A good road-trip song has a particular job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It needs to sound good loud, survive repeated plays and somehow make the landscape outside the window feel more cinematic than it did five minutes earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The perfect summer road-trip playlist also needs variety. If every track is maximum-energy dance music, you will be exhausted before the second fuel stop. You need singalongs, indie, dance, classics and a few slower songs for the long stretch home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here are 30 tracks to start with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Warm, effortless and almost impossible to overplay. Dreams is ideal for the point where the journey has properly started and nobody is in a rush.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Few tracks fit the idea of going somewhere and making memories better than The Nights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dreamy electronic pop that makes almost any sunny landscape look better through a car window.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There comes a point on every long drive when everybody needs to know the words. This handles that job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bright, simple and built for warm weather. It still sounds like the beginning of a good night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Few songs understand the romance of leaving somewhere behind quite like this one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That bassline sounds excellent in a car, and the track has enough groove to keep things moving without becoming exhausting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perfect for the moment when daylight disappears and the motorway lights start taking over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The clue is in the title. Golden feels built around sunlight, movement and optimism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A road-trip playlist needs songs everyone can tolerate. Get Lucky is polished, relaxed and almost universally familiar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Classic American road music with enough space in the arrangement to let the scenery do some of the work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of those songs that can make an ordinary journey suddenly feel like the ending of a film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The gradual explosion of energy makes it perfect for dragging a tired car back into life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Loose, psychedelic and ideal for the more relaxed middle section of the playlist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If there are multiple people in the car, somebody will eventually start singing the chorus. Accept it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A great driving bassline and enough weirdness to stop the playlist becoming predictable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Clean modern disco-pop with a rhythm that makes the miles disappear more quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It already sounds nostalgic even when you hear it for the first time, which makes it ideal for summer travel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bright guitars, a steady groove and enough energy for a windows-down stretch of road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Slower than many obvious road-trip choices, but perfect when the journey settles into a long, hypnotic section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Big guitars, immediate chorus, no complicated instructions required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Confident, breezy pop that works especially well in daylight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Save this for when everybody needs waking up. The chorus was built for shared singing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Almost comically suitable for a summer playlist, and that is exactly why it works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Light, acoustic and easy to sing without turning the car into a full nightclub.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the best night-driving pop songs of recent years. The rhythm seems to make road lights move faster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smooth French house is ideal for the late-afternoon section when nobody wants the trip to end yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A playful change of pace that can reset a playlist after too much electronic music or indie rock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Atmospheric electronic music for the golden-hour part of the journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Put this near the end. By that point nobody needs musical subtlety. They need Freddie Mercury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do not simply choose 100 songs you like and press shuffle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Think about energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Start with something optimistic but not exhausting. Let the playlist get bigger as the journey settles in. Use familiar singalongs when attention begins to dip. Add slower music around sunset or during long motorway sections, then keep a handful of ridiculous crowd-pleasers available when everybody is tired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also remember who is in the car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The best road-trip playlist is not the one that proves you have the best music taste. It is the one everyone enjoys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Longer than the journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are driving for four hours, build at least six hours of music. That reduces repetition and gives you enough room to skip tracks without eventually running out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And download the playlist before you leave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nothing kills the cinematic open-road moment quite like losing mobile signal halfway through the chorus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A good road-trip song has a particular job. It needs to sound good loud, survive repeated plays and somehow make the landscape outside the window feel more cinematic than it did five minutes earlier. The perfect summer road-trip playlist also needs variety. If every track is maximum-energy dance music, you will be exhausted before the second fuel stop. You need singalongs, indie, dance, classics and a few slower songs for the long stretch home. Here are 30 tracks to start with. 1. Fleetwood Mac \u2013 Dreams Warm, effortless and almost impossible to overplay. Dreams is ideal for the point where…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3360,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2017,454,43,87,2031,20],"coauthors":[2],"class_list":["post-3359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-classics","tag-good-vibes","tag-music","tag-playlist","tag-road-trip","tag-summer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n