Road Music. Nothing speaks to the spirit of a long car ride, with the radio stations changing as the frequencies fade and buzz in, the open road ahead of you and either your best friend or a bunch of gas station snacks in the seat next to you, quite like the classic American road song.

The American love affair with road music began as soon as radios were placed in cars, as soon as people began packing their instruments with them on their journeys. As the infrastructure of American highways expanded and changed, people hit the road. In doing so, some of the most original, grassroots American music was born.

After WWII, people were traveling more as the highways grew more intricate, families were reuniting, automobiles were cheap and Rock and Roll became more pervasive in popular culture. People were ready to focus on themselves. As wider landscapes were being explored more readily externally, song writers in the 1940's and 1950's began to internalize what travel meant to them. Even though much attention was given by American mainstream culture to get Rosie the Riveter back in the kitchen after World War II, certain themes of 1950's music indicated that Rosie still had dreams of heading elsewhere.

From what I've discovered, this theme of escapism--the desire for an exit from the hum drum of everyday life seems to be a predominant expression in song lyrics throughout that decade.

Until now, most songs described the landscape itself. But when the 1960's came, and the sexual, social and political cultures changed radically with the onset of the counterculture. People began traveling for rallies, to visit friends, to find a better environment for their lifestyles. These songs reflected what changes within a person during travel, the need for change, the human spirit

Some artists focus specifically on the road, moving, hometown America and the infamous Route 66. Artists like Bruce Springsteen, Harry Nilsson, Woody Guthrie, Tom Waits, and Bob Dylan use the theme of road travel often in their songs. These musicians were making music at a time when America felt desperate, divided and without a clear map of where it was going.

There remains a sense of nostalgia in most road songs, referring to cars, to places left behind, traveling to a place or person the artist misses. All contain a sort of lonesome one person point of view. These are the types of songs that evoke memories whether or not they're made yet. Because most of the songs listed are ubiquitous with movies such as Easy Rider or Born on the Fourth Of July, the listener is transported immediately in their mind to the open highway. While driving, there is much time for thinking. And these songs almost always bring us back to where we are now, and where we are going.

Something happened to songwriters during the 80's. Synthesizers became required instruments, hair got bigger and most importantly, songwriters were increasingly interested in the theme of travel. Why was travel suddenly such an important subject? Though there's no one right answer, the reasons for the glut of travel-themed 80's songs are many, including the influence of globalization, the rise of international pop stars and, of course, because the bands just wanted to seem cool and more worldly. Isn't that always the best reason?

Road music stays with us, and has become one of the most dearly held onto parts of American culture. Whether the song refers to a big 18-wheeler, death, moving on, moving away, moving forward, cars, remorse, curiosity, or all the in betweens, there are few people who can't find themselves in the driver's seat with the open highway in front of them when one of these songs plays.