Songs about cars and roads

Rock music is full of images of sex, drugs and cars, especially fast ones. The car in modern pop culture has become a symbol of deliverance, the zen vehicle that reminds us we are forever between waystations, and the road is all.

What follows is a random list of songs about our preferred vehicle, mostly cars and the occasional jeepney thrown in, and life on the road. The best rock artists are like Odysseus, knowing all too well that the journey is the main thing, and that reaching destination is anti-climactic, like icing.

Little Red Corvette, Prince

Prince when he was known as such, sang about how he knew his lover was going to leave him by the way she parked her car at a certain angle off the curb. The song has a lot of conflicting emotions, a veritable tug-of-war between a cynical worldview and down home romanticism. Look for a love that you think is going to last, Prince, and not Michael V., says.

Born to be Wild, Steppenwolf

A ’60s relic, if ever there was one, but which we still hear newly dusted off the archive shelves to accompany car and gasoline commercials. "Get your motor running/ rev up on the highway ..." this song became a benchmark of a generation’s flight to freedom.

Brand New Cadillac, the Clash

The band was one of the best of the angry young punks. From the double album London Calling, the song depicts the usual chilling scenario where the protagonist watches his ex-girlfriend drive up in a brand new Cadillac. Of course, why should it bother him when it’s only the proverbial tail lights, baby.

Thunder Road, Bruce Springsteen

One of my favorite artists when it comes to writing, and ranting, about cars. Springsteen is a genius when it comes to crafting that inevitable verse about changing gears, so that you’re tempted to tell him, "mag-menor ka naman." But when he plays the role of the lonely hero waiting in his car for his girlfriend, with the radio on and the promised land just a breath away, it’s hard to deny him his due. Lying out there like a killer in the night, thunder road is.

Drive My Car, The Beatles

This is the opening cut from the Beatles’ seminal mid-’60s album Rubber Soul. Features slightly unusual stops and guitar breaks, that the listener can’t help but surmise maybe the weed must have taken effect. "Baby you can drive my car/ Yes, you’re going to be a star/ and baby I love you ..."– these lines spell out how much better it is to share the spoils of rock stardom.

Black Mercedes Benz, the Breed

Our own local version of Born to Be Wild, as far as the back beat goes. The Breed, one of the first of their generation of coño bands, pulls out the stops for this cruising-on-the-expressway classic. Again, a song about a car is as much about power as it is about women, indeed few things are as sexy as a halter-topped lady in shorts wiping a shiny four-wheeler with a chamois.

Drive By, Neil Young

A little known song by the master of the bittersweet, low key folk song. Drive By has Young probably reinventing the mindset of a possible stalker. But who knows what it could really mean? The song is best taken on second gear with gin.

Beep-beep, Juan dela Cruz Band

The JdC band’s tribute to the lowly jeepney driver; it’s a wonder why Jeep ni Erap did not use it as a campaign jingle two years ago. Maybe next year when oil prices are even higher. The band here is in one of its most combustible moments.

Fast Car, Tracy Chapman

From her debut album, Fast Car is a notably melancholic anthem that would help define the Tracy Chapman sound. For an instant in a fast car, the protagonist gets that rare feeling of belonging.

Running on Empty, Jackson Browne

Excellent slide guitar work here, or is it dobro. Browne takes us to the heart of his striving in this late ’70s song recorded live, from the album of the same title. It’s when one never knows, metaphorically speaking, when one is going to make tirik.

Mercedes Benz, Janis Joplin

Singing a cappella, Joplin’s drawl is laced with much Southern Comfort and too many late nights on the road. Joplin’s voice was that of a black woman trapped in a white soul-searcher’s body.