If there’s one thing I’ve discovered about music, it’s that it can be very inspirational (and dangerous). Here are twenty of the songs I’ve been most inspired by over the years.
First we have those songs about–or at least evoking the sense of–being lost. Of being on the road, of walking on the periphery of stable lives, of being a transient. There’s something in our souls that identifies with that kind of transience, and it shows up in our myths and our art: we’ve been fascinated with the wanderer ever since Cain was cursed to walk the Earth forever without rest.
| Gotta keep walking by Willy Mason |
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Sail Away by David Gray
Very tempting sometimes. Wish I had a sailboat. |
 
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Society by Eddie Vedder
There were quite a few great songs in the Into the Wild soundtrack, recorded by Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam fame. I picked one from the list, but definitely recommend giving all of them a listen. |
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Ain’t Talkin by Bob Dylan
I have to admit, I have a soft spot in my heart for any song featuring walking as a response to life’s problems. |
 
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| I am the Highway by Audioslave |
 
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Dust in the Wind by Kansas
Ecclesiastes in song. That’s a book that holds both inspiration and warning for any traveler: an accumulating, materialistic lifestyle is pointless, but so is one lived purely for experience. A penniless traveler who’s seen the world is no better off than the rich businessman who’s never left his hometown as long as neither lives for anything more than themselves. |
 
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In the States, the travel bug comes in a very particularly American strain: the road trip. Classic cars and Route 66 are ingrained in our cultural consciousness, and many of our western roadscapes are some of the most spectacular on Earth.
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Open Road by Bryan Adams
One of my earliest inspirations. |
 
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| Ramble On by Led Zeppelin |
 
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| Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen |
 
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| Life is a Highway by Tom Cochrane |
 
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| Open Road Song by Eve 6 |
 
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Here I Go Again On My Own by Whitesnake
“Here I go again on my own / going down the only road I’ve ever known …” The American road trip dream usually tends to be about young men driving in fast cars down wide open roads, generally away from a woman who, tragically, was holding them down (Free Bird, anyone?). |
 
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A big part of traveling is often the simple wonder of new experience. It’s the curiosity that, when you reach the end of a path and prepare to turn around, points something out a little further on, and in so doing turns your end into the beginning of a new journey. It’s a rush, an eye-opening experience, a general cure for a rigid mind. Side-effects may include apathy towards consumerism and extreme restlessness.
| Go Places by The New Pornographers |
 
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Roam by The B-52s
I came upon this one recently. Good stuff! |
 
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Africa by Toto
I’m not sure this is actually a travel song, but every time I listen to it I want to take off and go somewhere anyway. |
 
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| Around the World by Red Hot Chili Peppers |
 
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Regardless of how tough or independent a traveler you are, there are points in every journey when all you think about is home–whether that’s the place you grew up or the person you fell in love with six hundred miles and three days ago.
| Place Called Home by Kim Richey |
 
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Great Expectations by Elbow
Another great band I discovered recently. This particular song is pretty hard to find (the link at right points to Elbow’s only album, Seldom Seen Kid”, which doesn’t include it). At least you can watch it on YouTube. |
 
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| Landing in London by 3 Doors Down |
 
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Homeward Bound by Simon and Garfunkle
Classic. Still two of the very few songwriters I’ve seen who are as able poets as they are musicians. |
 
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I hope you found some new music today. But now I’m interested–what are your favorite travel songs? Comment and let me know!
evan lundy
April 24, 2009 at 11:47 pm
you need some journey in there in my opinion.
tsraveling
April 28, 2009 at 9:50 am
Yeah, good call – any song in particular?
Uncle Steve
May 4, 2009 at 9:18 am
A little Willie Nelson….”On the Road Again”
Michael
May 10, 2009 at 6:25 pm
Maybe some Johnny Cash, “I’ve Been Everywhere,”
or Sawyer Brown’s “Six Days on the Road,”
or CW McCall’s classic “Convoy.”
Steve Jarvis
June 10, 2009 at 11:04 pm
you need
Joe Satriani – Summer Song
Boston – Hitch a Ride
Bad Company – Bad Company
Cate
June 11, 2009 at 10:13 am
Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, man
Cate
June 11, 2009 at 10:15 am
(okay, i thought this website was pretty cool until it put that ugly yellow commercialized smiley there – i was aiming for a simplistic, esthetic colon with parenthesis.
humph.)
Cate
June 11, 2009 at 10:16 am
aesthetic? no spellcheck either, so i’ll expose my ignorance.