When we planned a road trip to the Grand Canyon (50+ hours of driving), we thought we’d need hundreds of songs to keep us entertained.
But truthfully, for the majority of the trip, we found the scenery around us to be so awe-inspiring that our Spotify Premium subscription went to waste. Instead, we enjoyed the music of conversation and gazed around at the beauty of the American Southwest.
That said, we did listen to music for the first leg of our journey – from Indiana through Illinois, Missouri and Kansas – as you can imagine they’re not as scenic as Colorado, Utah, Arizona or New Mexico.
So here’s a snapshot of what we listened to, curated carefully for other couples who may be embarking on a similar journey.
RELATED: Learn why we recommend road trips to all couples.
Cruisin’ Playlist for Couples
- Suit and Jacket – Judah & the Lion
- Take Me Home Country Roads – John Denver
- Title and Registration – Death Cab for Cutie
- New Slang – The Shins
- Stay Alive – Jose Gonzalez
- Shotgun – George Ezra
- Stuck in My Id – Reptar
- Geronimo – Sheppard
- Speakers – Sam Hunt
- Wagon Wheel – Old Crow Medicine Show
- Old Pine – Ben Howard
- Piazza, New York Catcher – Belle & Sebastian
- Say You Won’t Let Go – James Arthur
- The Few Things – JP Saxe
- Love You Madly – Cake
- Winding Road – Bonnie Somerville
- Caring is Creepy – The Shins
- Hands – The Raconteurs
- Iris – Goo Goo Dolls
- Magic – Leagues
- Sympathique – Pink Martini
- Don’t Panic – Coldplay
- Welcome Home, Son – Radical Face
- Let Go – Frou Frou
- Heartbeats – Jose Gonzalez
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Trip Down Memory Lane – ’90s and ’00s
- Fat Lip – Sum 41
- Pop – NSYNC
- We Found Love – Rihanna
- The Kill (Bury Me) – Thirty Seconds To Mars
- One Week – Barenaked Ladies
- Wonderwall – Oasis
- All The Small Things – blink-182
- Bitter Sweet Symphony – The Verve
- Drive – Incubus
- What I Got – Sublime
- The Distance – Cake
- Electric Feel – MGMT
- Make Damn Sure – Taking Back Sunday
- Welcome to the Black Parade – My Chemical Romance
- Mr. Brightside – The Killers
- Dirty Little Secret – The All-American Rejects
- Sugar, We’re Goin Down – Fall Out Boy
- Spirits – The Strumbellas
- A Thousand Miles – Vanessa Carlton
- The Boys of Summer – The Ataris
- Superman – Goldfinger
- Ocean Avenue – Yellowcard
- 1985 – Bowling For Soup
- The Anthem – Good Charlotte
- The Middle – Jimmy Eat World
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Best Car Dancing Playlist
- That’s What I Like – Bruno Mars
- Lean On – Major Lazer
- Shut Up and Dance – Walk The Moon
- Honey, I’m Good – Andy Grammer
- Love Me Less – MAX
- 7 rings – Ariana Grande
- Meant to Be – Bebe Rexha
- Close To Me – Ellie Goulding
- Keep It Mello – Omar Linx, Marshmello
- We Can’t Stop – Miley Cyrus
- Clarity – Zedd
- Just Dance – Lady Gaga
- Feel It Still – Portugal, The Man
- Don’t Let Me Down – The Chainsmokers
- Pony – Ginuwine
- Uptown Funk – Bruno Mars, Mark Ronson
- Starboy – The Weekend, Daft Punk
- The Rhythm of the Night – Corona
- Don’t Turn Around – Ace of Base
- Can’t Feel My Face – The Weekend
- Better Now – Post Malone
- Me! – Taylor Swift, Brendon Urie
- Closer – The Chainsmokers, Halsey
- Thunder – Imagine Dragons
- Get Lucky – Daft Punk
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Rockin’ Throwbacks for the Fast Lane
- Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen
- Carry on Wayward Son – Kansas
- Icky Thump – The White Stripes
- Call Me The Breeze – Lynyrd Skynyrd
- Don’t Stop Believin’ – Journey
- Paradise by the Dashboard Light – Meat Loaf
- Stayin’ Alive – Bee Gees
- Crazy Train – Ozzy Osbourne
- Paradise City – Guns N’ Roses
- Hold The Line – Toto
- Dream On – Aerosmith
- Renegade – Styx
- Don’t Bring Me Down – Electric Light Orchestra
- Cars – Gary Numan
- Kashmir – Led Zeppelin
- Set It Off – Audioslave
- Immigrant Song – Led Zeppelin
- Rock’n Me – Steve Miller Band
- Sweet Emotion – Aerosmith
- More Than a Feeling – Boston
- Sweet Home Alabama – Lynyrd Skynyrd
- You Give Love a Bad Name – Bon Jovi
- Tom Sawyer – Rush
- Life in the Fast Lane – Eagles
- Show Me How to Live – Audioslave
Find this playlist on Spotify or save the image below so you can reference it anytime.
I love these playlists! I never take time to create one and then we either get bored listening to the same artist or start flipping thru Sirius.
We usually do that too – flip on the radio and listen to it until the station cuts out. Then it’s silent for the rest of our trip 😂 But we had a lot of fun curating these playlists (and singing to them)!