplace in the U.S. but no LA or NYC. My plain old road trip list would look different—though some of these would still be on it.

As for American Pie, S&G claimed my all-America spot. I lurve them.

Since I already threw out Mexican Radio, I can also add “I Can’t Drive 55” by Sammy Hagar to the slightly embarrassing list (ok, I guess that’s LA so it doesn’t follow the rules). He should’ve done a Canadian mix called I Can’t Drive 95.

Ooh, I definitely like the spirit of “I Can’t Drive 55.”

There must be some Motown that would fit the bill…

Chris—I was about to say I was worried about you but realized that would be unfair. When I’m not listening to the kinds of stuff listed above, I spend A LOT of time listening to 80s music. But that’s a discussion for a different blog.

Gwen—I’m building a new no-rules list for myself. All of yours (ok, maybe not Wild Thing) are going straight onto it….

My no-rules list would include “The Message” by Grandmaster Flash. For city driving.

I need to look into the Motown issue. How could I have missed it? Hmmm. Thanks for pointing it out Gwen.

Lists! The fun! The pain!

Oh yeah, and Car Wash. LOVE Car Wash. (The song and the movie) And Low Rider. Go ahead, commence mocking.

OK, I’m going to try and follow the rules, and add a few from my library. I’ll have to make this a playlist and download some of yours. (How do I not know that Waits song… I thought I had all of his stuff!)

Going to California, Led Zeppelin
Anchorage, Michelle Shocked (before she was born again)
California Stars, Billy Bragg and Wilco
Erie Canal, Bruce Springstein version
El Paso, Marty Robbins (if I’ve never made you listen to Gunfighter Ballads…I will on the next road trip!)
Walking in Memphis, Marc Cohn
Blame it on the Tetons, Modest Mouse
James River Blues, Old Crow Medicine Show

Ooh, nice additions to the list. The only one I’ll squabble over is Walking in Memphis—I always want to like it but it just kind of gets on my nerves. I can’t figure out the why of it. And I love Marty Robbins! Oh the things you learn about friends when they post comments on your blog posts. World Hum, bringing friends together one comment at a time.

Marty Robbins is the list overlap—we ran the numbers on him on my list, too. I find El Paso a little irritating, but I love Devil Woman.

Don’t you have a t-shirt that says Devil Woman? If not, you should (and I mean that in a nice way).

Great list.

One I’d campaign for list is Chuck Berry’s “Promised Land.” Although the title isn’t a place, the song names a lot of places. The same goes for Springsteen’s “The Promised Land,” which ends up on every road trip CD/playlist as a matter of principle. Peter Wolf’s “Nothing But the Wheel” runs a close second (“Staying clear of the interstate, I’m seeking out those old two lanes just trying to explain the way I feel.”)

A few to consider:
Conor Oberst’s “Moab,” the centerpiece of my playlist for a Utah trip last summer. “There’s nothing that the road cannot heal.”
Hem’s version of “Rainy Night in Georgia.”
Josh Ritter’s “Harrisburg.”
Jeff Black’s “Birmingham Road.”
The Band’s “Back to Memphis.”
Alejandro Escovedo’s “Arizona.” Have another drink on me…
Arlo’s “City of New Orleans.”
Greg Trooper’s excellent “Twenty Two Miles to Bristol.”
B-52’s “Private Idaho.”
Blue Rodeo’s “Florida.”
Dylan (and Sheryl Crow’s) “Mississippi.”
Springsteen’s version of “Viva Las Vegas.” (There’s also “Youngstown”)
Greg Brown’s languid “Eugene.”
Carrie Newcomer’s “Moon Over Tucson.”
CCR’s “Lodi.”
Dave Alvin’s “Abilene.”

Golden Earring ‘s Radar Love     “I’ve been drivin all night my hand’s wet on the wheel”

Forgive me, Flyover Nation, for I have sinned.

The Doors. LA Woman. Dare you not to turn it up while driving down the Pacific Coast Highway.

Great eclectic list!

I could listen to Allison Krauss for a good couple of hundred miles before even changing artists.

Jim 1—Great list. I am so ashamed over leaving Private Idaho off the list! I’m starting to think that, in addition to going on a cross-country bus trip together (like I suggested in Sophia’s list comment section), we should also open a travel music compilation service. At the very least, we would all have fun sitting around talking this stuff over and over and over.

Frankie—I’ll take a listen.

Pam—You are forgiven. It was a sin worth risking.

Jim 2—She’s one of my favorites as well. Crazy Like Me is just absolutely positively one of my favorite songs ever. (No comments on that one from the people I know, please.)

Songs are indelibly etched into personal experience:

Bob Segers’ ‘Roll Me Away’ gassing up in Nebraska
Dylan’s Desolation Row traveling down a sad road, in a chair, staring.
Allman Brothers ‘Ramblin Man’, anywhere, anytime, when I was twenty-five.
Simon and Garfunkel’s ‘America’ sitting in my dorm in awe of what the future has in store (Thanks for that reminder, Jenna.)
Peter Paul and Mary’s ‘Early Morning Rain’ getting off a plane in Providence
Emily Lou Harris’s ‘Wheels’ after leaving a girlfriend
Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik on a train to Salzburg
Sinatra’s ‘Autumn in New York,’ glittering clouds and shimmering clouds in canyons of steel
Nat Cole’s version of ‘Route 66’ on any open road
Jim Croce’s ‘It Doesn’t Have to be that Way’ driving home to my love on a snowy Christmas Eve
Stones, ‘Can’t You Hear Me Knocking, driving to Denver, seeing the Rockies for the first time

And too many more to mention.  Great songs above…Hem’s Rainy Night…and remember Brook Benton’s cut.  And yeah, Alison Krause.

@jim, Carrie Newcomer anything—I don’t suppose the Geography of Light qualifies as a place, but still…
others
Detroit City—many
By the Rio Grande—Tish Hinojosa
Hill of Alabam—Claire Lynch, Kathy Mattea
Leavin’ West Virginia—Kathy Mattea
Kennesaw Line—Claire Lynch
All American Bluegrass Girl—Rhonda Vincent (has Missouri and a bunch of other places)
Kentucky Borderline—Rhonda Vincent
Leaving Cottondale—Alison Brown
Tennessee Mountain Home—Dolly Parton
Red Dirt Girl—Emmylou Harris (road trip through Alabama)
Kentucky—Gail Davies

Charles and Kerry—Thanks for chiming in. Great lists. Charles, you made me want to create an experience/memory-driven list.

Now, speaking of lists, what other kinds of U.S. travel-related lists would you like to see? I’ve got some ideas for future pieces but am always up for suggestions.

Jenna,
How about top ten bars for indigenous alcohol—is there such a thing?—like a pint of Guinness in Dublin, or slivovitz in Vienna, etc.  Name the city, the bar and the drink.

As for an experience/memory driven list I once heard NIkki Federman of Russ and Daughters say that food was central to all of her experiences.  Most or many of us, however, I think would say music was central to many of our experiences.  So about songs that remind one of disastrous relationships?  Only kidding.

Thanks Charles. Since we focus on U.S. only here on the Flyover America portion of the World Hum blog, it’d be a little less indigenous, a little more….something but…something fun. I wrote a post a while back about one of my favorite place-related drink experiences (drank a Presbyterian while watching the Peabody ducks do their fountain thing in Memphis) but a list would be a great way to revisit the drinks topic.

As for Russ and Daughters—great, now I want lox. You buying?

Russ and D for the best Irish Salmon amongst three million other choices..  As for me buying, I look like the schnook, Schnuer, don’t I?  Okay, so I am.

How about the ten best old bars in NYC, that’s only been done about sixty-thousand times. 

And speaking of drink related experiences these folks have a nice site:  http://aphr.wordpress.com/

How about unique bars: prisons converted into bars, which reminds me of the ‘76 House in Tappan, NY, where Major Andre was held.  And I know you only want American, but there must be places like Dick Macks’ in Dingle, Ireland, where you can get your boots repaired on the left side, drink at the bar on the right side, and explore the chaos in the middle.    Must be a place/s like that in the States.

First, to the schnook question: as I’m not sure if you’re a Charles I know (but I don’t think you are), I cannot comment on your schnookiness. So you’re safe there.

And the converted spaces list is a good idea—I’ve got some favorites so look for it coming soon(ish). I may need to expand it beyond bars—or not. That’ll be the big surprise finish.

And, Sir Charles, I hope you’ll return to Flyover America again and again. Your voice has been a fun addition to the ongoing conversation Sophia and I have with readers. And, of course, all schnooks welcome (not that I’m saying you are or not).

Top Ten Geek Travel Destinations! Like the UFO museum in Roswell, NM or the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL.

Jenna,
there are a couple of prisons that have been converted into…hotels.  I think one’s in Massachusetts.
I once stayed in a B&b that had been a convent. been to a music venue which used to be a sewing factory and the seats there are pews from and old church.  also know two music venues which used to be firehouses, and another—in Canada—which still is both. artists’ dressing room is also where fire people store their outfits and gear, and artists walk past firetrucks to get into venue. but, as I said, Canada. and in Ireland, a bank which is now a nightclub.
by the way, songs of places got me thinking about Canadian ones, did a whole post about that over at Music Road, come check it out if you’d like. got me thinking about Ireland and Scotland now,  both of which I’ll have to do by region, I think…

Yup, definitely in Mass—the Liberty Hotel is, flat-out, one of my all-time favorite hotels. I revised a Boston guidebook last year and was lucky enough to stay at the Liberty during my research. And I’ll definitely check out Music Road—is it musicroad.com?

Jenna,
com on over. it’s http://musicroad.blogspot.com

i am coming kerry.