TOP 40 DRIVING SONGS OF ALL TIME PART 5 (#19-15)-WE PICK 'EM
We have moved along fairly rapidly through the Top 40 list to this point. All of the previous choices are available on our site for those who feel like they came in the middle of this movie.
Our picks will probably produce only anger or confusion, but they are worth a look.
At least that’s what we think- others’ opinions may vary.
Number 19 on the list is ‘Thunder Road’ as sung by the outlawish Robert Mitchum of movie bad-ass fame. ‘Thunder Road’ was a moonshine wars movie that pitted the illegal booze business versus the revenuers.
The business was a driving school for a few of NASCAR’s early drivers who sharpened their skills on back roads in hot cars outrunning the long arm of the law. Robert Mitchum played a booze-runner in a muscled-up Ford in the movie. It’s a good pursuit song and it has a place on our list.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRH7FtAAbJE
Number 18 on our list is ‘Song 2'by Blur. ‘Song 2’ has a roller-coaster ride feel to it as Blur thrash out a pounding driving song. The road would have to be one that goes over hills rather than through them. The peak of a hill and a sudden descent is a gut feeling in this song. ‘Song 2’ is effective and it’s fun. All you need is a fast car and a road with lots of peaks and valleys to make it happen with this song. Just hope that there are not many curves in the road.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZ-f8f8knNk
Number 17 is ‘Born to Run’ by Bruce Springsteen. Bruce was in his twenties when he made ‘Born to Run’ and that was a good thing. ‘Born to Run’ is an anthem for the young. Take a few crazy risks in life before you get smarter and older; that is the basic notion of the live-fast-die- young mantra in ‘Born to Run’. The wall of sound behind this song only adds to its powerful anthem to living on the edge before common sense drowns out a spirit of adventure. This is a hormones- on- high salute to youth and taking risks in order to live.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3t9SfrfDZM
Number 16 is ‘What Does It Take?’ by Junior Walker and the All Stars. This song is proof that you can never have enough sax in a song as saxophone master Junior Walker shows his chops in this classic. The song also proves that you don’t have to drive fast in a car song. ‘What Does It Take?’ will get you there in style as the sax takes this song into a brand new world of cool. It was featured in ‘Aloha Bobby and Rose’ as one of many songs in the cult movie about a star-crossed couple and a Camaro.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0xzcavGrj4
Number 15 is ‘Revolution’ by the Beatles. Somewhere along the line we had to include the Beatles in our list. ‘Revolution’ was a straight-ahead guitar classic from the Quarrymen and it hit the radio during the peak of the muscle car era of the late 60s. It was a great fit when big horsepower met big Beatles guitar in 1968 via ‘Revolution’. But it would have been hard for a kid to keep his foot out of the Hemi with this song on the radio in 1968. The results could have been very dangerous.
Next time, we inch closer to the Top 10 with numbers 14 through 10.
