Summer is right around the corner, which means that festivals, classic double- and triple-headlining bills, and big package tours are the order of the day. To celebrate we’ve compiled a list of some of our favorite songs about hittin’ the road.
Neil Young “Thrasher”
A fan-favorite off the acoustic side of Rust Never Sleeps. This sprawling allegorical epic documents the ugly side of life on the road. Once the lights go down and you pack up your gear, when the real inner tensions start to kick in. The song is partially inspired by the fallout of his experiences with CSNY as well as time spent touring with Buffalo Springfield. When Young sings “How I lost my friends / I still don’t understand” no one doubts his conviction.
Check out the video
Ramones "Touring"
Hogs of the Road the Ramones were no strangers to the rigors of touring. The band would play 300 or more shows a year for the better part of their three-decade run. Most of the time Dee Dee or Marky played emissary between Johnny and Joey who were at odds since the early ’80s over a woman. That never stopped them from getting out there and doing what they did best. Opening with a litany of the places they’ve been and with a refrain emphasizing that touring is never boring, this scorcher off of Mondo Bizarro occasionally turned up in their set straight through the Adios Amigos farewell tour in 1999.
Check out the video
Rolling Stones “Torn and Frayed”
Off of the masterpiece Exile on Main Street, Mick and Keith’s ode to the road and life in a band exercises through song some of the group’s inner demons. Still reeling from the death of Brian Jones and in tax exile in the South of France, the Glimmer Twins put any tensions aside for four and a half minutes of pure countrified acoustic bliss. “Well his coat is torn and frayed / It’s seen much better days / but as long as the guitar plays / Let it steal your heart away.”
Check out the video
Bob Seger “Turn The Page”
Here’s a perennial favorite that’s also a staple of classic rock radio. Detroit’s ramblin’ gamblin’ man Bob Seger paints a scarily accurate portrait of the life of a road warrior: singing about “smoking the day’s last cigarette” and “dreaming of girls you knew the night before.” Metallica covered “Turn The Page” on their 1998 Garage, Inc. album. As anyone who’s seen Some Kinda Monster will attest, the band could have taken a lesson from Seger’s cautionary tale.
Check out the video
Motorhead “(We Are) The Road Crew”
Finally someone gives it up for the guys behind the scenes! A raunchy, overdriven bass drenched barnburner that has become a crowd pleaser and continues to turn up in the band’s set to this day. Lemmy’s love for the busdrivers, drum techs, and guitar geeks is only matched by his thirst for “band-aids” and groupies. “Another town another place / Another girl, another face / Another truce, another race!”
Check out the video
Thanks for the info to Gibson.com.
/ my profile 
