List of car crash songs
The car crash song emerged as a popular pop and rock music teenage tragedy song during the 1950s and 1960s at a time when the number of people being killed in vehicle collisions was rising fast in many countries. In the United Kingdom, the number of fatalities on UK roads rose to a peace-time peak of 7,985 in 1966 before then falling to a new low of 2,222 in 2009.[1] The theme also appears in country and other music styles.[2]
| Title | Artist | Year | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| "7-11" | The Ramones | 1981 | From their album Pleasant Dreams. The arrangement of this song suggests a strong 1950s/early 1960s teenage pop influence with a doo-wop chorus. |
| "Airbag" | Radiohead | 1997 | According to the lyrics, "an airbag saved my life."[3] |
| "Always Crashing in the Same Car" | David Bowie | 1977 | from the album Low |
| "Angels in Top Hats" | House of Heroes | 2005 | Talks about a girl lying in the hospital, and the song later reveals that she was in a car and it had been raining when the accident happened. From House of Heroes |
| "A Sight for Sore Eyes" | Tom Waits | 1977 | Mention that a fellow named Nash was killed in a crash. The story is told about how he spun out, hit a telephone pole and died with the radio on. From Foreign Affairs |
| "The Approaching Curve" | Rise Against | 2006 | "Up ahead there was a curve approaching. She made no indications of slowing." |
| "The Artist in the Ambulance" | Thrice | 2003 | "Late night, brakes lock, hear the tires squeel. Red light can't stop so I spin the wheel." |
| "Bat Out of Hell" | Meat Loaf | 1977 | Jim Steinman wanted to write the "most extreme crash song of all time."[4] |
| "The Beginning of My End" | The Unifics | 1968 | |
| "The Ballad of Thunder Road" | Robert Mitchum | 1957 | moonshine runner dies when his car speeds off the road |
| "Big League" | Tom Cochrane & Red Rider | 1988 | Lyrics go "Hit a truck doing 70 in the wrong lane in the big league". |
| "B.J. the D.J." | Stonewall Jackson | 1964 | Title protagonist — a hard-living, sleep-deprived disc jockey — dies when his car crashes off the road. |
| "Black Ice" | My Friend the Chocolate Cake | 2011 | From their album Fiasco. Lyrics speak of a fight between a husband and wife, then the wife dies in a car accident. Contains "Black Ice took her away from me", speaks directly of a car crash. |
| "Brought Up That Way" | Taylor Swift | 2009 | Recorded for Fearless but formally unreleased. A song about the relationship between a girl and her father ends with the man receiving a phone call from a police officer stating, "Sir, there's been an accident [...] A drunken driver missed an overpass, and Emily, she's fading fast." |
| "Buses and Trains" | Bachelor Girl | 1998 | Lyrics compare love to traffic accidents with several vehicles, one of them is the car. |
| "(Northbound on) Cahuenga" | Scarling. | 2005 | From So Long, Scarecrow, about Jennifer Symes' auto accident |
| "Car Crash" | The Avengers | 1977 | [5] |
| "Car Crash" | Dirty Americans | 2004 | Making the comparison that love is like a car crash. "You leave me bloody and take all my money like a car crash". This song was featured on the soundtrack of the popular racing video game Gran Turismo 4. |
| "Car Crash" | Our Lady Peace | 1997 | About a friend who intentionally killed himself in a car crash. |
| "Car Crash" | Powerman 5000 | 1995 | |
| "The Carroll County Accident" | Porter Wagoner | 1968 | A deadly car crash reveals a secret extramarital affair in the form of a lost wedding ring |
| "Chapel Bells Ringing" | Gene Summers (written by Mary Tarver) | 1962 | 45rpm issued on Lafayette Records. Based upon a true story about a fatal car/train crash in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas. |
| "Chemistry of a Car Crash" | Shiny Toy Guns | 2005 | |
| "Chicken" | The Cheers | 1957 | |
| "Come Back Jonee" | Devo | 1978 | The lyric "Jonee jumped in his Datsun, drove onto the expressway, went head on into a semi." |
| "Condition Red" | The Goodees | 1968 | Motorcycle accident under circumstances similar to "Leader of the Pack" |
| "Crash" | The Primitives | 1988 | Allegory about living too fast: "You go way too fast, if you don't slow down, you're going to crash." |
| "Crawling from the Wreckage" | Graham Parker | ---- | also a hit for Dave Edmunds (1977). |
| "Crazy Cat Corner" | Gene Summers (written by Deanna Summers-Gene Summers) | 2004 | from Do Right Daddy CD (Enviken) |
| "Daddy's Speeding" | Suede | 1994 | A eulogy to James Dean and about the relevance of car accidents in modern culture |
| "The Day I Died" | Just Jack | 2009 | |
| "Days of Graduation" | Drive-By Truckers | 2001 | A first person narrative about a fatal car crash the night before the victims' high school graduation. |
| "Dead on the Highway" | Sons of the Never Wrong | 1995 | First person narrative from the person killed in a car accident. |
| "Dead Man's Curve" | Jan and Dean | 1964 | auto street racing accident |
| "Dead Joe" | The Birthday Party | 1982 | [5] |
| "Dead In a Ditch" | Dirty Rotten Imbeciles | 1988 | Story of a girl who steals her parents' car and pills and drives of a cliff |
| "Detroit Rock City" | Kiss | 1976 | Written in tribute to a fan who was killed in a car accident on his way to a KISS concert.[3] |
| "D.O.A." | Bloodrock | 1970 | This is about a plane crash victim [and his dead girl friend] dying on the way to the hospital in the ambulance. |
| "Don't Pass Me By" | The Beatles | 1968 | The song is addressed to someone who was "in a car crash" and "lost [her] hair"; i.e., became anxious or upset. |
| "Don't Save Us from the Flames" | M83 | 2005 | About a survivor of a car crash hearing ghosts crying for Tina (presumably killed in the crash). |
| "Dreaming While You Sleep" | Genesis | 1991 | From We Can't Dance. Written in the first person about a hit and run driver who is haunted by the events that took place. |
| "Drinking and Driving" | Black Flag | 1985 | From In My Head. "Fill your car with your buddies. And wrap it around a tree." |
| "Ed" | Ice-T | 1991 | "One night he got drunk and started driving real fast / Ed's dead" |
| "En händig man" | Per Gessle | 2007 | "Hanna" in the song always crashed in the same car. |
| "The End of the Tour" | They Might Be Giants | 1994 | car accident |
| "Everything You Know is Wrong" | "Weird Al" Yankovic | 1996 | Protagonist crashes into a truck and lies bleeding on the asphalt when his hibachi dealer in the back seat cups his hands over the protagonist's eyes. |
| "Fireball Rolled a Seven" | Dave Dudley | 1975 | Protagonist ("Fireball") dies in a racing accident |
| "For Nancy ('Cos It Already Is)" | Pete Yorn | 2001 | Musicforthemorningafter |
| "Glass in the Trees" | Dead Poetic | 2004 | About a friend who died in a car crash. |
| "Glitter Years" | The Bangles | 1988 | "Denny" in the song crashes his father's car |
| "G. M. Vincent and I" | Comeback Kid (band) | 2010 | Tells the story of the van accident vocalist Andrew Neufeld and long-time friends/labelmates Grave Maker suffered[6] |
| "Headlights on Dark Roads" | Snow Patrol | 2006 | |
| "Hello, This is Joannie" | Paul Evans | 1977 | |
| "Here Comes Bob" | Sparks | 1972 | Humorous tale of a wealthy eccentric who deliberately causes minor fender-benders as a way of meeting women |
| "Hospital Flowers" | Owl City | 2011 | Reflecting on a victim's life after a car crash |
| "How I Left the Ministry" | The Extra Lens | 2010 | |
| "I Believe" | Diamond Rio | 2002 | A man almost lost his wife in a car crash and finds comfort in angels. |
| "I Can Feel A Hot One" | Manchester Orchestra | 2009 | A man is reflecting back on the night that he lost his pregnant wife in a car crash |
| "I Hope They Get to Me in Time" | Darius Rucker | 2008 | A man reflects on his life as he lays injured from a car accident, hoping the ambulance arrives in time to save him |
| "I Want My Baby Back" | Perry Botkin, Jr. and Gil Garfield, performed by Jimmy Cross | 1965 | A parody of the car crash tragedy genre in which the driver of the crash reunites with his dead girlfriend - in her coffin (which he digs up!) |
| "In morte di S.F." | Francesco Guccini | 1967 | From the album Folk beat n. 1 - often covered; best known cover is by Italian seminal pop-rock group Nomadi |
| "In the Car Crash" | Swayzak | 2002 | from the album Dirty Dancing featuring Headgear |
| "It's Dangerous Business Walking out Your Front Door" | Underoath | 2004 | "Glass shatters and comes to a halt; I thought we'd be there by now. I thought it would be so much quicker than this. Pain has never been so brilliant; I made sure you were buckled in. Now you can walk hand in hand with him." |
| "J.A.R." | Green Day | 1995 | Green Day bassist Mike Dirnt wrote this song in memory of his lifelong friend, Jason Relva, who died in 1992 as the result of injuries sustained from a car accident. "My friend drove off the other day/Now he's gone and all they say/Is you've gotta live 'cause life goes on" |
| "Johnny Don't Do It" | 10cc | 1973 | A parody of the teenage "death disc" genre using the familiar trope of a bad boy who is good but misunderstood, "an angel dressed in black," riding a stolen motorcycle when he runs into a truck. |
| "Johnny's Gone" | Catfish | 1991 | 2 wheels on the highway / 4 wheels flashing blue / 10 wheels coming the other way / Gonna make the morning news |
| "Just a Car Crash Away" | Marilyn Manson | 2007 | Manson singing about a relationship and lives that are "Just a Car Crash Away" |
| "Jock-O-Rama (Invasion of the Beef Patrol)" | Dead Kennedys | 1985 | Contains the line: Another Trans-Am wrapped itself around a telephone pole "I ain't drunk, officer, I just fell gettin' out of my car" |
| "Junkyard in the Sky" | London Lee | 1963 | |
| "Kärleken är" | Jill Johnson | 1998 | Inspired by the aftermath of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in a car accident in France in 1997.[7] |
| "Killer Cars" | Radiohead | 1995 | B-side from the album The Bends. |
| "Kiss Them for Me" | Siouxsie and the Banshees | 1991 | From the album Superstition. Inspired by the death of Jayne Mansfield in a car accident in 1967. |
| "Last Kiss" | Wayne Cochran (1962) and made popular by J. Frank Wilson also covered by Pearl Jam | 1964 | Falsely inspired by a December 1962 incident in Barnesville, Georgia, in which several teens were killed and two seriously injured when their car struck a flatbed logging truck. Song was actually written in 1961.[3] |
| "Leader of the Pack" | The Shangri-Las | 1964 | motorcycle accident.[5][8] |
| "Leader of the Pack" | Twisted Sister | 1985 | From the album Come Out and Play Cover of the Shangri-Las, but from a male perspective. |
| "Leeds Road 3AM" | New Model Army | 2000 | From the album "Eight", the song describes a series of scenes which culminate in a car crash.[9] |
| "A Lifetime" | Better Than Ezra | 2001, 2005 | Featured on the albums Closer and Before the Robots the urn of a car crash victim is stolen at her wake for a private farewell. |
| "Lightning Crashes" | Live | 1995 | Song based on a real-life drunk driving crash[10] and the impact of a subsequent organ donation. |
| "Limousine" | Brand New | 2005 | Young flower girl at wedding is killed by drunk driver |
| "The Living End" | The Jesus and Mary Chain | 1985 | From the album "Psychocandy". |
| "Love Rhymes with Hideous Car Wreck" | The Blood Brothers | 2004 | [3] A song about a boy who left his girlfriend for a "better looking brand" and when he is horribly hurt in an accident no one visits. |
| "Low Light" | Pearl Jam | 1998 | A song about a troubled couple losing each other in a car crash and not being able to reconcile. |
| "Lucky" | Radiohead | 1997 | "Pull me out of the aircrash". |
| "Life in the Fast Lane" | The Eagles | 1976 | A song about a troubled couple driving in the fast lane, and the male driver singing "call the doctor, I think I'm going to crash", they then "run a stop sign and take a turn for the worst". |
| "Mario Milano's Monaro" | Perry Keyes | 2015 | "Just the other night / Some old guy ran a red light /T-boned me, South Dowling St." |
| "MIA" | Emmy The Great | 2006 | About listening to singer MIA in a car when her love dies in a car accident. |
| "Message from James Dean" | Bill Hayes | 1956 | |
| "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" | Crash Test Dummies | 1993 | A car accident turned a kid's hair "from black into bright white" because "the cars had smashed so hard." |
| "Mr. Ambulance Driver" | The Flaming Lips | 2006 | from the album At War With the Mystics. Frontman Wayne Coyne has described the song as a "teenager car crash ballad". |
| "Motorcrash" | The Sugarcubes | 1988 | from the album Life's Too Good |
| "Motorist" | Jawbox | 1994 | [5] |
| "A Nightmare to Remember" | Dream Theater | 2009 | from the album Black Clouds & Silver Linings. Guitarist John Petrucci wrote about a car crash he was in as a child. |
| "No Reason" | Don Walker | 2006 | "the towies said he was airborne when he hit the tree / with a blood alcohol of 1.7 or more" |
| "No Return" | The Third Rail | 1966 | |
| "Normandy" | Project 86 | 2007 | |
| "Objects in the Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer than They Are" | Meat Loaf | 1993 | Singer's friend is killed in a plane crash |
| "Oerend Hard" | Normaal | 1977 | motorcycle accident |
| "The Other Side of the Crash/Over and Out (of Control)" | Thursday | 2006 | The aftermath of a car accident on its survivors is chronicled. A sequel to "Understanding in a Car crash" (see below) |
| "Papa Loved Mama" | Garth Brooks | 1992 | A jealous truck driver crashes his rig into a motel room where his wife is having an extramarital affair, killing her and sending himself to prison. |
| "Phantom 309" | Red Sovine | 1964 | The song's protagonist, a hitchhiker, meets the ghost of a truck driver who was killed when he swerved his semi-trailer truck into a ditch to avert a potentially deadly collision with a bus full of teen-agers. |
| "Plastic Flowers on the Highway" | Drive-By Truckers | 2001 | |
| "Racing Car" | Air Bubble | 1976 | Ned. #7 Racing car driver boyfriend is involved in a crash. |
| "Renaissance" | Mat Kearney | 2006 | |
| "Ricky's Hand" | Fad Gadget | 1980 | A man drinks six pints of beer, drives, crashes his car, and loses his hand. |
| "Riding with Private Malone" | David Ball | 2001 | The singer is pulled from a fiery car crash by the ghost of the car's former owner, a soldier who died in the Vietnam War. |
| "The Right Profile" | The Clash | 1979 | Based on the 1956 car crash in which Hollywood star Montgomery Clift was severely injured. |
| "Rocky's Girl" | David Geddes | 1978 | |
| "Seventy Times 7" | Brand New | 2001 | Sample lyrics: "Have another drink and drive yourself home |
| "Shredded Humans" | Cannibal Corpse | 1990 | From the album Eaten Back to Life. The lyrics of the song describe what happens to a family inside a car that crashes, and the reaction of the other driver. |
| "Sirens" | Lee Brice | 2014 | From the album I Don't Dance. The subject picks up a female hitchhiker who robbed a bank and grabs the steering wheel and causes a crash rather than surrendering to the cops. |
| "So Damn Lucky" | Dave Matthews | 2003 | The 2nd track on Matthews's solo album Some Devil. The subject is pleased that their love is not involved in the auto accident described in the lyrics. |
| "So Small" | Carrie Underwood | 2007 | A runaway teen steps in front of an oncoming car, causing the woman driving to swerve into a man coming in the opposite direction - and then time freezes, giving all three a moment to contemplate what brought them there. |
| "Someday" | Nickelback | 2003 | From the album The Long Road. The lyrics chronicle a failed relationship. The music video involving a car crash. |
| "Spellbound" | AC/DC | 1981 | From the album For Those About to Rock We Salute You. The first verse describes a car accident and the second verse describes the reckless driving that lead to the crash. |
| "Stan" | Eminem featuring Dido | 2000 | The lead character in the song commits suicide by crashing his car, with his pregnant girlfriend in the trunk. |
| "Star Witness" | Neko Case | 2006 | "My true love drowned in a dirty old pan of oil that did run from the block of a Falcon sedan 1969. The paper said '75. There were no survivors, none found alive." |
| "Steve Was Dead" | Buck O Nine | 1997 | Rumors spread among friends that Steve was in a car crash. lyrics and video |
| "Sunday Driving" | Jerry Lewis | 1951 | Jerry crashes his car at the end of the song and says next time he'll take the bus, instead. |
| "Suzy & Jeffrey" | Blondie | 1980 | The titular duo crash into a wall, serving as a metaphor for cold feet. |
| "Teddy Bear" | Red Sovine | 1976 | The protagonist's father had died in an accident involving his semi-trailer truck during a snowstorm. |
| "Teen Angel" | Mark Dinning and Alex Murray | 1959 | auto accident |
| "Tell Laura I Love Her" | Ray Peterson | 1960 | auto racing accident[3][8] |
| "Terry" | Twinkle | 1964 | Motorcycle accident |
| "That's How People Grow Up" | Morrissey | 2009 | "I was driving my car / I crashed and broke my spine" |
| "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" | The Smiths | 1986 | from the album The Queen Is Dead |
| "Three Wooden Crosses" | Randy Travis | 2002 | Christian story song about a bus wreck in Mexico where three people died and maybe why a fourth person, perhaps the least deserving of the group, lived. |
| "Through the Wire" | Kanye West | 2003 | Rapper West's first single, inspired by a 2002 accident which he survived, and performed while his jaw was wired shut as a result of his injuries.[3] |
| "Thunderbird" | Steve Azar | 1996 | from the album Heartbreak Town |
| "Tonight is the Night I Fell Asleep at the Wheel" | Barenaked Ladies | 2000 | From Maroon. Accompanied by a drum march and calliope, the song is recited by the narrator who has just died in a car accident. |
| "Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die!" | Jethro Tull | 1976 | Motorcycle accident |
| "Transfusion" | Nervous Norvus | 1956 | A crazy driver keeps getting into accidents and receiving blood transfusions - always promising to never speed again. |
| "Trashed" | Black Sabbath | 1983 | From Born Again, about surviving a drunk driving. |
| "Two Hour Honeymoon" | Paul Hampton | 1960 | A newlywed couple have a car accident that kills her and leaves him lying in the wreck questioning why did it happen. |
| "Understanding in a Car Crash" | Thursday | 2002 | [5] |
| "Untitled (How Could This Happen to Me?)" | Simple Plan | 2005 | drunk driving accident |
| "Warm Leatherette" | The Normal | 1979 | also recorded by Grace Jones (1980). First person narrative of a car crash victim burning to death in the crash. |
| "When I Go Out, I Want to Go Out on a Chariot of Fire" | Escape the Fate | 2006 | Song about a deadly car crash. |
| "The Wild Boar" | Adrian Crowley | 2014 | "Suddenly, a huge shape lept from the forest on his right / There was barely enough time to react / He hit the brakes hard, but the car collided / with the creature, or whatever it was" |
| "Wreck on the Highway" | Roy Acuff | 1942 | also recorded by artists including The Louvin Brothers, George Jones and Gene Pitney (1965), The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (in Will the Circle Be Unbroken, 1972)[2] |
| "Wreck on the Highway" | Bruce Springsteen | 1980 | hit-and-run victim on lonely highway, inspired by but different from the Acuff song |
| "The Year Summer Ended In June" | Misery Signals | 2004 | “Roll down the window let in night air. I always thought we'd be together. You said we've never gone this way before. I must not let you die. Your memory survives.” |
| "A Young Man Is Gone" | The Beach Boys | 1963 | A eulogy to James Dean |
| "In the Kingdom #19" | Sonic Youth | 1986 | Death on the highway |
| "Slow Car Crash" | Headphones | 2005 | "Your purse hit the wind shield when I locked the brakes. Airbags inflated, seat belts engaged. A semi was jack knifed because of the rain. A hundred yards up blocking 3 lanes." |
| "My Favourite Game" | The Cardigans | 1998 | The reason MTV UK rejected the video was because of fears that the video could encourage joyriding and cause car accidents amongst teenage drivers. |
| "Jerry Was a Race Car Driver" | Primus | 1991 | "Jerry was a racecar driver, he was 22 years old. Had too many cold beers one night and wrapped himself around a telephone pole." |
| "I'm Cold" | Whale | 1995 | "I'm breathing a broken windscreen" |
See also
References
- ↑ Department for Transport (2009). "Reported Road Casualties Great Britain: 2009 Annual Report" (PDF). Road Casualties Great Britain. Retrieved 2010-10-11.
- 1 2 Chet Flippo, "Nashville Skyline: 'I Ain't Never Seen a Hearse with a Luggage Rack': Songs of Death Return to the Country Charts", CMT.com, April 28, 2005
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Clark Collis, Mike Errico, "Rock's Worst Drivers", Blender, January 2007
- ↑ Jim Steinman (1999). Classic Albums: Meat Loaf Bat Out of Hell (DVD). Image Entertainment.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Newt Briggs, "Road scholar: Crash course - The Doom-and-Gloom Alternatives to the Beach Boys' 'Little Deuce Coupe'", Las Vegas Mercury, July 15, 2004
- ↑ "MUSIC VIDEO: COMEBACK KID "G.M. VINCENT & I"". Under the Gun Review. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
- ↑ Melodifestivalen genom tiderna, Premium förlag 2006 (first released 1999), page 263-265 - Melodifestival 1998, I schlagerns mikrokosmos...
- 1 2 Jack Sargeant "Violence and Vinyl: Car Crashes in 1960s Pop" in Mikita Brottman, ed. Car Crash Culture, Palgrave, New York, 2002 (see review)
- ↑ http://newmodelarmy.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=118:leeds-road-3am&catid=30:lyrics&Itemid=44
- ↑ http://www.allmusic.com/album/r199090
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