What Song Will You Forever Tie To A Car?
Photo: Steve DaSilva / Jalopnik
Hot take: Music is good. I’m always listening to it, whether I’m driving cars with fancy sound systems or simply sitting at my desk writing these mellifluous words for you beautiful folks to read. But more than being good, music can evoke a kind of sense-memory — throwing your mind back into a situation, somewhere you’ve been before.
This is the basis for today’s question. We’ve talked about driving songs, songs about cars, but I want to know which songs immediately put your brain behind the wheel — the songs that are inextricably, unconditionally, tied to cars.
The Wombats – Give Me A Try (Official Video)
For me, that song is “Give Me A Try” by The Wombats. It’s not about cars, it’s not a particularly good driving song, nothing about it should put me back in the driver’s seat. Yet, there I am in my 1993 Mazda Miata with the top down, pulling into the parking lot of the local Chipotle ripoff while on lunch break from the GM dealership. I can feel the warm air on my face, the steering wheel in my hands, picture the gaps around the double-DIN radio that didn’t quite fill the space of the factory unit.
That’s what I’m after today, the songs that transport you into an automotive memory. Bonus points for stories, detailed descriptions of the memories a song evokes in your mind. Give me your best songs, your best tales, and I’ll collect my favorites in a few days.
