Some songs are made for the open road. Whether it’s a cross-country haul, a late-night escape, or just the daily commute with the volume up, the right song can make any drive feel like something more. This list covers some of the best songs about driving ever created.
Be sure to check out the Songs About Driving Playlist at the bottom of this page.
Best Songs About Driving
1. “Running Down a Dream” – Tom Petty
Lyric Sample: “Workin’ on a mystery, goin’ wherever it leads.”
This 1989 rock classic is about chasing your ambitions with everything you’ve got. The highway is a backdrop for a man who decided a long time ago that he wasn’t going to stop until he got there.
2. “Drive” – Halsey
Lyric Sample: “All we do is think about the feelings that we hide.”
Halsey’s 2015 track is about being in love with someone and not quite knowing how to say it. They drive around because being in motion feels easier than standing still and admitting what they feel.
3. “Road to Nowhere” – Talking Heads
Lyric Sample: “Takin’ that ride to nowhere, we’ll take that ride.”
Released in the mid-’80s, “Road to Nowhere” is about enjoying the journey even if you don’t know where it will end.
4. “Highway Star” – Deep Purple
Lyric Sample: “Nobody gonna take my car, I’m gonna race it to the ground.”
One of the great driving songs in hard rock history, “Highway Star” is about pure speed and the almost romantic obsession with a car that can deliver it.
Related: Best Songs About Cars
5. “On the Road Again” – Willie Nelson
Lyric Sample: “Like a band of gypsies, we go down the highway.”
Nelson wrote this famous country tune about the life of a touring musician. It celebrates the lifestyle of traveling with friends and sharing music with new people every night.
Related: Best Campfire Songs
6. “Six Days on the Road” – Dave Dudley
Lyric Sample: “I got my diesel wound up, and she’s a-runnin’ like never before.”
This 1963 trucking classic is about pushing through fatigue and regulations to get home. Dudley is a working driver counting down the miles with everything he has left.
7. “Fast Car” – Tracy Chapman
Lyric Sample: “You got a fast car, is it fast enough so we can fly away?”
Chapman’s hit tells a story about using a car as a literal escape from poverty and a hard life. The car also represents a desperate hope for a better future in a different place.
Related: “Fast Car” Meaning
8. “Open Road Song” – Eve 6
Lyric Sample: “My pile shakes as I hit eighty on the open road.”
This ’90s alt-rock song is about driving alone with the music up and no one to answer to, the road working as a kind of therapy when everything else feels stuck.
9. “Radar Love” – Golden Earring
Lyric Sample: “I’ve been drivin’ all night, my hands wet on the wheel.”
Golden Earring built this 1973 rock tune around a simple idea: nothing makes you push harder on the accelerator than someone you love waiting at the other end.
10. “Take It Easy” – Eagles
Lyric Sample: “Well, I’m a-running down the road trying to loosen my load, I’ve got seven women on my mind.”
“Take It Easy” is about standing at a crossroads, literally and figuratively, trying not to let the pressures of life crush the good things still in front of you.
Related: “Take It Easy” Song Meaning
11. “Roll on Down the Highway” – Bachman-Turner Overdrive
Lyric Sample: “Drove so fast that my eyes can’t see.”
BTO’s 1974 hard rock hit is about the grind and the glory of life on the road as a working band, the highway being both a burden and the only place they want to be.
12. “Rearviewmirror” – Pearl Jam
Lyric Sample: “I took a drive today, time to emancipate.”
This Pearl Jam track is about the relief of driving away from something that hurt you, watching it shrink in the mirror until it disappears.
13. “Drive” – Black Coffee & David Guetta ft. Delilah Montagu
Lyric Sample: “So I’ll drive ten thousand miles into the dead of night, till I run out of love for you, baby.”
This 2018 house track is about trying to put enough distance between yourself and a relationship that ended.
14. “Rockin’ Down the Highway” – The Doobie Brothers
Lyric Sample: “Got those highway blues, can’t you hear the motor run?”
The Doobie Brothers’ 1972 single is about hitting the road after a breakup and finding that the open road is a pretty good substitute.
15. “Ride” – Lana Del Rey
Lyric Sample: “I hear the birds on the summer breeze, I drive fast.”
This 2012 indie pop tune is about living completely untethered, choosing the road and the freedom it represents over anything stable or permanent.
16. “Thunder Road” – Bruce Springsteen
Lyric Sample: “Except roll down the window and let the wind blow back your hair.”
Springsteen’s classic rock song is about two people on the edge of their hometown choosing each other and the open road over staying stuck in a life that was never going to be enough.
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17. “Castle on the Hill” – Ed Sheeran
Lyric Sample: “I’m on my way, drivin’ at ninety down those country lanes.”
In this nostalgia-filled track, Sheeran sings about driving through the landscape of his childhood and recognizing how much time has passed and how different everything has turned out.
Related: Best Ed Sheeran Songs
18. “Two Lane Blacktop” – Rob Zombie
Lyric Sample: “Where are ya goin’, I’m goin’ to Amarillo, a zero to a sixty in a 7.5.”
Loosely based on the 1971 road film of the same name, “Two Lane Blacktop” is about two people with twenty bucks between them and a car built for speed, living entirely in the moment of the drive.
19. “I Drove All Night” – Cyndi Lauper
Lyric Sample: “I drove all night to get to you, is that alright?”
“I Drove All Night” is a 1980s pop-rock song about wanting someone so badly that driving through the night to reach them feels like the only reasonable thing to do.
20. “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66” – Nat King Cole
Lyric Sample: “It winds from Chicago to LA, more than two thousand miles all the way.”
This classic jazz standard is like a musical map for one of the most famous roads in America. It lists the various stops along the way, making it one of the most popular songs about driving in history.
21. “Freeway of Love” – Aretha Franklin
Lyric Sample: “We riding on the freeway of love in my pink Cadillac.”
Franklin uses the highway (mostly) as a metaphor for a relationship. She sings about two people moving toward each other at full speed with no intention of slowing down.
22. “Vroom Vroom” – Charli XCX
Lyric Sample: “Lavender Lamborghini, roll up in a blue bikini.”
“Vroom Vroom” is a 2015 pop song about confidence and power, using the car as shorthand for a woman who is fully in control and moving at her own speed, regardless of who’s watching.
23. “Roadrunner” – The Modern Lovers
Lyric Sample: “Roadrunner, roadrunner, going faster miles an hour.”
Jonathan Richman’s 1972 proto-punk classic is about driving fast past strip malls and radio towers in the dark, finding something beautiful in the mundane landscape of suburban America.
24. “I Can’t Drive 55” – Sammy Hagar
Lyric Sample: “Go on and write me up for 125, post my face, wanted dead or alive.”
Hagar wrote this in 1984 after getting pulled over for speeding, turning his frustration with the national speed limit into a hard rock statement about personal freedom and the open road.
25. “Born to Be Wild” – Steppenwolf
Lyric Sample: “Get your motor runnin’, head out on the highway.”
Though often associated with motorcycles, this 1968 classic is one of the most famous road trip songs ever created. It’s about seeking out adventure and whatever comes your way on the open road.
Related: Best Songs About Motorcycles
26. “A13” – Billy Bragg
Lyric Sample: “Take the A road, the okay road that’s the best.”
Bragg wrote this as an English version of “Route 66,” focusing on a road that leads out of London. It’s a humorous and localized take on the classic travel song.
27. “Drivin’ My Life Away” – Eddie Rabbitt
Lyric Sample: “I’m drivin’ my life away, lookin’ for a better way for me.”
Eddie Rabbitt’s 1980 country hit is about the exhausting, endless life of a driver on the road, with the wipers beating, the miles piling up, and home feeling further away with every hour.
28. “Heading Out to the Highway” – Judas Priest
Lyric Sample: “So, I’m heading out to the highway, I got nothing to lose at all.”
“Heading Out to the Highway” is a 1981 heavy metal track about starting fresh with no plan and no destination, the road itself being the only thing you need when everything else has run its course.
29. “Driving in My Car” – Madness
Lyric Sample: “I’ve been driving in my car, it’s not quite a Jaguar.”
This ’80s track is a funny look at owning a car that isn’t exactly high-end. It celebrates the pride of having your own wheels, even if they aren’t perfect.
30. “The Passenger” – Iggy Pop
Lyric Sample: “We’ll ride through the city tonight.”
Iggy Pop’s 1977 classic is about the unique freedom of riding rather than driving, watching the world stream past the window without being responsible for where it goes.
31. “Highway Vagabond” – Miranda Lambert
Lyric Sample: “Following gold lines on the ground, northbound, southbound.”
In “Highway Vagabond,” Lambert sings about the restless spirit of people who prefer living on the road to staying in one place. It’s a modern country tribute to the wandering lifestyle.
Conclusion
Whether you’re getting over a bad day or racing toward a new adventure, driving provides a sense of control that few other things can match. These songs remind us that sometimes the best way to handle life is to just put the keys in the ignition and go.
If you enjoyed this list, you might also like our picks for Songs About Cars, Songs About Trains, and Songs About California.
