This year, for the summer special, I asked people to contribute songs that reminded them of road trips they had taken. I also asked for the story behind that road trip too. These are those stories.
1. Bing Crosby, Busy Doing Nothing
“This song was our theme tune when we quit our jobs and went to mainland Europe for 3 months in a motor home.” — J
2. Typically Tropical, Barbados
“This was our favourite song when travelling. We never quite made it to Barbados though, as we always stopped when we got to Cornwall.” — M&P
3. Laid Back, Sunshine Reggae
“We used to play this song in the beginning of our relationship. Every time we travel, we travel by buses or trains. We listen to music on one device but share the headphones. Sometimes travelling can get a bit exhausting, so to lighten the mood he secretly plays the song. It sets a smile on my face and then his face mirrors it, happy he could make my trip a bit better.” — T
4. James Ray & The Performance, Mexico Sundown Blues (edit)
“I have a tape with James Ray albums on both sides. One of the songs on it is Mexico Sundown Blues. Throughout the nineties I was determined to play it while driving through the desert. My wish came true in the early 2000s when we went to the American southwest. I took the tape with me, and we played while driving through the New Mexico landscape one evening. Absolutely magical.” — M
5. HENGE, Tardigrades
“I once took a road trip to Manchester to go to my first rave in the beginnings of my “trying new things to find out what I actually like” thing. It was organised by Henge so I was listening to them as a part of getting into the space vibes (it was space themed), and the song tardigrades reminds me of that time.” — V
6. Ajello, El Charro
“I heard this while in Romania. A Red Bull armoured car that was converted into a mobile disco, was playing it at 6am in a remote field in the Carpathian Mountains. I then played it a lot when in Spain the following winter.” — S
7. GusGus, Arabian Horse
“In 2013, I took on a road trip to Barcelona with three friends. Just before our trip, I had watched GusGus perform live on YouTube, and afterwards, I had the album on almost constantly, particularly on that trip. One song takes me back to hurtling along the French autoroute near Montpellier, and thinking how the scenery could have been used in the 1980s video game, Out Run. Sadly, I wasn’t driving a car as exciting as the fictional Ferrari in the game. This song is “Arabian Horse” by GusGus.” — D
8. Colin Hay, Overkill
“Basically I go on road trips with a friend sometimes and they usually put together a bit of a playlist for the drive. The playlist usually ends up containing Overkill by Colin Hay so it’s become a sort of in-joke or game of noticing it when it plays.” — V
9. a-ha, Summer Moved On
“Early morning… Coffee before everything else. Fortunately, it rained the day before, so the trip to the sea will be more bearable. Final check up and I’m ready.
I’m one of those old-fashioned people, so whenever I can choose a bus to travel with, I do. I like to look at landscapes, read, drink coffee at gas stations and and let my imagination run wild. And every time I see the first outlines of the sea, I literally stick to the window and my brain switches to work on a different frequency.
And let’s be clear, when I say summer vacation, beaches and the like, I don’t mean partying, but a real retirement retreat that includes books, wine, coffee… shade (lots of it!),and a gecko! Yes, very unexpected but this time I wasn’t alone in the room. The house guest was also a Mediterranean gecko… more precisely the whole family of 3! This was a horror for someone who doesn’t like reptiles. But as the days passed, the youngest one visited me every night. You could almost wind a clock by his appearance time. It was around 2am. Surreal to be real. I think we even managed to understand each other (or so I thought).
With my insomnia in full bloom, the gecko and I spent the nights reading and discussing “The Stationmaster” by Jirō Asada. Days of vacation flew by in an instant. We have only just met, but it is already time to part. Sayonara geko-san.
Now that I think about it, that whole return home makes me feel a bit nostalgic. It’s always been that way no matter where I travel. Sometimes I wonder if it is a cry for some old, better and carefree times, or if it’s just the passage of time?
And while the thoughts are swarming, Summer moved on is playing on the headphones, a-Ha, but am I too?
Goodbye until next summer.” — B
10. Boygenius with Julien Baker and Phoebe Bridges, Not Strong Enough
11. Martha and The Vandellas, Dancing in the Street
“The last road trip I took with my parents was in the early 2000s. My mum got us in the car one morning and we just set off driving until we hit Scotland. It’s the only time I remember her ever being spontaneous like that. And at the time I hated it. I remember us trying to find somewhere to sleep for the night and in the end lying down shivering on the floor of this freezing cold inn and the overpowering smell of stale smoke permeating everything we owned. But looking back, she was working so hard, I’m glad I got to see her do something, just because she could and not because she had to. The song I picked was one of my dad’s favourites and I remember it playing over and over in the car on the drive up, because it was a surprise trip and we only had a couple of cassettes with us, so it really stuck in my mind. This is Martha Reeves and the Vandellas – Dancing in the Street” — A
12. Weezer, Island in the Sun
“Reminds me of a frisbee trip I went on in Ireland where the guys I was with played it at EVERY opportunity. Even asking in cute little old pubs if they had it on a jukebox.” — L
13. Turin Brakes, Average Man
“My dad always used to play them in the car when we were going for camping trips. Such good times.
Turin Brakes have become my soundtrack for rough times. They always seem to be great for grounding me when things are a bit shit.” — J
14. Sheryl Crow, Everyday is a Winding Road
15. Aliotta Haynes, Lake Shore Drive
“I listened to this on my way to Point Pelee in Canada a few years back. It’s super chill and a great throw back.” — R
16. Glen Campbell, Wichita Lineman
“I went to Montana a few years ago, and most of the local stations were Christian talk radio, so we spent almost the entire trip dialled in to the Classic 60’s channel. It had been our perfect accompaniment as we drove from Head-Smashed-In down to Yellowstone, but the station announced that they were closing down, so some time as we were driving back from Butte, the soaring strings of Glen Campbell’s “Wichita Lineman” gave way to dead air, and it was just us and the prairie, in our rented Chevy Impala. An incredibly eerie feeling.” — R
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