Summer’s here – let the road trips begin! To help set the mood for your next epic road trip (or even if you’re just travelling across town to attend a backyard BBQ), we’ve got just the soundtrack for your drive.
Last month, we asked our readers to tell us which songs by Canadian artists are must-haves on their road trip playlists and the response was amazing! With over 150 songs nominated from across Canada, and from a range of genres – from classic Canadian folk to more modern pop and rock – we’ve narrowed it down to the top 30 just for you. If anything is certain, it’s that we should be very proud of the quantity and quality of musicians this country has produced, and continues to produce every day.
Without further ado, here are the top 30 tunes – as selected by GOOD HANDS® Blog readers – in alphabetical order by song name:
- Alberta Bound – Paul Brant
- Born to be Wild – Steppenwolf
- Carefree Highway – Gordon Lightfoot
- Carry On –Cœur de pirate
- Call Me Maybe – Carly Rae Jepsen
- Can’t Feel My Face – The Weeknd
- Closer – Tegan and Sara
- Crabbuckit – K-OS
- En Voyage – Claude Dubois
- Go For Soda – Kim Mitchell
- Hand in my Pocket – Alanis Morisette
- Hard Road – Sam Roberts
- Hasn’t Hit Me Yet – Blue Rodeo
- Highway of Heroes – The Trews
- Hold On, We’re Going Home – Drake
- I Just Called to Say Goodbye – Terri Clark
- I Don’t Know – The Sheepdogs
- I Feel It All – Feist
- Keep the Car Running – Arcade Fire
- Let Your Backbone Slide – Maesto Fresh Wes
- Life is a Highway – Tom Cochrane
- One Week – BNL
- Rockin’ In The Free World – Neil Young
- Rock & Roll Down the Highway – Bachman Turner Overdrive
- Rollin’, Rollin’, Rollin’ – Joel Plaskett
- Seven Day Fool – Jully Black
- Summer of ’69 – Bryan Adams
- Stitches – Shawn Mendes
- Stompa – Serena Ryder
- Wheat Kings – Tragically Hip
Just remember to compile and arrange your songs into a pre-set playlist before your trip so that you can keep your full attention on the road while driving. And even though it will be tempting to crank these tunes up to 10, make sure the volume isn’t too loud so you can still hear the sounds of the road around you. If you must give a particular song your full attention, just pull over to a safe location off the road and enjoy!
Did your song not make the final list? Feel free to list it in the comment section below.