Top 20 Travel Songs

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
Sail Away by David Gray Very tempting sometimes. Wish I had a sailboat.
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.
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.
I am the Highway by Audioslave
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.

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.

Open Road by Bryan Adams One of my earliest inspirations.
Ramble On by Led Zeppelin
Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen
Life is a Highway by Tom Cochrane
Open Road Song by Eve 6
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?).

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
Roam by The B-52s I came upon this one recently. Good stuff!
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.
Around the World by Red Hot Chili Peppers

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
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.
Landing in London by 3 Doors Down
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.

I hope you found some new music today. But now I’m interested–what are your favorite travel songs? Comment and let me know!