1. Little Feat - Willin'

Two fixtures of the Road meet in this song: the trucker and the outlaw. The narrator of "Willin'" is proudly both, smuggling cigarettes and Mexicans, drinking and drugging, and getting his job done, all at the same time. It's a strange work ethic, to be sure: "If you give me weed, whites, and wine... I'll be willin' to be movin'." When he says "whites," he's not talking about sheets and underwear. That's good ol' fashioned trucker-grade speed.

Few songs so perfectly and plainly combine weariness with optimism. "I've been warped by the rain / Driven by the snow / I'm drunk and dirty, don'tcha know / And I'm still... willin'." In a way, everything you need to know about the oddly determined self-declared underdogs that occupy the better part of North America is right there in that line. There's a bit of bragging thrown in, too, for good measure: "I've been from Tucson to Tucumcari / Tehachapi to Tonopah / Driven every kind of rig that's ever been made." That's both an impressive list of places to have been, and a strange one - what are these places? They are more names than places. He's been from nowhere to nowhere, again and again. Spend enough time on the Road, and that's where you'll end up, too. The difference between the trucker and the rest of us is that he's happy there, and celebrates the place, as if his driving record alone is proof of a life well spent. What could easily have been a sad song about the Road becomes a joyous one when told from the point of view of a man who loves it dearly.

2. Bruce Springsteen - State Trooper

The guitar chugs along dutifully at a medium pace, the lyrics echo and fade, and the Road comes into stark, nighttime relief. He's running from something, though he won't say what. "I've got a clear conscience / About the things that I've done." Already you know that whatever he's done can't be good. Judging fom the sound of the song, it's probably pretty grisly. The fact that he doesn't have a license or registration is the least of his problems. This is the ultimate example of the dark side of the Road, a place of temporary and uneasy refuge for people with something big to hide.

3. Neil Young and Crazy Horse - White Line

Ok, so we've covered the trucker and the outlaw, and now the spurned lover. Neil starts out talking about how "You took my love / And put it to the test," and then jumps without unnecessary explanation to the statement, "That ol' white line is a friend of mine / And it's good time we been makin'." He doesn't seem to be going anywhere special. He's not making good time to Chicago, or California. Making good time is a goal in itself, especially when you need to get away from the wrong woman. Meanwhile, the impossible volume of the band churns your ears to butter. A harsh, bitter, overlooked classic.