All-time great tracks

[Simon W]

Here we go again. I'll start:

Chris Rea - The Road to Hell (long version 9m 24s).

Masterpiece. They don't come better than this.


Stood still on a highway
I saw a woman
By the side of the road
With a face that I knew like my own
Reflected in my window
Well she walked up to my quarterlight
And she bent down real slow
A fearful pressure paralysed me
In my shadow

She said "Son, what are you doing here?
My fear for you has turned me in my grave"
I said "Mama, I come to the valley of the rich
Myself to sell"
She said "Son, this is the road to Hell"

On your journey 'cross the wilderness
From the desert to the well
You have strayed upon the motorway to Hell

Well I'm standing by a river
But the water doesn't flow
It boils with every poison you can think of
And I'm underneath the streetlights
But the light of joy I know
Scared beyond belief way down in the shadows
And the perverted fear of violence
Chokes a smile on every face
And common sense is ringing out the bells
This ain't no technological breakdown
Oh no, this is the road to Hell

And all the roads jam up with credit
And there's nothing you can do
It's all just bits of paper
Flying away from you
Look out world take a good look
What comes down here
You must learn this lesson fast
And learn it well
This ain't no upwardly mobile freeway
Oh no, this is the road to Hell

[Simon W]

Except perhaps for this:

Springsteen - Human Touch


You and me we were the pretenders
We let it all slip away
In the end what you don't surrender
Well the world just strips away

Girl, ain't no kindness in the face of strangers
Ain't gonna find no miracles here
Well you can wait on your blesses my darlin'
But I got a deal for you right here

I ain't lookin' for praise or pity
I ain't comin' 'round searchin' for a crutch
I just want someone to talk to
And a little of that Human Touch
Just a little of that Human Touch

Ain't no mercy on the streets of this town
Ain't no bread from heavenly skies
Ain't nobody drawin' wine from this blood
It's just you and me tonight

Tell me, in a world without pity
Do you think what I'm askin's too much
I just want something to hold on to
And a little of that Human Touch
Just a little of that Human Touch

Oh girl that feeling of safety you prize
Well it comes at a hard hard price
You can't shut off the risk and the pain
Without losin' the love that remains
We're all riders on this train

So you've been broken and you've been hurt
Show me somebody who ain't
Yeah, I know I ain't nobody's bargain
But, hell, a little touchup
and a little paint...

You might need somethin' to hold on to
When all the answers, they don't amount to much
Somebody that you could just to talk to
And a little of that Human Touch

Baby, in a world without pity
Do you think what I'm askin's too much
I just want to feel you in my arms
Share a little of that Human Touch
Feel a little of that Human Touch

[Simon W]

Then of course, there's always this:

Marc Cohn - Walking in Memphis

Put on my blue suede shoes
And I boarded the plane
Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues
In the middle of the pouring rain
W.C. Handy -- won't you look down over me
Yeah, I got a first class ticket
But I'm as blue as a boy can be, then I'm...

Chorus:
Walking in Memphis
Was walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale
Walking in Memphis
But do I really feel the way I feel?

Saw the ghost of Elvis
On Union Avenue
Followed him up to the gates of Graceland
Then I watched him walk right through
Now security they did not see him
They just hovered 'round his tomb
But there's a pretty little thing
Waiting for the King
Down in the Jungle Room, when I was...

(Chorus)

They've got catfish on the table
They've got gospel in the air
And Reverend Green be glad to see you
When you haven't got a prayer
Boy you got a prayer in Memphis

Now Muriel plays piano
Every Friday at the Hollywood
And they brought me down to see her
And they asked me if I would --
Do a little number
And I sang with all my might
She said "Tell me are you a Christian, child?"
And I said "Ma'am I am tonight!"

(Chorus 2x)

Put on my blue suede shoes
And I boarded the plane
Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues
In the middle of the pouring rain
Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues
In the middle of the pouring rain

[nairda]

This does it for me;

Nobody gonna take my car
I'm gonna race it to the ground
Nobody gonna beat my car
Its gonna break the speed of sound
Oooh it's a killing machine
Its got everything
Like a driving power big fat tires
And everything

I love it, I need it, I bleed it
Yeah its a wild hurricane
Alright hold tight
Im a highway star

Nobody gonna take my girl
I'm gonna keep her to the end
Nobody gonna have my girl
She stays close on every bend
Oooh shes a killing machine
Shes got everything
Like a moving mouth body control
And everything

I love her, I need her, I seed her
Yeah she turns me on
Alright hold tight
Im a highway star

(1st instrumental break)

Nobody gonna take my head
I got speed inside my brain
Nobody gonna steal my head
Now that Im on the road again
Oooh I'm in heaven again I've got everything
Like a moving ground an open road
And everything

I love it, I need it, I seed it
Eight cylinders all mine
Alright hold tight
Im a highway star

(2nd instrumental break)

Nobody gonna take my car
Im gonna race it to the ground
Nobody gonna beat my car
It's gonna break the speed of sound
Oooh its a killing machine
It's got everything
Like a driving power
Big fat tires and everything

I love it, I need it, I bleed it
Yeah its a wild hurricane
Alright hold tight
Im a highway star
Im a highway star
Im a highway star

Or, from T-Ride;

A star
I've seen the face of God

Working for a living is a social disease
I'm looking for a style that won't drag me down
A ray of hope from something better shone its headlights on me
When it came driving through this dirty town

It had a thousand horse power
Hit three twenty-five
Came screaming down from heaven like an angel in disguise

SENT FROM HEAVEN CALLING OUT TO ME
I'D SHINE IN MY LUXURY CRUISER
OUT OF MY WAY DON'T TRY TO GET BETWEEN
ME AND MY LUXURY . . .

Cruising down the street like a leopard in heat
I think I finally found something worth my time
If I can't have heaven, get my own piece of hell
Not owning you would be a capital crime

It had a six speed soul made my temperature rise
Screaming down my dirty street
It left a crack in the sky

Swing down low luxury cruiser
Rise up from the bitch you were born from
Just to touch you, I'd use any device

I'd pray, I'd beg, I'd steal, I'd kill

They moralize us to death but fail to say
We're all supporting actors in a very short play
So put your pedal to the metal and throw caution to the wind
I'm gonna bust down those pearly gates
So they let me in

Nice easy listening music...

[shakennstirred]

opened the thread thinking it was about race tracks lol

[nisfo]

This song by T'Pau means alot to me, it's the first song I heard after my first son was born. I didn't hear it again until about 3 months after on a drive to south Spain (I balled my eyes out)

But certain parts of the lyrics can be related to.....think about it.....

China In Your Hands

It was a theme she had
On a scheme he had
Told in a foreign land
To take life on earth
To the second birth
And the man was in command
It was a flight on the wings
Of a young girl's dreams
That flew too far away
And we could make the monster live again

Oh hands move and heart beat on
Now life will return in this electric storm
A prophecy for a fantasy
The curse of a vivid mind

Don't push too far
Your dreams are china in your hand
Don't wish too hard
Because they may come true
And you can't help them
You don't know what you might
Have set upon yourself
China in your hand

Come from greed
Never born of the seed
Took a life from a barren hand
Oh eyes wide
Like a child in the form of man
A story told
A mind of his own
An omen for our time

Don't push too far
Your dreams are china in your hand
Don't wish too hard
Because they may come true
And you can't help them
You don't know what you might
Have set upon yourself
China in your hand
Oh your hand
Your dreams are china in your hand, wooah
Here in your hand
China in your hand, woh oh oh woh oh oh woh oh
Here in your hand

Woh! You take a flight on the wings of fantasy
Then you push too far
And make your dreams reality
Yeah! For the china in your hand
But you shouldn't push too hard

You take a flight on the wings of fantasy
Then you push too hard
You make those dreams reality
Yeah! China in your hands
But they're only dreams

[lightpainter]

This was always my favorite song when I was a White Van Man on a long journey along the Motorway, must play at full volume and sing along.

Sorry forgot to say, it must be sung by Elvis!

Promised land

(words & music by chuck berry)

I left my home in norfolk virginia
California on my mind
I straddled that greyhound
And rode into raleigh
And on across caroline

We had motor trouble that turn into a struggle
Halfway across alabam
And that hound broke down and left us all stranded
In downtown birmingham

Right away I brought me a through train ticket
Ridin across mississippi clean
And I was on that midnight flyer out of birmingham
Smoking into new orleans

Somebody help me get out of louisiana
Just to help me get to houston town
There are people there who care a little about me
And they wont let the poor boy down

Sure as youre born brought me a silk suit
Put luggage in my hand
And I woke up high over alburquerque
On a jet to the promised land

Working on a t-bone steak a la carte
Flying over to the golden state
Ah when the pilot told us in thirteen minutes
He would set us at the terminal gate

Swing low chariot come down easy
Taxi to the terminal zone
Cut your engines and cool your wings
And let me make it to the telephone

Los angeles give me norfolk virginia
Tidewater four ten o nine
Tell the folks back home this is the promised land calling
And the poor boy is on the line

Working on a t-bone steak a la carte
Flying over to the golden state
Ah when the pilot told us in thirteen minutes
He would set us at the terminal gate

Swing low chariot come down easy
Taxi to the terminal zone
Cut your engines and cool your wings
And let me make it to the telephone

Los angeles give me norfolk virginia
Tidewater four ten o nine
Tell the folks back home this is the promised land calling
And the poor boy is on the line

[BigJuan]

Hot Rod Lincoln (Commander Cody amongst others)

My pappy said, "Son, you're gonna' drive me to drinkin'
If you don't stop drivin' that Hot Rod Lincoln"

Have you heard this story of the Hot Rod Race
When Fords and Lincolns was settin' the pace?
That story is true, I'm here to say
I was drivin' that Model A

It's got a Lincoln motor and it's really souped up
That Model A Vitimix makes it look like a pup
It's got eight cylinders, uses them all
It's got overdrive, just won't stall

With a four-barrel carb and a dual exhaust
And four-eleven gears you can really get lost
It's got safety tubes, but I ain't scared
The brakes are good, tires fair

Pulled out of San Pedro late one night
The moon and the stars was shinin' bright
We was drivin' up Grapevine Hill
Passing cars like they was standing still

All of a sudden in a wink of an eye
A Cadillac sedan passed us by
I said, "Boys, that's a mark for me!"
By then the tail light was all you could see

Now the fellas was ribbin' me for bein' behind
So I thought I'd make the Lincoln unwind
Took my foot off the gas and man alive
I shoved it on down into overdrive

Wound it up to a hundred and ten
My speedometer said that I hit top end
My foot was glued like lead to the floor
That's all there is and there ain't no more

Now, the boys all thought I'd lost my sense
And telephone poles looked like a picket fence
They said, "Slow down! I see spots!"
The lines on the road just look like dots

Took a corner; sideswiped a truck
Crossed my fingers just for luck
My fenders was clickin' the guardrail posts
The guy beside me was white as a ghost

Smoke was comin' from out of the back
When I started to gain on that Cadillac.
Knew I could catch him, I thought I could pass
Don't you know by then we'd be low on gas?

We had flames comin' from out of the side
Feel the tension, Man! What a ride!
I said, "Look out, boys, I've got a license to fly!"
And that Caddy pulled over and let us by

Now all of a sudden she started to knockin'
And down in the dips she started to rockin'
I looked in my mirror; a red light was blinkin'
The cops was after my Hot Rod Lincoln!

They arrested me and they put me in jail
And called my pappy to throw my bail
And he said, "Son, you're gonna' drive me to drinkin'
If you don't stop drivin' that Hot ... Rod ... Lincoln!"