#10) 'Middle of the Road' by The Pretenders - All things musical considered, Middle of the Road might just be an incarnation of the perfect 'rock and roll' song. It's tight and energetic without becoming hysterical, angry without resorting to savagery, emotional, but never at the expense of a base logic. Lyrically it is a unique assessment of facing middle age and the attendant concessions, which for better or worse, resonates with me in a way I never imagined it would. And Chrissie Hynde is - and always will be - pretty damn hot.
'The middle of the road is trying to find me/I'm standing in the middle of life with my plans behind me..."
#11) 'Luka' by Suzanne Vega - I figure this one might raise some eyebrows. There's nothing about this song that speaks of - or to - anything even remotely associated with freedom or the open road; no sir, not much here to lift your spirits. But those elements are just part of the equation, in my eyes, to a good road song. Luka has a way of getting my mind wandering to places. It reminds me of high school, of my first love (playing on the radio, and on MTV, at the time), and like any good folk (ish) song, is designed to get the listener thinking. And what does an elongated road trip offer more than lots and lots of time to think?
Not to mention, the guitar work in this song is gorgeous, and does, in fact, always lift my spirits, in spite of the bleak subject matter. I suspect this too might be by design.
'You just don't argue anymore...'
#12) 'American Idiot' by Green Day - As For What It's Worth by Buffalo Springfield is inextricably linked to the 60s, to love-ins and hippies and civil unrest and Vietnam, American Idiot will forever be associated with the 2000s - the Bush White House, the rise of uber-patriotism in the wake of 9/11, the Iraq War, political polarization in a media-soaked society. With an appropriate lack of subtly and providing more energy than four cans of Monster, this is Generation Y's foremost protest song. And no thinking person should ever dismiss any protest song outright.
Another good song with which to punish your steering wheel.
'Welcome to a new kind of tension/all across the alien nation...'
#13) 'Wanderlust' by Paul McCartney - Placing Paul McCartney on any list is never going to be a simple matter. For my money, McCartney is the greatest rock/pop performer ever...period...for his ability to shriek out (convincingly) songs like Helter Skelter, Oh Darling, Why Don't We Do it in the Road or Maybe I'm Amazed, while at the same time giving us Yesterday, Let It Be, Penny Lane, or something so oddly compelling as Let 'Em In, and doing it all fairly consistently for 50 years now. There's never appeared to be any limit to this man's ability and range in the musical realm.
'Sir Paul' indeed....
And for a man who claims he's okay with silly love longs, when he does get personal, it's a surprisingly intense affair. Much evidence of this can be found on his 1982 album Tug of War, perhaps his best post-Beatles work. It's an anguished collection of music evincing in no uncertain terms his fragile state of mind in the aftermath of the death of John Lennon and his turning 40 in a world far more uncertain than his generation once hoped.
Amidst this string of pearls, Wanderlust emerges. Dignified in its sadness, the opening piano riff is - quite literally, I think - what a goodbye sounds like in our minds as it's happening.
Or should.
'Oh where did I go wrong my love/what petty crime was I found guilty of/what better time to find a brand new day...''
