Some songs make you want to throw a bag in the trunk and just go. These are the road-trip staples and the leaving-town anthems, built for long highways, packed cars and the simple itch to be somewhere else.
Updated 2026
On the Road Again by Willie Nelson 1980
The sound of a man who is only ever happy between two towns.
Life Is a Highway by Tom Cochrane 1991
A windows-down anthem you cannot help shouting along to.
Take It Easy by Eagles 1972
Standing on a corner, loose and unhurried, letting the road decide.
Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen 1975
Two kids and a car, desperate to get out while they still can.
Leaving on a Jet Plane by John Denver 1969
The other side of travel: the goodbye at the gate.
I've Been Everywhere by Johnny Cash 1996
A breathless roll call of every town a wanderer has hit.
Route 66 by Nat King Cole 1946
The original American road-trip checklist, city by city.
King of the Road by Roger Miller 1965
A drifter with no money and no worries, riding the rails.
Africa by Toto 1982
Wanderlust at its most lush, longing for a place far away.
Read the meaning behind the songWagon Wheel by Old Crow Medicine Show 2004
Hitching south, chasing a girl and warmer weather.
Ramble On by Led Zeppelin 1969
Itchy feet and a head full of places still to see.
Midnight Train to Georgia by Gladys Knight & the Pips 1973
Going back home rather than chasing a dream that did not land.