Over the years, I’ve amassed on my iPod more than 200 songs for road trips. These are songs are mostly about driving, along with tunes about the towns and places along the Mother Road.
This list, along with an excellent one compiled by the Federal Highway Administration, should give you music download ideas for your next Route 66 journey. If you got other good tunes to recommend, submit a comment.
The list goes in no particular order. The links go to YouTube videos where you can hear (and often see) the song performed in its entirety. Any song with an asterisk has been directly inspired by Route 66 or one of its landmarks.
Happy song-hunting.
UPDATE: I’ve provided download links to as many songs as I could. The downloads come from Amazon.com, which are compatible with iPods and other MP3 players. Most downloads are 99 cents each; a few that are more expensive or cheaper.
- Thunderstorms And Neon Signs*, Wayne Hancock – Download
- Mighty Big Car, Fred Eaglesmith – Download
- Where The Streets Have No Name, U2 – Download
- Sweet Hitch-Hiker, Creedence Clearwater Revival – Download
- Stone Cold Fingers, Leland Martin – Download
- Route 66*, Chuck Berry – Download
- Our Town*, James Taylor – Download
- Two Six Packs Away, Dave Dudley – Download
- White Rose, Slaid Cleaves
- Heartland*, U2 – Download
- I Love L.A., Randy Newman – Download
- Sweet Home Chicago, Blues Brothers
- Born To Be Wild, The Cult – Download
- Riding With Private Malone, David Ball – Download
- Route 66*, The Pied Pipers (with additional lyrics) – Download
- Six Days On The Road, Charley Pride
- Long White Cadillac, Dwight Yoakam – Download
- End of the Line, The Traveling Wilburys – Download
- Glenrio*, Melissa McClelland
- Casino Queen, Wilco – Download
- Arizona State Line*, Red Dirt Rangers – Download
- Blue Highway, Billy Idol – Download
- Tell Me Something Bad About Tulsa, George Strait – Download
- Pink Houses, John Mellencamp – Download
- I’ve Been Everywhere, Johnny Cash
- Route 66*, The Rolling Stones – Download
- Down This Road, The Wrights – Download
- Postmark New Mexico, Meanflower
- Mustang Sally, Wilson Pickett – Download
- Home To You, The Peasall Sisters – Download
- Gypsy Biker, Bruce Springsteen – Download
- Route 66*, Brian Setzer Orchestra – Download
- Truck Drivin’ Son of a Gun, Dave Dudley – Download
- Broke Down, Slaid Cleaves – Download
- Oklahoma Hills, Hank Thompson – Download
- Unknown Legend, Neil Young – Download
- Rebel Rouser, Duane Eddy – Download
- Lost Highway, Bon Jovi – Download
- Route 66*, Nat King Cole – Download
- Born To Be Wild, Steppenwolf – Download
- Take Me Home Country Roads, John Denver – Download
- This Old Road, Kris Kristofferson – Download
- Mercury Blues, Alan Jackson – Download
- Route 66*, Asleep At The Wheel – Download
- Dusty Skies, Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys – Download
- By The Time I Get To Phoenix, Glen Campbell – Download
- (I’m A) Ramblin’ Man, Waylon Jennings – Download
- The House That Built Me, Miranda Lambert – Download
- The Hitch-Hiker, Tom T. Hall – Download
- Take Me Back To Tulsa, Asleep At The Wheel – Download
- Chasing Cars, Snow Patrol – Download
- My Heart Would Know, Hank Williams – Download
- Going Mobile, The Who – Download
- Little Red Corvette, Prince – Download
- Route 66*, The Cheetah Girls – Download
- Carl Perkins’ Cadillac, Drive-By Truckers – Download
- Panama, Van Halen – Download
- Whose Cadillac Is That?, War
- Just to Prove I Could, Bobby Pinson
- My Oklahoma Home, Bruce Springsteen – Download
- Car Wheels On A Gravel Road, Lucinda Williams – Download
- Is Anybody Goin’ To San Antone*, The Texas Tornados – Download
- Minutes To Memories, John Mellencamp – Download
- Travelin’ Man, Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
- White Sands, Meanflower
- I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide, ZZ Top – Download
- Your Sister Cried, Mary Gauthier – Download
- Give Me Forty Acres, Willis Brothers – Download
- 66 Highway Blues*, Arlo Guthrie & Pete Seeger – Download
- I Am The Highway, Audioslave – Download
- Barstow, Jay Farrar – Download
- Night, Bruce Springsteen
- King’s Highway, Joan Baez – Download
- Never Been To Spain, Waylon Jennings – Download
- Find Yourself, Brad Paisley – Download
- On the Road Again, Willie Nelson – Download
- Ten Second News*, Son Volt – Download
- Our Country, John Mellencamp – Download
- If I Don’t Make It Back, Bobby Pinson
- Miles And Miles Of Texas, Asleep At The Wheel – Download
- No Line On the Horizon, U2 – Download
- Looking At The World Through A Windshield, Del Reeves – Download
- Cold In California, Allison Moorer – Download
- Drive My Car, The Beatles
- Ramblin’ Man, Hank Williams – Download
- Metal Firecracker, Lucinda Williams – Download
- Tulsa Telephone Book, Calexico
- Little Man, Alan Jackson – Download
- 1952 Vincent Black Lightning, The Del McCoury Band – Download
- Six Days On The Road, Dave Dudley – Download
- Convoy, C.W. McCall – Download
- Rockin’ Down The Highway, The Doobie Brothers – Download
- Nadine (Is It You?), Chuck Berry – Download
- Brand New Cadillac, The Clash – Download
- Quite A Party, The Fireballs – Download
- Chicago, Sufjan Stevens – Download
- Radar Gun, Bottle Rockets
- Route 66*, John Mayer – Download
- Slow Ride, Foghat – Download
- Pink Motel, Cisco
- The Long Cut, Uncle Tupelo – Download
- Runnin’ Down A Dream, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – Download
- American Girl, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – Download
- Gas Girl, The Bottle Rockets
- Many Hurried Southern Trips, Porter Wagoner – Download
- Waltz Across Texas, Ernest Tubb – Download
- Guitars, Cadillacs, Dwight Yoakam – Download
- Free Fallin’, Tom Petty – Download
- Phantom 309, Red Sovine – Download
- Route*, Son Volt – Download
- Airstream Song, Miranda Lambert – Download
- Nothing but the Wheel, Peter Wolf – Download
- Don’t Forget The Coffee Billy Joe, R.B. Morris
- Home to Houston, Steve Earle – Download
- Get Down River, The Bottle Rockets – Download
- Albuquerque, Asleep At the Wheel – Download
- Life Is a Highway, Rascal Flatts – Download
- Everyday Is A Winding Road, Sheryl Crow – Download
- King of the Road, Roger Miller – Download
- Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man, Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
- Low Rider, War – Download
- Population Me, Dwight Yoakam – Download
- Settle For A Slowdown, Dierks Bentley – Download
- Girl On The Billboard*, Del Reeves – Download
- Kings Highway, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – Download
- Break Down Here, Julie Roberts – Download
- I Made A Mess Of This Town, Scott Miller – Download
- Where There’s A Road, Robbie Fulks – Download
- All the Way to Jericho*, The Gourds – Download
- Drive (For Daddy Gene), Alan Jackson – Download
- A Thousand Miles From Nowhere, Dwight Yoakam – Download
- Freedom Road, The Blind Boys Of Alabama – Download
- Wide Open Spaces, Dixie Chicks – Download
- Livin’ Out On The Road, Fred Eaglesmith
- Roll Me Away, Bob Seger
- Nothin’ Happens In This Town, Bobby Pinson
- By The Time I Get To Phoenix, Isaac Hayes – Download
- Back To The Crossroads, Todd Snider – Download
- Welcome to the Future, Brad Paisley – Download
- Expressway To Your Heart, The Soul Survivors – Download
- A Million Miles To The City, Tom T. Hall – Download
- Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses, Kathy Mattea – Download
- Time to Get a Gun, Miranda Lambert – Download
- Springfield, IL, Slobberbone – Download
- Give Me the Highway, Vince Gill – Download
- Ghost Towns Along the Highway, John Mellencamp – Download
- Pink Cadillac, Bruce Springsteen – Download
- Somewhere in New Mexico, Jill Sobule – Download
- Coyotes, Don Edwards – Download
- The Long Way Around, Dixie Chicks – Download
- 1000 Dollar Car, Bottle Rockets
- Thunder Road, Bruce Springsteen – Download
- Eastbound And Down, Jerry Reed – Download
- West Texas Highway, Lyle Lovett – Download
- Cadillac Ranch*, Bruce Springsteen – Download
- Lonesome Town, Ricky Nelson – Download
- The Promised Land, Bruce Springsteen – Download
- Peaceful Valley Boulevard, Neil Young – Download
- Ford Fairlane, Bobby Pinson – Download
- Behind the Clouds, Brad Paisley – Download
- Tucumcari, Here I Come*, Dale Watson – Download
- Gear Jammer, George Thorogood & The Destroyers – Download
- Route 66*, Depeche Mode – Download
- Fresh Cut Hay, Red Dirt Rangers – Download
- Santa Monica, Everclear – Download
- Lost Highway, Hank Williams – Download
- All I Wanna Do, Sheryl Crow – Download
- Hollywood Nights, Bob Seger
- How Fast Them Trucks Can Go*, Claude Gray – Download
- South of Santa Fe, Brooks & Dunn – Download
- Under The Overpass, Dallas Wayne – Download
- The Talkin’ Song Repair Blues, Alan Jackson – Download
- Passenger Side, Wilco – Download
- It Ain’t Easy Being Me, Chris Knight
- Beautiful Day, U2 – Download
- Amarillo By Morning, George Strait – Download
- Highway Kind, Lyle Lovett – Download
- Texas, New Mexico Line, Jed and Kelley – Download
- Is Anybody Goin’ To San Antone*, Charley Pride – Download
- Skyway Bridge, Melissa McClelland – Download
- California Stars, Wilco – Download
- Up Around The Bend, Creedence Clearwater Revival – Download
- I Drove All Night, Roy Orbison – Download
- Small Town, John Mellencamp – Download
- Route 66*, Natalie Cole – Download
- Tulsa Time, Don Williams – Download
- Used Cars, Maggie Brown – Download
- Tulare Dust, Merle Haggard – Download
- If Walls Could Talk, The Bottle Rockets
- America, Simon & Garfunkel – Download
- On the Road Again, Canned Heat – Download
- Amarillo Highway, Terry Allen – Download
- White Line Fever, Merle Haggard – Download
- Long and Winding Road, The Beatles
- Free and Easy Down the Road I Go, Dierks Bentley – Download
- Nothin’ But the Taillights, Clint Black – Download
- Highway Patrol, Junior Brown – Download
- Hot Rod Lincoln, Commander Cody – Download
- Take It Easy*, The Eagles – Download
- San Bernadino (sic), Christie – Download
- Terraplane Blues, Robert Johnson
- 8 Miles a Gallon, Scott Miller – Download
- Way Down Watson*, Son Volt – Download
- Willin’, Little Feat – Download
- Route 66*, Manhattan Transfer – Download
- Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen – Download
- Ramblin’ Fever, Merle Haggard – Download
- Is This the Way to Amarillo, Tony Christie – Download
- Children of the Mother Road*, Kevin Welch
- Route 66 Theme*, Nelson Riddle – Download
- Gallop to Gallup*, Dale Watson – Download
- Route 66*, Bobby Troup – Download
- Ole Route 66*, Jess McEntire and Loretta Lynn
- The Dream of My Life, Kerry Cole
- The Old Lucky Diamond Motel*, Vince Gill
UPDATE: I also have a Spotify playlist of many of these songs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwYXjsXjFug&feature=related click the link – this is a newer one on Tucumcari, titled: “Tucumcari Tonight” by the Colon Sphincter Band (I know – but that’s their name!) and it’s the 1st track on the “Songs of Tucumcari” CD. We listen to it everytime we’re heading home.
Those are all GREAT songs on the list though…
This is a great playlist. . . but Prince’s “Little Red Corvette” isn’t really about travel or driving. đ
Neither is “Terraplane Blues.” đ
First of all, sorry for my english.
What do you think of this one : Highway to Hell, AC/DC (a classic one)
I also love “Lost Highway”(already in your playlist) but the cover of H.Williamns’s song made by Coldplay
For the hard rockers: White Zombie’s Thunderkiss ’65 and the first one on my playlist: Jude Cole’s Start The Car
There’s a song that I just learned about called “Bye Bye Route 66” by Devonsquare. It’s about how the towns along Route 66 have disappeared because of US 40
How about
Johnny Cash – I’ve Been Everywhere
The Tragically Hip – At The Hundredth Meridian
Sorry, I missed that you already had the J Cash!
Tucumcari by Jimmy Rogers?
Hey. I´ve done a spotify playlist with songs aboute this road with more than 200 songs. Including lives in the famous whysky a go-go. I hope you enjoy
https://open.spotify.com/user/secarl/playlist/1Mf6e7ZtEYNNBoRkrhzsEh
great playlist Musicasercal. I thoroughly enjoyed it and added it to my playlist. đ
My window faces the south,,,,commander cody. Trucker’s Cafe…Ian and Sylvia. Mama Hated Diesels…Commander Cody. Big Wheel Keep on Turnin,..Merle Haggard
Here’s quite a few to add to your list from an album of Route 66 Songs. One that you MUST add is “The Mother Road” by Alan Rhody.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/songs-of-route-66-all-american-highway-mw0000179665
OMG! that is a comprehensive playlist, Didn’t know about “8 milkes a gallon” and I love it. However I prefer the Maines brothers version of Amarillo highway.