Our classic Aussie road-tripping playlist

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It’s the final week of school holidays, and after lots of travelling, excitement and exhaustion, many families will be heading home.

But whether you’re a family at the end of your holidays or you’re a road tripper spending an extended amount of time on the road, there’s one thing you always need to accompany your journey – and that’s a good playlist.

We’ve put together a classic Aussie road trip mix, featuring some golden oldies, classic hits and local anthems. Tell us what songs you love to listen to on the road in the comments section below.

1. ‘Down Under’ by Men at Work: Love it or hate it (and we love it), this song is a true blue Aussie, from the flute accompaniment to the Vegemite sandwich.

2. ‘Beds are Burning’ by Midnight Oil: Any of Midnight Oil’s songs could be included on this playlist, and we’ll listen to all of them, but this has to be their ultimate song.

 

3. ‘Khe Sanh’ by Cold Chisel: It wouldn’t be an Aussie playlist without the raspy voice of Jimmy Barnes screaming into the car.

4. ‘Wide Open Road’ by the Triffids: Can you think of a better song to play on the long stretches of wide open road around Australia?

5. ‘Wiyathul’ by Gurrumul: Gurrumul’s hauntingly beautiful music is the perfect accompaniment to this country’s awe-inspiring sights.

6. ‘Zebra’ by John Butler Trio: This bluesy, folksy song almost mimics the sound of bouncing along a country road.

7. ‘Thunderstruck’ by AC/DC: Your car might feel thunderstruck rattling along some of Australia’s more optimistically labelled roads.

8. ‘The Pub with No Beer’ by Slim Dusty: How could we not include this classic?

9. ‘My Island Home’ by Christine Anu: Sure, it’s a little bit daggy, but we always get a bit teary in the chorus.

10. ‘Great Southern Land’ by Icehouse: And to finish off a classic road-trip playlist is Icehouse’s love song to Australia. They were right – this is a continent that has many stories to tell.

What songs would you include on your playlist?

     

  • http://www.facebook.com/nicolas.bertin.129 Nicolas Bertin

    I wouldn’t include just songs, that’s just wrong. It’s Australia, you don’t drive for only an hour, you drive for like 3-4 hours at a time, you need albums, not songs. And for a scorched desertic country like Australia, I would use a lot of stoner music. Kyuss is the perfect road trip music, even though I would even include darker stuff such as Cathedral, Electric Wizard, Goatsnake, Black Sabbath etc… I wouldn’t forget about stuff like Nebula, Acrimony, St Vitus, Monster Magnet, Melvins, Blue Oyster Cult, Sleep. I would probably include some older stuff like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, even some of The Doors or The Rolling Stones.

    For typically Aussie bands, I would include Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, and would even dare to put on some refreshing The Avalanches.

    • http://www.exploreaustralia.net.au ExploreAustralia

      You’re right, Nicolas, our list is only the beginning! You would definitely need albums for any sort of lengthy road trip. But we’d have to include some more classic Aussie bands in the list, with maybe some more modern stuff, like Boy and Bear, or 90s Silverchair.