How to build a road trip playlist
Plan on 15 to 17 songs per hour of driving, because the average pop song runs three and a half to four minutes. A four-hour drive needs about 60 songs, and a full day on the interstate needs more than 100 before anything repeats. Repeats are what make a car stop singing.
Give everyone in the car ten picks, including the youngest. A playlist built by one person is that person’s playlist. A playlist built by five people means everyone gets a stretch where they know every word, and the kids learn a few of yours on the way.
- Open with the big ones. The first hour sets the mood, so start with the songs that got the most votes.
- Save the slow songs for dark. The night drive list works after sunset, when half the car is asleep.
- Mix the decades. Alternate a 1970s song with a 2020s song, and the grandparents and the teenagers take turns being the experts.
- Download before you leave. Mountain passes and desert stretches lose signal. Save the playlist for offline listening in your own music app.
What makes a good road trip song
Three things, in order. The whole car has to know it, at least the chorus. It needs a tempo that matches the road, which for most people is somewhere between a jog and a walk. And it has to be fun to sing badly, because nobody in a car sings well.
That is why the same songs top every list. “Bohemian Rhapsody” came out in 1975, and in 2018 it became the most-streamed song of the 20th century. “Mr. Brightside” has spent years on the UK singles chart since its 2004 release. Nobody learns these songs on purpose. They soak in at weddings, school dances and in the back seat of their parents’ car.
Turn the playlist into a game
Any song on this page works in Name That Tune. The game plays one-second clips of Apple Music previews, then two, four, eight and sixteen seconds. Earlier guesses earn more points, and teams keep score on one phone. With no signal, it switches to humming, which the driver can join, since it needs nothing but a voice.
For the rest of the drive, try the Movie Game for the same kind of pop culture memory with no music at all, or browse all road trip games.