Street Music, Anyone?

While merrily executing my daily duties at my workplace one day, my mind began to wander... pretty typical, actually. To avoid boredom, I like to keep my old brainium active by messing around with little games and trivia (often with other people) or just digging around my mental vaults for long-buried information.

I began to mentally compile a list of songs with the words street, avenue, or any kind of roadway in its title. I'll also include names of streets or roads (well-known ones, at least), even if the word street or road doesn't appear. Some of the first ones I thought of were Electric Avenue, Baker Street, Meanstreet, Highway Star, and Highway to Hell. Then I got to thinking that musicians spend a lot of time on the road, so I guess they often think about places they've travelled and even lived... which leads to songwriting ideas. Life on the road is standard for music artists, especially in their early years, before they make it big (if they do) and then fly by jet everywhere. 

I came up with a fair number of songs for this list. These are almost all straight off the top of my head; only a handful were helped by an internet search. But if you can offer any more suggestions, feel free to chime in in the comments section below... enjoy!


Electric Avenue, by Eddy Grant
Baker Street, by Gerry Rafferty
Meanstreet, by Van Halen
Tobacco Road, John D. Loudermilk (a 1960 tune covered by many, including David Lee Roth)
Penny Lane, The Beatles
Blue Jay Way, The Beatles
The Long and Winding Road, The Beatles
Why Don't We Do It In the Road, The Beatles
King's Road, Tom Petty
Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Al Dubin (a 1933 song covered by many artists over the years)
Hit the Road Jack, Percy Mayfield (also borrowed and performed by other musicians)
Highway Star, Deep Purple
Heading Out to the Highway, Judas Priest
Highway to Hell, AC/DC
Easy Street, The Collapsable Hearts Club
22 Acacia Avenue, Iron Maiden
Dancing in the Street, Martha and the Vandellas (many, including Van Halen (1982) covered this)
Road to Nowhere, Talking Heads
Route 66, Nat King Cole
Crossroads, Robert Johnson (later done by every blues band alive... plus rock trio Cream in '68)
The Road to Utopia, by Utopia
The Killing Road, Megadeth
Rockin' Down the Highway, Doobie Brothers
Takin' It To the Streets, Doobie Brothers
Life is a Highway, Tom Cochrane
Kings Highway, Tom Petty
Queen of the Highway, The Doors
Love Street, The Doors
Nights on Broadway, Bee Gees
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out, Bruce Springsteen
Thunder Road, Bruce Springsteen
The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, Genesis
Mainstreet, Bob Seger
Copperhead Road, Steve Earle
Sunset Boulevard, Kim Fowlie
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Elton John
Street Kids, Elton John
Blue Highway, Billy Idol
Moon Over Bourbon Street, Sting
Street Fighting Man, Rolling Stones
Where the Streets Have No Name, U2
Street Fighter, Triumph
Take Me Home Country Roads, John Denver
On the Road Again, Canned Heat
Telegraph Road, Dire Straits
A Hard Road, Black Sabbath
Ease on Down the Road, Diana Ross and Michael Jackson
(We Are) The Road Crew, Motörhead
King of the Road, Roger Miller
Old Man Down the Road, John Fogerty
Seven Bridges Road, The Eagles
Middle of the Road, The Pretenders