“My Top 5 Summer Road Trip Songs”
Ever go on a road trip without music? Half the fun from driving comes from getting to blast the radio as you drive down the interstate. Summer may be best time to take these road trips; it’s clear everybody knows summer is about having fun, but what does that mean? Friends, late nights, stupid stunts, breaking the rules, anything goes quite frankly. It should be asked though, what type of music makes the cut for suitable road trip music? Or better yet a summer road trip? Summer road trips capture fun in its entirety, and the music should add to it.
Any song played during a summer road trip should provide that sense of enjoyment. For a song to make summer road trip playlist it has to have an initial likeability, something that can be recognized and sung along to. It has to be a song that would make the majority want to “rock out” or reminisce about good times. The song has to capture the essence of summer (fun, friends and memories) in multiple aspects; something people would relate to summer either in what the song is about or just how it makes them feel. A summer road trip song should make the audience move within the confinements of a seatbelt and get everyone (even people in other cars driving on the road) to join in on an expressway jam fest; or just sitting back humming along to a song that just gives the highest sense of being carefree.
Along with the casual requirements of making everyone feel good and just wanting to have a nice time, there are technical aspects that make a song so entertaining, such as the beat, guitar element, vocals etc. Do we really think about what makes a song so intoxicating that we just want to bust out an air guitar performance? For one the tone of a summer road trip song is typically lighter in comparison to other rock songs. Short smooth chords with some higher pitched riffs usually get the job done in terms of guitar. Keep in mind that higher pitched doesn’t mean a crazy metal guitar solo, that isn’t what we’re going for. Another component is the pace of the song, usually set by the drums; a good moderate pace will usually do a song justice. It doesn’t want to be a slow song, or have insane double-base frenzies. Now as for the more chill tunes, acoustic is always a nice touch; something a bit slower but not too slow, and with some nice clean vocals.
One of the last things to take into consideration is what the song is actually about. A song about a man losing his wife and becoming an alcoholic is obviously out, we want it to be about something we loved doing, not something we regret. Obviously anything sad or angry should be crossed off the list; summer songs go for a happy-go-lucky kind of feeling, even though the song may be a bit sad in its lyrics. Some examples would be a song about reminiscing of summer days/nights spent with a significant other, or a song about seizing the moment and doing something solely because it’s fun and you don’t want to miss any part of youth. Everyone knows summer is about having fun, so a summer road trip song should be a FUN song.
Now for the top 5 summer road trip songs; here is what I say hit the genre dead on:
5. “The Downfall of us All” by A Day To Remember.
A bit heavier than what you might expect for a casual summer road trip but a great song none the less, this song is a heavy hitter off their album Homesick. This interesting work of “hardcore rock” starts off with a breakdown slightly on the heavy side but then transitions into a nice “pop punk” sound. The chorus provides some nice lines to sing along to, and the guitar provides simple chords and high pitched octaves. The breakdown, though also an aspect of a hardcore song still provides lines to sing along to and just rock out. This song makes the top five because of its music and also what it’s about. The main line of the chorus says “this town will be the downfall of us all” speaking of how the singer needs to get out and feels that staying there will be his demise. This may seem like a downer but when taken in context, it’s a song about moving forward and not regretting it, which personally is what I find most enjoyable about summer, not worrying about anything.
4. Swing Life Away by Rise Against
This song is one for the history books. Released as a single off their album Siren Songs for the Counterculture, “Swing Life Away” captures the feeling of a summer night better than most. What beats singing to a significant other about enjoying the simplicity that life can have? Though it may seem a bit on the slow side at first it picks up in the main part of the verse with short, choppy chords. The acoustic gives the song a very relaxing feel and is one that brings back memories of a summer night sing-a-long. The chorus, “I've been here so long, I think that it's time to move, The winter's so cold, summer's over too soon, let’s pack our bags and settle down where palm trees grow” speaks of how they want the summer to keep going and move some place nice. That seems like a nice representation of enjoying summer in my opinion.
3. “Cheers to a Late Night” by This Time Next Year
Though this song when analyzed by its lyrics seems somewhat sad it still has many positives tied to it. Released in 2009 off their album Road Maps and Heart Attacks, the great pop punk intro with a good fast beat give this song a feel good nature and makes someone want to bust out their best air guitar skills. A song about young love, its flaws, and getting past them provides a carefree mood; realizing that there are a time for things to happen and a time for them not to happen. A line from the part that slows down goes “I’ve spent a lifetime waiting for the right time there is no better time than here right now this is all I have to say” which illustrates this mood quite well. It’s saying the time is now, let’s go for it and not worry about everything else. That’s why this song makes the top 5; it takes a generally sad topic, and presents it in a better light mainly by how the song is played.
2. “Drive” by Incubus
One of the most popular songs this band, Drive hits it home in terms of a summer road trip song. Off their album Make Yourself, this song was released as the third single but stole the spotlight from any other song, still being considered to be their biggest hit. This song should come in on a playlist when you want to slow it down, take a break, and just up the mood. Drive is a song about taking control of your life and not being afraid of the future. It delivers an immediate attraction with its opening filled with clean guitar chords and slow, steady pace. The amazing chorus, providing the lines “whatever tomorrow brings I’ll be there, with open arms and open eyes” makes this song the greatest to sing along to on this countdown. Listening to it is one of those moments when you feel invincible, and it makes the top 5 because along with its likeability it provides this sense of a carefree environment.
1. “Ocean Avenue” by Yellowcard
Released as a first single from the album Ocean Avenue, this song captures summer at its finest. A catchy song about memories shared with a significant other and how even though they had to move apart they’ll find each other again; quite the show stopper in terms of summer. The song starts with some low, muted chords and picks up immediately with some work from the drums. The chorus is filled with simple smooth chord transitions and a riff filled with notes on the high side. It’s not the technical aspects that make this song #1; what makes this song the best are simply the lyrics and how they bring the song together. It begins by saying “ there’s a place off ocean avenue where I used to sit and talk to you, we were both sixteen and it felt so right, sleeping all day staying up all night” and goes on in the second verse to describe more time spent with that special someone. The lyrics illustrate something that could only happen in summer. Long nights spent with each other just living it up and enjoying anything and everything. Then we get to the crowning achievement of this song, its ability to relate to almost everyone. The chorus, singing “if I could find you now things would get better, we could leave this town and run forever, I know somewhere somehow we’ll be together, let your waves crash on me and take me away” tells the story of having to leave someone and wanting them back in your life; something like that relates to most, think about it, everyone’s grown apart from a friend or lover in one way or another.
So does this top 5 illustrate what it means to be a summer road trip song? I clearly think it does. It provides a mix of fast-paced rock out music with some chill, acoustic, reminiscent music. Some might say that it appeals only to fans of the rock genre but I disagree; these songs don’t necessarily contain the aspects of what people generally associate with a “rock” song. Three of these songs come from the “Pop Punk” genre, which is typically seen as a likeable type of music. These songs have an essence of hip hop in them in the beats and synth. This set of music might not suit everyone’s tastes but no matter how it’s looked at it gets the job done based on the criteria. They are all extremely enjoyable songs that should be considered for any road trip playlist.
Ocean Avenue- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2ZRc3RPyHI&feature=&p=9623F1598E5835A0&index=0&playnext=1
Cheers To A Late Night- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KykgSiwy0-M
Swing Life Away- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BblV6AQsd2s&ob=av2n
The Downfall Of Us All- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGTvxm4mcQ4
