MILB - Traveling Music

I may have done this somewhere before, but I can't find it.  But since we're about to get on a plane for 17 hours with two children that are not known for sitting still, I Need some music to get me through the journey. So, here is my top 10 traveling music songs.  (Also works for driving music.)

1) "Radar Love" - Golden Earring.  A Dutch band's only big hit in the US.  Great song, fantastic drums and a great chorus.  Radar Love is the ultimate in driving and traveling songs.  You hear this at night while driving, you turn it up and start singing.  "I been driving all night/my hands wet on the wheel."

2) "Danger Zone" - Kenny Loggins.  The king of movie soundtracks (see "Caddyshack") makes a great driving song (and a favorite of pep bands everywhere.)  Guitar kicks in and you just rock out.  Then it gets quiet with the verse, before screaming into the chorus.  "Highway to the Danger Zone./Ride in to the DANGER ZOOOONNNNNEEEE."

3) "Born to be Wild" - Steppenwolf.  A great song, which probably introduced the word "Heavy Metal" to the vernacular.  This song rocks hard and keeps going.  You can't help but think of "Easy Rider" and wish you had the wind in your hair.

4) "In-a-gadda-da-vida" - Iron Butterfly.  Great opening, a bit long, but it'll keep you involved the entire time.  Great to sing along to, and everyone always tries to imitate the voice of the lead singer.

5) "We Can Work it Out" - The Beatles.  Almost went with "Drive my car" here, but decided against it.  We can work it out is a great traveling song, as it keeps moving, has the change in the middle for a slow down, but picks right back up.  It's sing-a-long worthy, and I think everyone likes it.

6) "Sympathy for the Devil" - The Rolling Stones.  Great opening with the congas, and then moves into the verses. "Pleased to meet you/hope you guess my name!"  The "Whoo/whoo" really adds to it.  Great song, and a great driving song.

7) "Do the Evolution" - Pearl Jam.  The group formerly known as Mookie Blaylock put this out, and it really hits the spot when you're on an open road with no one around.  Fantastic lyrics, Eddie Vedder's voice hits home, and the repetitive guitar lick just kicks it up a notch.  Great song.

8) "Runnin Down a Dream" - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.  I was not going to chose "Free Fallin".  While it is an iconic scene in movie history with Tom Cruise singing it in Jerry McGuire, it isn't half the driving song that "Runnin Down a Dream" is.  "RDD" has exactly what a good driving song needs: Pounding guitar lick, quiet/loud dynamic, and usually a song about love.  It works perfectly, and is infinitely better than "Free Fallin."

9) "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" - Jet.  A brilliant song from the beginning of the last decade, from a band that should have done more.  Jet's first album, Get Born, was fantastic, and should have gotten more recognition. Great beat, great lick, and a slow down for the "Are You gonna be my girl" line.  Just fantastic, and when I hear it on the radio, I always turn it up.  (If I'm by myself, that is.  My kids and wife don't like loud music.)

10 "It's the end of the world as we know it" - REM.  Many people don't like REM.  (I do, as you can tell.)  This song is a great driving song, mainly because no one knows all the words, and basically mumbles until everyone yells, "LEONARD BERNSTEIN!"  (Side note, my fraternity brothers and I would always sing along with this song, and in honor of one of our brothers we'd change the line to: "JONATHAN GOLDSTEIN!"  Yeah, we were the dorky fraternity.  But we had fun!)  Brilliant song, and a great driving song too.

Anyways,wish us luck on this trip to the states.  It'll be a long trip for only one week.  Hopefully the kids travel well, and mummy and daddy get some sleep on the way over.