Your RV is packed, stocked, fueled up and ready to hit the highway for another summer adventure. You’ve got your favourite travel partner beside you and the weather forecast is clear. The only thing missing is a great line up of your favorite road trip tunes to make your journey even more enjoyable. Here’s a few all-time favourites to kick off your journey.
Take It Easy – The Eagles
The perfect track for kicking off a summer road trip. From the opening chord to the soaring harmonies that made the band legendary, Take It Easy always sounds best booming out of your RV’s speakers on a sunny day.
The Weight – The Band
Iconic due to its use in the road-movie classic Easy Rider, The Weight tells a story of travel and redemption across North America and will forever be synonymous with rolling down the open highway. The chorus is also fun to sing alongside your co-pilot on long trips.
America – Simon and Garfunkel
It’s hard to pick just one Simon and Garfunkel classic for our playlist, but we have to go with America, due to its sweeping lyrics of friendship, adventure and travel. It also scores points for the always hummable intro.
Lynyrd Skynyrd – Sweet Home Alabama
With a chorus that begs for a singalong, images of warm southern breezes and locales, and a stomping boogie beat, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s anthem of southern hospitality is a bona fide road trip classic.
Born to Run – Bruce Springsteen
This track is a virtual ignition to pulling out of town and hitting the road for parts unknown. Springsteen has dozens of automotive classics in his catalog, but Born To Run rises and falls like a mountain pass and cruises like a four lane interstate on a sunny day.
Graceland – Paul Simon
We think it’s totally acceptable to have two entries featuring Paul Simon on this list, particularly if it’s from his 80’s classic Graceland album. Forever a storyteller, Simon conjures up images of the American South juxtaposed against iconic rhythm and blues and travel themes. Just listening to the title track almost makes you want to plan an RV trip to Tennessee immediately.
On the Road Again – Willie Nelson
There’s nothing better than hitting the road and leaving your cares behind, and this Willie Nelson masterpiece is about everything RV trips stand for: fun, friendship, and an endless highway.
Life is a Highway – Tom Cochrane
Mr. Cochrane name-checks a few essential stops throughout North America, all the while letting us know that being on the road is as much a state of mind as it is a state of travel. With an explosive, sing-along chorus, Life Is a Highway makes the cut on our list on sheer fun factor alone.
Running on Empty – Jackson Browne
A road trip is an adventure, and Jackson Browne’s breakout hit from the 70’s lets us know that the journey, not the destination, is the vital part of the trip. From the opening line (“Lookin’ out at the road rushing out under the wheels”) we are perfectly sucked into the Mr. Browne’s story of escape and finding one’s self, somewhere on a highway.
Do you have a road trip track that we’re missing? Let us know in the comments below!
Cover photo credit: Kurt Pennington. Hazelton Rest Area, West Virginia, USA
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