50 Great Songs for Your American Road Trip Playlist

ByHelen Hours
Comments 43 Comments

“Get your motor runnin’, head out on the highway. Lookin’ for adventure, and whatever comes our way.” (Steppenwolf)

Imagine the scene. It’s you and your best buddies. The open road in front of you. Maybe you got the top down. The wind is in your hair. There are amazing views all around. A million possibilities await. You’re on a real American road trip. Life is good. Actually, life is amazing!

But the roads are long, and there’s only one thing that could make this trip ANY better! And that’s an epic soundtrack!

Music has been a big part of my life for as long as I can remember. From my mum’s cassette tapes on long family road trips to the many rock bands I’ve been in over the last twenty years, so I like to think my taste in music is pretty ok… (my friends might disagree).

Think of this as the soundtrack to your adventure. Every great road trip movie has one! And believe me, every time those tunes come on the radio, you’ll be taken straight back to that amazing trip you had!

There are some American classics and a few others I thought appropriate. There were so many more I could have added, but I limited it to 50! Enjoy!

50 Great Songs for Your American Road Trip Playlist

  1. Go Your Own Way – Fleetwood Mac
  2. Running on Empty – Jackson Browne
  3. Don’t Stop Believin’ – Journey
  4. Born in the USA – Bruce Springsteen
  5. Fortunate Son – Creedence Clearwater Revival
  6. Bright Side of the Road – Van Morrison
  7. Hotel California – The Eagles
  8. Free Fallin’ – Tom Petty
  9. Holiday Road – Lindsay Buckingham (the song from the National Lampoon’s Vacation movies)
  10. Road to Nowhere – Talking Heads
  11. I Drove All Night – Roy Orbison
  12. (I Just) Died in Your Arms Tonight – Cutting Crew
  13. Drive – The Cars
  14. I Wanna Know What Love Is – Foreigner
  15. Sweet Home Alabama – Lynyrd Skynrd
  16. California Girls – The Beach Boys
  17. Viva Las Vegas – Elvis Presley
  18. Highway to Hell – AC/DC
  19. The Gambler – Kenny Rogers
  20. California Dreamin’ – The Mamas and the Papas
  21. Danger Zone – Kenny Loggins
  22. Great Balls of Fire – Jerry Lee Lewis
  23. On the Road Again – Willie Nelson
  24. Maybe Tomorrow – Terry Bush (the theme song to The Littlest Hobo – remember that?)
  25. San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair) – Scott McKenzie
  26. Holding Out For A Hero – Bonnie Tyler
  27. Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen (a totally British song, but who can forget the opening scene in Wayne’s World?)
  28. American Woman – Guess Who
  29. Livin’ On a Prayer – Bon Jovi
  30. We Didn’t Start the Fire – Billy Joel
  31. Dude Looks Like a Lady – Aerosmith
  32. Sweet Child O’ Mine – Guns N’ Roses
  33. Country Road – John Denver
  34. (Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay  – Otis Redding
  35. Layla – Eric Clapton
  36. American Pie – Don McLean
  37. Break on Through – The Doors
  38. Don’t You (Forget About Me) – Simple Minds
  39. Born To Be Wild – Steppenwolf
  40. Alright Now – Free
  41. Paradise By The Dashboard Light – Meatloaf
  42. Black Velvet – Alannah Myles
  43. We Built This City – Starship
  44. Rockstar – Nickelback
  45. Black Betty – Ram Jam
  46. Crazy- Aerosmith
  47. Power of Love – Huey Lewis and the News
  48. Take It Easy – The Eagles
  49. Dancing in the Moonlight – Toploader
  50. Proud Mary – Tina Turner

And if you want to freak yourself out, watch Deliverance and add on the Duelling Banjos!

Play at full volume and enjoy! Have a missed any good ones?

 

I love to travel all over the world, but it's Africa that holds a special place in my heart. My mission is to help people travel Africa in an authentic, safe, fun, adventurous and ethical way.

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43 Comments

  2. I think I would just play Bruce Springsteen on repeat but I like the variety here! I particularly agree with the 1st song, Fleetwood Mac are just perfect road trip material!

    Reply

    1. Can’t beat a bit of Bruce! I wish I’d put Billy Joel on the list now. I love him! Fleetwood Mac, Go Your Own Way is my ultimate road trip song! Love it!!!!

      Reply

  4. Great list! But I think you forgot a crucial one with Turn the Page (Bob Seger). That’s a good one for when you’re driving and everyone else is asleep 🙂

    Reply

    1. Hey Matt, I’m ashamed to say I’ve never heard of that song before! But just listened and I like it! 🙂

      Yeah, I can definitely see that. One of those very cool laid back songs! Thanks for the tip. Need to add it to my playlists.

      Reply

  5. These are all amazing songs for a great roadtrip. I also love the photos you posted, that adventure just rocks and I wish to experience that too where you get to be wild in having fun with your friends. I hope I could have that roadtrip soon. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply

    1. Thanks for the lovely comment Joseff!

      Get booking or planning your road trip!!! I have some other posts on what we did when we were there also! 🙂

      Reply

  6. Not only the playlist but also the “picture this…” is awesome!
    Thank you ever so much for the best webpage with the best playlist, you rock!
    Gonna have a blast during the upcoming roadtrip (Chicago->Yellowstone-> Vegas-> Route66 Chicago)
    ‘The wait is so long!

    Reply

  7. It’s a good play list, and you did include Billy Joel, so no worries. Even though I’m an American, I began my 30-year DJ career back in 1982 because of the music I heard coming out of the U.K. in the 70s and early 80s, (can’t drive without Joy Division/New Order, or side 2 of Abbey Road by you-know-who) so my road trip play list differs significantly. One exception is “Dancing in the Moonlight”. I just listened to the Toploaders version, which certainly isn’t bad at all, but I have to say I prefer the American original by King Harvest. “Alright (sic.) Now” is another that I think I have on my BlackBerry for road trips, too.

    Reply

    1. Hi Terry,

      I’m from Liverpool, and work in Manchester, so very familiar with the bands you mention! 🙂

      As a foreigner driving in the US, I like to listen to a lot of American songs! The best playlists are the ones that make you happy! Happy driving!

      Helen

      Reply

  11. I think your blog is fantastic, I just read your entire Cali road trip and it’s going to be very similar to mine and my friends except we are starting in San Fran and heading down to Diego. We’re hiring a convertible mustang for the job (we are two guys so we are doing it in true ‘brits on tour’ style). Reading all of it, you’d got us even more completely stoked than we already were.

    Cheers for the write up.

    Reply

    1. Thanks so much Ian! 🙂 Comments like this are what keep me motivated to keep doing what I’m doing! Glad you enjoyed my posts! Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      Wow, convertible mustang, now THAT is how you do an American road trip!!! 🙂 Have a great time and let me know you get on!!!!!

      Reply

  12. What a fantastic song list, lots of great music to listen to even if my road trips are mostly the North Yorkshire Moors. My few additions would be: Dakota (Stereophonics), I Need an Energy (Greg Holden) and certainly a bit of U2 and Coldplay.

    Thanks for compiling this though, lots of excellent choices.

    Happy travelling

    Reply

  13. this is a great list. I’m heading on a big road trip in the USA this weekend and downloaded all the songs. Very excited now. Thanks

    Reply

  15. Thanks for sharing your listing. We did six road-trips, 3 weeks each, through the USA so far. Every year has it favorites. But this one is our favorite: Lonestar – What About Now (Lonely Grill).
    I was searching on road trip music as I’m an Indoor Spinning instructor and wanted to make a “Road trip” themed lesson. Your input will for sure help me and good to keep the listing for our next road trip to come! Peter – Netherlands.

    Reply

  20. There are many reasons why travelers decide to take a road trip. For many with larger families, a road trip could be much more economical than flying. For many others, nothing beats becoming a good old street map and plotting where to proceed. There are numerous major reasons why choosing a road trip is this wonderful adventure. 1 popular explanation is that the road trip provides the excitement of seeing what’s round the corner. For the spontaneous road tripper, a car ride to where the road takes you’ll result in many surprises along the way.

    Reply

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