Road Trip: Ultimate Playlist

Buckle in and zone out with this guide to the ultimate playlist for the ultimate road trip… 

The art of perfecting the road trip playlist is a challenging one requiring much skill and determination. In addition to knowing the musical preferences of your fellow passengers – and, most importantly, the driver – the compiler of the road trip playlist must know which songs up their coolness factor and, conversely, which would be too embarrassing to include… except ironically.

Putting together the play list can be an important weight to have an your shoulders, but also a really fun one. Here are our top five songs to base your playlist upon. Fasten your seatbelts and enjoy the (musical) ride…

Sweet Dispositions, Temper Trap

Start on a mellow yet soulful note with Temper Trap and similar alternative yet safe music, particularly if you are scheduled for an early morning departure. The songs will help your fellow passengers acclimatise to the musical offerings and gear them up, slowly, for the journey ahead. Bonus points if you can incorporate similarly indie songs that no one in the car has heard yet.

Livin’ on a Prayer, Bon Jovi

As subjective as musical tastes can be, ultimately we all know the sort of uplifting, morale-boosting music that works best for your average road trip and ‘Livin’ on a Prayer’ not only fits the bill; it probably wrote the bill itself. The song itself practically demands rolling down your windows and screaming the lyrics at the top of your lungs. It makes for the perfect note on which to escalate the playlist as you hit the freeways and pick up speed (particularly if the driver’s vehicle control skills call for prayer).

Prisoner of Society, The Living End

Take the car on an anti-society twist with this angry yet oh-so-catchy rant, and bring out the rebellious streaks in your fellow passengers. Even if they don’t know the lyrics at first – although, who doesn’t? – they’re easy to learn and even easier to imitate mildly incomprehensibly. Prisoner of Society’s infectious beat is sure to be a hit. (Though it’s perhaps not advisable if your companions include Grandma and Grandpa; wouldn’t want them to get too excited.)

Anything by Radiohead

Need we say more? The extensive and impressive Radiohead repertoire is best appreciated in moments of semi-isolation for extended periods of time, and unless every person in the car is a nonstop chatterbox, your road trip probably fits this description. Radiohead could well provide the soundtrack for your entire road trip with its nuanced offerings of musical genius, from the sombre to the playful, but our picks include Kid A and OK Computer, which will earn you ‘better before the hype’ credit, too.

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Another no-brainer, but only fitting to end with as no one does ambivalent angst meets fiery – pardon the pun – flair like the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Californication complements the deep, inner longing of finally reaching the destination, while the brusque notes of Can’t Stop will match your fellow passengers’ impatience with not only the duration of the drive itself but the token whiner constantly asking when you will all get there.

Just make sure you have a trusted car dealer (such as http://www.johnhughes.com.au/) so you can sit back and fully enjoy your ultimate road trip play list.

Author bio: Jenny Johnson is a media student and freelance writer from the Gold Coast who loves music, travel and long, endless road trips.