Music For The Highway, by Rich Paschall

In the past decade, I took a lot of trips to France to visit with my friend who lives in Alsace. The trips ended when the pandemic hit. I took one more trip there near the end of 2021.  Over the years, we traveled near and far from our starting point near Strasbourg. You may have seen pictures from a few of these adventures on this website. We always had a good time.

This week my friend returns to the USA after a long absence. Are we ready to “See the USA in your Chevrolet?” I have a Chevy Malibu.

When I first became friends with my favorite French guy, we took road trips to see America. He was here on a business internship and I worked in the same department. We would gather up our selection of CDs for the highway and head off in musical style. Now, we must plug a cell phone into a USB port and listen to a playlist. My current auto does not have a CD player.

Among my friend’s favorite American songs was a tune by America (the band), A Horse With No Name.  He knew it well before he arrived here and I happened to own America’s Greatest Hits. I thought it interesting a young French guy knew this 1970s song.  We had an odd collection between the two of us each time we headed out, but America was always included. Certain songs go with those great highway memories.

You may have your favorites. Perhaps you and your friends have all taken your part in Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody. Maybe you have other sing-along tunes. There are so many individual tastes for what might make good road music, that you would think I could not develop a top ten. Ha!

Indeed it was difficult to settle on a list but I finally had to narrow down this favorite grouping to songs that mention roads, streets, highways, or cars. We’ll save the other up-tempo tunes for another time.

The Heat Is On. Hop in your Little Red Corvette, 409, or Little Deuce Coupe and Shut Up and Drive. Whether you are cruising down Electric Avenue or traveling the Boulevard of Broken Dreams, just stay On The Sunny Side Of The Street and you will soon be able to say I’ve Been Everywhere and I Get Around. No need to sing the Basin Street Blues, we have your road tunes.

10.  Route 66.  There was a popular song, recorded by many, named (Get Your Kicks on) Route 66, but the television series did not want to pay for it and commissioned another.  I picked the Nelson Riddle instrumental.

09.  Penny Lane.  Yes, the Beatles hit is in my ears and in my eyes.

08.  Takin’ It To The Streets.  The Doobies Brothers, 1976. Michael McDonald wrote it and was the lead singer.

07.  Drive My Car.  Yes, it is another one by the Beatles. They’ve got the Beat, you’ve got the car.

06.  Rockin’ Down The Highway.  The Doobie Brothers hit the list again with another high-energy tune.

05.  Lake Shore Drive.  “There ain’t no road just like it, anywhere I’ve found.”  “Just slippin’ on by on LSD, Friday night trouble bound.” It’s Chicago’s Lake Shore Drive, of course. We refer to it as “LSD” for short (or for laughs).

04.  On The Road Again.  You can’t hit the road without Willie.

03.  Radar Love.  OK, it does not have a road or car in the title, but it is unmistakably a road tune.

02  Ventura Highway.  This tune by America is among the ones I always heard on the road with my best friend.

01.  Take Me Home, Country Roads.  This John Denver composition is one of the great sing-along songs. I think I sang it once or twice or…

Listen to all of them on my playlist here: Road Music.

Hopefully, this week’s adventures will produce some more highlights for SERENDIPITY. I know they will provide great memories for me.

Categories: Friendship, highways, Music, Rich Paschall, Travel, Vacation

Tags: America, country roads, highways, road music, road trip, staycation, the Beatles, travel, vacation memories