I'd like to consider myself an environmentalist, but I've got to say, I enjoy driving far too much to give up the gas nozzle completely. There's nothing like the freedom of wheels, the power of an engine, the feel of a highway rolling under you while your music blasts. And then there's the radio. The only radio I own lives inside my old Honda, and somehow the car feels like the only appropriate place to tune in to my local FM stations. Anywhere else, I have the freedom to play whatever I please on my iPod, but there's something about the camaraderie of radio while driving. There's something about knowing that someone else chose to play a song, that you're enjoying it along with hundreds of other people all driving around and rocking out at the same time as you. It's a different mode of listening and it's one that I wouldn't give up for all the FM transmitters in the world, despite the routinely synchronized commercial breaks between stations.
There are songs that sound the best within that mode, blasted through the tinny FM compression, smeared by static, leaking out through the windows. There are some songs that really only sound good that way--that lose all of their oomph and awesomeness when played through headphones on a laptop. These are those songs--my top 5 jams that really only can be fully appreciated on the road, turned up way too loud and sung along to unabashedly.
Really, most Tom Petty songs could fit nicely into this list, but there's something about the defiant hook in this one that just makes you want to pound the steering wheel while creeping above the speed limit. Tom Petty can make us all feel like rebels even if we're cruising in a geriatric sedan with a perfect driving record.
I'm originally from Boston, but it's only now that I've moved to Chicago that I listen to the band named for my hometown with any regularity. We have this one classic rock station in the Windy City and its DJs love them some Boston. I first heard 'Peace of Mind' in the car and that remains the only place I'll listen to it. The sweeping hook and anthemic breakdown matches the feel of the open road perfectly, even if it all seems like a little much when you hear it in a stationary setting.
I know--you see AC/DC, you figure that 'Shook Me All Night Long' would make the list. But that's obvious fodder, and besides, it's a track more suited for the end of a long party night than a highway jam. There's no beating the intro to 'Thunderstruck': the mounting chant, the throbbing bassline, the pounding drums. It's got the best build of any AC/DC tune and for that it's perfect to roll to.
Foster The People - 'Pumped Up Kicks'
Can you tell I listen to a lot of classic rock while driving? Here's a more contemporary offering. It sounds like absolutely lifeless hipster pop when I stream it through headphones, but on the road in the sun I can't help but crank it up and sing along.
Agh. The harmonies. The riffs. That hook. This is the ultimate. There is no better radio gem. The end.
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