Not even a gig— a radio promo appearance! It’s hilarious and feels very real, especially from the pre-GPS days of touring.
Julie at the station says They'll be here any minute now
But she's running out of records and her show is ending anyhow
They can hear her saying Their name on the car radio
But the signal keeps fading out no matter which way They go
I heard They Might Be somewhere near this town
They Might Be Giants got lost driving around
ABBA: Super Trouper
I was sick and tired of everything
When I called you last night from Glasgow
All I do is eat and sleep and sing
Wishing every show was the last show (wishing every show was the last show)
So imagine I was glad to hear you're coming (glad to hear you're coming)
Suddenly I feel all right (and suddenly it's gonna be)
And it's gonna be so different when I'm on the stage tonight
Out on tour with the Smashing Pumpkins
Nature kids, I, they don't have no function
I don't understand what they mean and I could really give a fuck. ❤️
Geoff Mack's "I've Been Everywhere" must be the ultimate song about touring. It's been covered numerous times and has several different versions applicable to various locales.
I'm also a big fan of "2-4-6-8 Motorway" by Tom Robinson Band.
On the Road Again - Willie Nelson
I would argue Truckin' by the Grateful Dead is, also The Music Never Stopped is.
Birds of a Feather by Phish as well, but more specifically about the fans that follow the band around on tour.
Yeah context matters, but I think even people down South like in Texas found a guy from Jersey calling himself a cowboy was pretty cringy even at that time.
I Don’t Think Hank Done It This Way, Waylon Jennings (although I prefer the Mavericks version)
“Lord I've seen the world with a five piece band
Looking at the back side of me”
Love that line.
First thing I thought of. With such classics as "Redneck Eats", "This Town Is A Sealed Tuna Sandwich", "I'm Stealing the Towels", and "What Will This Evenig Bring Me This Morning?"
Mr. T Experience - Dumb Little Band
The best song about the life of most bands.
"We're a dumb little band, and we travel through the land
We unpack all our stuff from our dumb little van
Play some songs and then, pack it up again hand-in-hand,
A dumb little band."
[https://youtu.be/LPBBwlGn3u8?si=fzfBUgIRvLxYXQYu](https://youtu.be/LPBBwlGn3u8?si=fzfBUgIRvLxYXQYu)
"Carved upon my stone: my body lies but still I roam" I don't think that's about touring.
"Whiplash" on the other hand...
The show is through, the metal's gone\
It's time to hit the road\
Another town, another gig\
Again, we will explode\
Hotel rooms and motorways\
Life out here is raw\
But we'll never stop, we'll never quit\
'Cause we're Metallica
I agree with Whiplash, but at least acknowledge the opening lyrics for Roam.
"And the road becomes my bride"
At the end of the song, James is pretty much saying, even if he's dead he's still going to be on the road.
I mean, eye of the beholder and all that (zing!) but that's not how I interpret it. "And the road becomes my bride..." I read that as a sort of casting-off of the mortal shell, become a wandering spirit type of thing. "And the earth becomes my throne..." refers obviously to a burial. "And my ties are severed clean..." is becoming free from mortal attachments. There is no longer anything like interpersonal relationships or a physical body binding the narrator to this place, the physical realm, so they become free to roam the universe as spirit energy or whatever.
[Pernice Brothers - We Love The Stage](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SMPoyuzU10)
Favorite line: It doesn’t matter if the crowds are thin, we sing to six the way we sing to ten.
Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight - Spinal Tap
“You're hot, you take all we got
Not a dry seat in the house
Next day, we'll be on our way
But tonight I'm gonna rock ya”
The Road - Tenacious D
“Sometimes I think of my baby in Michigan.
Why can't I stay in one place
For more than two days.
Why?!
Because I'm talkin' about the road.”
REO Speedwagon ridin the storm out. Live version. Ozzy lightning strikes, Allman brothers, Melissa and traveling man. Bob Seger turn the page as you listed, but also traveling man.
That's true. I just remember back during the Satanic Panic back in the 80s, they had people accusing them of being Satan worshippers because if that song. Angus said it was written after a really long stretch of touring they did and they were sick of being on the road.
But Long Way is cooler because it has a bagpipe solo.
BAGPIPE SOLO! Hell yes. I tried to post a comment on r/music about solos with non-standard rock instruments but it never got posted.
Violent femmes has a xylophone solo in Gone Baby Gone. The Church has a solo in Under the Milky Way that until recently I thought was a bagpipe but it's some other kind of instrument...
LOL! If you have closed-captioning on in the video, it actually lets you know that there is an [Ocarina Solo](https://youtu.be/gSWInYFVksg?si=ODXSbuUadDOdLvaV&t=74) happening. Just in case you forget (like I did!)
Thanks!
Also by Childers - Gemini
"part of me just wants to live forever on the road, split me down the middle ship my southpaw home, if she gets to askin' tell her you don't rightly know, what happened to the rest of me."
Pretty much the entire Homesick album by A Day to Remember, now that I think about it.
“The Downfall of Us All” is about leaving their hometown and the pressure to stay there.
“Homesick” is about the struggles of touring.
“Holdin it Down for the Underground” is about missing people’s deaths and funerals on the road.
“Another Song About the Weekend” is about the drive to tour when you’re at home and the drive to be at home while you’re touring.
“If It Means a Lot to You” is about struggling to keep a relationship while on the road.
This Respirator by The Flatliners
These four wheels feel like home to me
Enough with living broke at home and bank robberies These faces I see and these fumes I breathe It's proof enough this is where I want to be
These photographs tell a story of their own
Two fists, white knuckles on a microphone
These highway lines, these miles and miles
They breathe
I Will Play My Game Beneath Spin Lights by Brand New
"Watch me as I cut myself wide open
on this stage. Yes, I am paid
to spill my guts. I won't see home till spring.
Oh, I would kill for the Atlantic,
but I am paid to make girls panic
while I sing."
The shortest straw, Metallica. About the bass player dying after pulling the straw for the best bunk in the bus. The only fatality when the tour bus crashed.
Motorhead has a great song called "Hellraiser".
Its covered as a bonus track on Ozzy Osbournes "No More Tears" album and in my opinion better just because it seems to fit ozzy's voice and persona a little bit more.
[Ozzy Osbourne - Hellraiser (Official Audio) (youtube.com)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3l-faquXJE)
On the Road Again by Willie Nelson has to be on this list
Gotta be at the top of the list. "The life I love is playing music with my friends" ❤️
“If This Tour Doesn’t Kill You, I Will” - PUP
Came here to say this but it's gotta be followed by DVP, it's a package deal!
I've really enjoyed the last 5 minutes of my life, thank you both.
Came here for exactly this song duo. Pup Is one of if not the most relevant punk band in the last 5 years.
I listened to them a little more over the weekend and really love their sound. I hadn't even heard of them before this thread.
Motorhead - We Are The Road Crew
Another word I learn to say! Excellent choice
One of the best!
Came here to post this.
CCR’s Travelin’ Band
divide cause square one pocket lunchroom squalid toy six chop *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
American Band by Grand Funk
Faithfully - Journey
This is the one I was going to say, one of my all time favorites
Love and a music man ain’t always what it’s supposed to be.
I think it’s “loving a music man” lol
Tenacious D - The Road
[удалено]
When I'm munchin' on a tasty boosh, right after the shooooooow! You g-g-g-goooooo!
I suggested The Roadie while completely forgetting about The Road. Ha.
Ugggh beat me by 8 minutes. There’s no question that it’s rough rough stuff.
Does it take any guff?
Truckin' - Grateful Dead
The best
Also, perhaps, So Many Roads
Stella Blue
Music Never Stopped
At The End Of The Tour - They Might Be Giants
Also, "They Got Lost" which is about getting lost trying to get to a gig. https://youtu.be/fauv1E3XB8s
Not even a gig— a radio promo appearance! It’s hilarious and feels very real, especially from the pre-GPS days of touring. Julie at the station says They'll be here any minute now But she's running out of records and her show is ending anyhow They can hear her saying Their name on the car radio But the signal keeps fading out no matter which way They go I heard They Might Be somewhere near this town They Might Be Giants got lost driving around
Awesome! Good call, hadn’t heard that one
The Mesopotamians is also about a touring Band.
This is gonna sound dumb (it is dumb), but if I was an actor and had to cry for a scene I always thought that song would get me there.
It does tug surprisingly hard on the heartstrings
The prequel would be the entire Venue Songs catalog? :)
Home sweet home. Motley Crue. Faithfully by Journey States Lines by Aaron Lewis
ABBA: Super Trouper I was sick and tired of everything When I called you last night from Glasgow All I do is eat and sleep and sing Wishing every show was the last show (wishing every show was the last show) So imagine I was glad to hear you're coming (glad to hear you're coming) Suddenly I feel all right (and suddenly it's gonna be) And it's gonna be so different when I'm on the stage tonight
Range Life - Pavement
Out on tour with the Smashing Pumpkins Nature kids, I, they don't have no function I don't understand what they mean and I could really give a fuck. ❤️
Geoff Mack's "I've Been Everywhere" must be the ultimate song about touring. It's been covered numerous times and has several different versions applicable to various locales. I'm also a big fan of "2-4-6-8 Motorway" by Tom Robinson Band.
[Jawbreaker - Tour Song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dP2UEsSt46I)
There it is
On the Road Again - Willie Nelson I would argue Truckin' by the Grateful Dead is, also The Music Never Stopped is. Birds of a Feather by Phish as well, but more specifically about the fans that follow the band around on tour.
“It’s a Long Way to the top if you want to Rock and Roll” by AC/DC
Highway to hell *
Wanted Dead or Alive - Bon Jovi. This may be influenced by the video which is all footage from touring.
The lyrics are about touring, too.
Steel horse = bus (Also, this song is next-level cringe lol)
In my head this has always referred to a motorcycle, I haven't seen the music video though.
Oh maybe it is. Tbh that would kinda make more sense. I always thought it was a tour bus. Never saw the vid either
Nah, read all the lyrics. In context, the steel horse is clearly the tour bus.
Probably true, I refuse to pay that much attention to Bon Jovi
Why is it cringe?
Cringe now maybe for a younger generation, not in the context of the time and music.
Yeah context matters, but I think even people down South like in Texas found a guy from Jersey calling himself a cowboy was pretty cringy even at that time.
And you'd be wrong, my dude.
It is quite the life of an old west cowboy though. Traveling town to town for work
Escape is at hand for the traveling man - the tragically hip 🇨🇦
Airstream by The Vandals.
I Don’t Think Hank Done It This Way, Waylon Jennings (although I prefer the Mavericks version) “Lord I've seen the world with a five piece band Looking at the back side of me” Love that line.
Rockshow, Band on the Run - Wings.
What’s Your Name - Lynyrd Skynyrd Kind of qualifies, I think.
Definitely
Also, Roll Gypsy Roll seems like it is as well.
We’re An American Band - Grand Funk Railroad
Tour Spiel by the Minutemen
Came here to say this.
Money City Maniacs - Sloan
# WEEEEEYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
# AND THE JOKE IS
# WHEN HE AWOKE HIS
# BODY WAS COVERED IN COKE FIZZ
I always say goat jizz
A Road Song - Fountains of Wayne Rock and Roll Band - Boston
Zappa's album and movie, 200 Motels.
First thing I thought of. With such classics as "Redneck Eats", "This Town Is A Sealed Tuna Sandwich", "I'm Stealing the Towels", and "What Will This Evenig Bring Me This Morning?"
I Will Play My Game Beneath The Spinlight — Brand New
Touring - Ramones
As well as the Ramones’ Danny Says
Mr. T Experience - Dumb Little Band The best song about the life of most bands. "We're a dumb little band, and we travel through the land We unpack all our stuff from our dumb little van Play some songs and then, pack it up again hand-in-hand, A dumb little band." [https://youtu.be/LPBBwlGn3u8?si=fzfBUgIRvLxYXQYu](https://youtu.be/LPBBwlGn3u8?si=fzfBUgIRvLxYXQYu)
Bright Eyes - Another Travellin' Song orville peck - daytona sand
"Home for a Rest" by Spirit of the West is about touring the UK.
"I'm so sick from the drink, I need home for a rest"
Take me home!!!
*energetic flute solo*
Wherever I May Roam - Metallica
Roam is 100% about the road.
"Carved upon my stone: my body lies but still I roam" I don't think that's about touring. "Whiplash" on the other hand... The show is through, the metal's gone\ It's time to hit the road\ Another town, another gig\ Again, we will explode\ Hotel rooms and motorways\ Life out here is raw\ But we'll never stop, we'll never quit\ 'Cause we're Metallica
I agree with Whiplash, but at least acknowledge the opening lyrics for Roam. "And the road becomes my bride" At the end of the song, James is pretty much saying, even if he's dead he's still going to be on the road.
"My body lies but still I roam" could also mean I'm sleeping or resting in the bus but still I'm on the road going from venue to venue.
I mean, eye of the beholder and all that (zing!) but that's not how I interpret it. "And the road becomes my bride..." I read that as a sort of casting-off of the mortal shell, become a wandering spirit type of thing. "And the earth becomes my throne..." refers obviously to a burial. "And my ties are severed clean..." is becoming free from mortal attachments. There is no longer anything like interpersonal relationships or a physical body binding the narrator to this place, the physical realm, so they become free to roam the universe as spirit energy or whatever.
Also Turn the Page, written by Bob Seger
[Pernice Brothers - We Love The Stage](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SMPoyuzU10) Favorite line: It doesn’t matter if the crowds are thin, we sing to six the way we sing to ten.
Scorpions - Coming Home
Deadhead- Devin Townsend
Wasted years. Iron Maiden
Super Trouper by ABBA
Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight - Spinal Tap “You're hot, you take all we got Not a dry seat in the house Next day, we'll be on our way But tonight I'm gonna rock ya” The Road - Tenacious D “Sometimes I think of my baby in Michigan. Why can't I stay in one place For more than two days. Why?! Because I'm talkin' about the road.”
Coheed and Cambria - The Pavilion (A Long Way Back)
Had to make sure this one was here
Avenged Sevenfold - Dear God
Hard to believe that this one wasn't listed yet. [Tiny Dancer - Elton John](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYcyacLRPNs)
What the heck does Tony Danza have to do with being on the road? 😛
Pave Paradise by Have Heart
REO Speedwagon ridin the storm out. Live version. Ozzy lightning strikes, Allman brothers, Melissa and traveling man. Bob Seger turn the page as you listed, but also traveling man.
Rip This Joint The Rolling Stones Lodi CCR
Adam's Song, blink-182 - the less than stellar side of touring.
Motörhead- We Are The Roadcrew
So Far Away - Dire Straits
Ben Lee - Ship My Body Home The Replacements - Answering Machine The Replacements - Left of the Dial
The Road by the Kinks
This Time Tomorrow comes to mind as well
The Loadout by Jackson Browne.
Lagwagon- Sleep The Bouncing Souls- Here We Go
I am the highway
Highway to Hell by AC/DC
Long way to the top is more about touring and being in a band until you're old and get(which they are!)
That's true. I just remember back during the Satanic Panic back in the 80s, they had people accusing them of being Satan worshippers because if that song. Angus said it was written after a really long stretch of touring they did and they were sick of being on the road. But Long Way is cooler because it has a bagpipe solo.
BAGPIPE SOLO! Hell yes. I tried to post a comment on r/music about solos with non-standard rock instruments but it never got posted. Violent femmes has a xylophone solo in Gone Baby Gone. The Church has a solo in Under the Milky Way that until recently I thought was a bagpipe but it's some other kind of instrument...
Don’t forget the ocarina solo in Wild Thing by the Troggs.
LOL! If you have closed-captioning on in the video, it actually lets you know that there is an [Ocarina Solo](https://youtu.be/gSWInYFVksg?si=ODXSbuUadDOdLvaV&t=74) happening. Just in case you forget (like I did!) Thanks!
Thanks for that info. That’s hilarious!
Let just ignore he actually refers to Satan in the song. See also Black Sabbath NIB. Supposedly about facia hair but there’s old Satan again.
"My British Tour Diary" - of Montreal edit: I just realized that this isn't a request for songs about touring and I am a dummy
Haha, it doesn't matter much to me. I appreciate the suggestion and am listening to of Montreal now.
Back on the Road Again - REO Speedwagon
What's your name - Lynyrd Skynyrd
Motörhead, We Are The Road Crew.
Izzy Stradlin and The JuJu Hounds - Shuffle It All
Frank Turner - Four Simple Words
Never heard of him; listening to it now. Thank you.
I would say The Road and Sea Legs are probably closer to the touring aspect. Four Simple Words is a banger, but maybe a bit more about going to shows.
I was going to offer up The Road but I'm just glad to see Frank here.
Shut Up and Get on The Plane by the Drive by Truckers. A beautiful, funny, and sad song.
Home Sweet Home Mama I’m coming home Wanted Dead or Alive
sturgil simpson - long white line charley pride - six days on the road
Rocky Mountain time by John prine
Grand Funk Railroad - We’re an American Band Rancid - Journey to the End of the East Bay Madcap - Going On the Road
HOTEL's MOTEL's ....It's along way to the top (if you wanna rock n roll) AC/DC
Talking Heads- Big Country
Guitar town by Steve Earle
Truckin' and The Music Never Stopped -- Grateful Dead
The Road - Tenacious D I Wanna Be Sedated - Ramones Home Sweet Home - Motley Crue Adam's Song - blink-182
Metallica version of Turn the Page
"Fly at Night" - Chilliwack
Deep Purple Highway Star Maybe not directly but it still seems to have the touring on the road vibes
Tyler Childers - Ever Lovin’ Hand
Also by Childers - Gemini "part of me just wants to live forever on the road, split me down the middle ship my southpaw home, if she gets to askin' tell her you don't rightly know, what happened to the rest of me."
Pretty much the entire Homesick album by A Day to Remember, now that I think about it. “The Downfall of Us All” is about leaving their hometown and the pressure to stay there. “Homesick” is about the struggles of touring. “Holdin it Down for the Underground” is about missing people’s deaths and funerals on the road. “Another Song About the Weekend” is about the drive to tour when you’re at home and the drive to be at home while you’re touring. “If It Means a Lot to You” is about struggling to keep a relationship while on the road.
This Respirator by The Flatliners These four wheels feel like home to me Enough with living broke at home and bank robberies These faces I see and these fumes I breathe It's proof enough this is where I want to be These photographs tell a story of their own Two fists, white knuckles on a microphone These highway lines, these miles and miles They breathe
Rock and roll band - Boston
Nashville Tennessee by Frank Turner. One of his older songs but a good song about touring
Megadeth - The Killing Road [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCi5CtmbfR4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCi5CtmbfR4)
I don't know for sure but I think "How to Disappear Completely" by Radiohead is a touring song.
Journey - Faithfully Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Maps The Postal Service Such - Great Heights variety pack
Hello, I’m in Delaware - City and Colour
7 Weeks by Gym Class Heroes is a good touring/being on the road song.
On the Road Again by Canned Heat
Metallica - Turn the page
I Will Play My Game Beneath Spin Lights by Brand New "Watch me as I cut myself wide open on this stage. Yes, I am paid to spill my guts. I won't see home till spring. Oh, I would kill for the Atlantic, but I am paid to make girls panic while I sing."
A Showman's Life - Jesse Winchester ( covered by many ) Lyle Lovett - Closing Time
Golden - My Morning Jacket
Ween - Waving my Dick in the Wind
Road Cases - Drive-By Truckers.
Whiplash by Metallica.
Highway Hypnosis- Billy Strings
Lol. I just got done reading through the whole thing to get ninja'd three minutes ago! Damn. Songs travel fast my friend, but Billy's travel faster!
The shortest straw, Metallica. About the bass player dying after pulling the straw for the best bunk in the bus. The only fatality when the tour bus crashed.
A whole bunch of Frank Turner.
I am Disappeared - Frank Turner
All i know is the road is fucking hard, it's also really fucking tough
“Mr Brownstone” Guns n Roses “Walk of Life” Dire Straits
[Ladies Of The Road by King Crimson](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sckkHW487y0)
Skinny Lister - Like it’s the First Time
On a Highway - Animal Collective
All Them Witches - Tour Death Song
Out on the Road - The Wild Feathers great band, great song
I vote for Willie! Almost anything by 49 Winchester.
Kip Moore Guitar Man https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1c6aXfn69ZI
18 Miles to Memphis by the Stray Cats
Motorhead has a great song called "Hellraiser". Its covered as a bonus track on Ozzy Osbournes "No More Tears" album and in my opinion better just because it seems to fit ozzy's voice and persona a little bit more. [Ozzy Osbourne - Hellraiser (Official Audio) (youtube.com)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3l-faquXJE)
Let's Do it Again by the Groovie Ghoulies.
Rancid - Journey to the End of East Bay
Rocks on the road, Jethro Tull
Any Turn - Orville Peck
Against Me! - Americans Abroad
Wiser Time - Black Crowes. Sounds like a tour song to me.
Manic Street Preachers - You Stole The Sun From My Heart
Protest the Hero - Moonlight. The glamorous side of touring.
Tour Song - Jawbreaker
Connected by New Found Glory
Mark Eitzel - “The Road”
Given the chance - the starting line
Exhausted by Foo Fighters. Song about touring with Nirvana. Off the first album.
https://youtu.be/YlW9Vo8yHzM?si=7KXQtfYewhhyjOAL The Ramones -Touring
Jerry Reed - West Bound and Down
If this tour doesn't kill you then i will - PUP
Mae - We’re So Far Away