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 rapidly 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
"30,000 Pounds of Bananas"	Harry Chapin	1974	From the album Verities & Balderdash. About the crash of a truck driver bringing a load of bananas into Scranton, Pennsylvania, based on a real truck accident.
"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.
"The Reason"	Hoobastank	2004	From the album The Reason
"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 crash happened. From House of Heroes
"A Sight for Sore Eyes"	Tom Waits	1977	Mentions 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." From The Sufferer & the Witness
"Arthur"	Hoodoo Gurus	1984	"A black gelato van, finished for the day, met with Arthur's taxi head-on, down St. Kilda way"
"The Artist in the Ambulance"	Thrice	2003	"Late night, brakes lock, hear the tires squeal. Red light can't stop so I spin the wheel." From The Artist in the Ambulance
"Bat Out of Hell"	Meat Loaf	1977	From Bat Out of Hell
"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	"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 Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots"	The Cheers	1955	A motorcyclist vanishes after hitting a truck.
"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 crash. 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 collisions with several vehicles, one of them is the car.
"(Northbound on) Cahuenga"	Scarling.	2005	From So Long, Scarecrow, about Jennifer Symes' car crash
"Car Crash"	The Avengers	1977	[4]
"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 crash under circumstances similar to "Leader of the Pack"
"The Country & Western Supersong"	Billy Connolly	1979	A bus crash, ambulance and car crash
"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."
"Crash & Burn"	Got7	2019	From their album Call My Name.
"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 crashes in modern culture
"The Day I Died"	Just Jack	2009
"A Day in the Life"	The Beatles	1967	John Lennon sings about a man who "blew his mind out in a car" crash, presumably Guinness heir Tara Browne, who died in a 1966 automobile crash.
"Days of Graduation"	Drive-By Truckers	2001	A first person narrative about a fatal car crash the night before the victims' high school graduation.
"Deacon Blues"	Steely Dan	1977	"Drink scotch whisky all night long and die behind the wheel"
"Dead on the Highway"	Sons of the Never Wrong	1995	First person narrative from the person killed in a car crash.
"Dead Man's Curve"	Jan and Dean	1964	Auto street racing collision
"Dead Joe"	The Birthday Party	1982	[4]
"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 crash on his way to a KISS concert.[3]
"Dezesseis"	Legião Urbana	1996	Story of a teenager street racer who died on a car crash, possibly from suicide.
"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 crash
"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 collision
"Flowers"	Chris Young	2006	The singer sings at the grave of his wife whom he killed in a drunk driving 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 crash vocalist Andrew Neufeld and long-time friends/labelmates Grave Maker suffered[5]
Grace Kelly	Die Ärzte	1983	From their EP Zu schön, um wahr zu sein!
"Gravity's Union"	Coheed and Cambria	2013	"And I was wrong to let you go / I accept my mistake, but you will never know / This is my love into a ten-ton truck / Baby, please remember the better me"
"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 Came Here to Live"	Trace Adkins	2006	A man telling a story about his life shares how his car flipped doing 80 and his experience with God that changed his purpose of life.
"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 crash, hoping the ambulance arrives in time to save him
"I Hope You Die"	The Bloodhound Gang	2000	The singer lovingly describes a grotesque car wreck he hopes the listener gets into.
"I Love It"	Icona Pop	2012	Protagonist crashes her car into a bridge in a fit of rage.
"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." From They're Only Chasing Safety
"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 crash. "My friend drove off the other day/Now he's gone and all they say/Is you've gotta live 'cause life goes on"
"Jerry Was a Race Car Driver"	Primus	1995	"Jerry was a race car driver/22 years old/Had one too many cold beers one night/And wrapped himself around a telephone pole"
"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"
"In the Kingdom #19"	Sonic Youth	1986	Death on the highway
"I'm Cold"	Whale	1995	"I'm breathing a broken windscreen"
"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"
"Just Good Ol' Boys	Moe Bandy and Joe Stampley	1979	"Hotwired a city truck and turned it over in the mayor's yard."
"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 crash in France in 1997.[6]
"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 crash 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 crash.[4][7]
"Leeds Road 3 am"	New Model Army	2000	From the album Eight, the song describes a series of scenes which culminate in a car crash.[8]
"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[9] 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 crash 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 crash.
"Message from James Dean"	Bill Hayes	1956
"Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm"	Crash Test Dummies	1993	A car crash 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	[4]
"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 crashes amongst teenage drivers.
"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 crash
"On The Road To Calvary (for Jeff Buckley)"	Willie Nile	1999	"I heard a car crash, it reminded me of you" from the album Beautiful Wreck of the World
"The Other Side of the Crash/Over and Out (of Control)"	Thursday	2006	The aftermath of a car crash 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 teenagers.
"Plastic Flowers on the Highway"	Drive-By Truckers	2001
"Racing Car"	Air Bubble	1976	Ned. No. 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" "I hope there's ice on all the roads" "And you can think of me when you forget your seatbelt" "Then again when your head goes through the windshield"
"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.
"Slick"	Sugar	1992	From the album Copper Blue. The song describes a driver who lost control of a car on a slick road and crashed into a pole. The subject is paralyzed and connected to machines in the hospital.
"Sloppy Seconds"	Watsky	2013	From the album Cardboard Castles; first verse details a car crash
"Slow Car Crash"	Headphones	2005	"Your purse hit the wind shield when I locked the brakes. Airbags inflated, seat belts engaged. A semi was jackknifed because of the rain. A hundred yards up blocking three lanes."
"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 collision 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 crash 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."
"State Fair"	Doug Supernaw	1994	"It happened way out on route twenty nine Some drunk driver came across the yellow line"
“Stereotype”	The Specials	1980	“His mums waiting up, she hopes he's alright But he's wrapped round a lamp post on Saturday night”
"Steve Was Dead"	Buck O Nine	1997	Rumors spread among friends that Steve was in a car crash. lyrics and video
"Story"	Clipping (band)	2013	The song tells the story of a new police officer who reports on a fatal car crash involving a cab. It is revealed in the final line that one of the passengers was his sister, and he was the one who told her to “catch a cab”.
"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 a collision involving his semi-trailer truck during a snowstorm.
"Teen Angel"	Mark Dinning and Alex Murray	1959	Auto collision
"Teenage Cremation"	Bob Hudson	1974	A parody of teen death songs. "I walk along the nature strip looking for pieces of you"
"Tell Laura I Love Her"	Ray Peterson	1960	Auto racing collision[3][7]
"Terry"	Twinkle	1964	Motorcycle crash
"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 crash which he survived, and performed while his jaw was wired shut as a result of his injuries.[3]
"The Tourist"	Radiohead	1997	A song about the moments leading up to and during the crash "Airbag" (another OK Computer track by Radiohead) is based on.
"Thunderbird"	Steve Azar	1996	from the album Heartbreak Town
"A Tombstone Every Mile"	Dick Curless	1965	A song about a treacherous stretch of Maine highway where truckers often met fatal accidents.
"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 crash.
"Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die!"	Jethro Tull	1976	Motorcycle crash
"Transfusion"	Nervous Norvus	1956	A crazy driver keeps getting into collisions 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 crash that kills her and leaves him lying in the wreck questioning why it happened.
"Two Six Packs Away"	Dave Dudley	1965	The singer is serving a ninety-day jail sentence for wrecking his car while drunk.
"Understanding in a Car Crash"	Thursday	2002	[4]
"Untitled (How Could This Happen to Me?)"	Simple Plan	2005	Drunk driving collision
"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.
"Where Oh Werewolf"	Michael J. Nelson	1998	Parodying a car crash scene in the 1996 film Werewolf. Performed on an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.
"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 leapt 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.” From Of Malice and the Magnum Heart
"A Young Man Is Gone"	The Beach Boys	1963	A eulogy to James Dean

See also

• List of road accidents
• List of people who died in road accidents

References

1. Department for Transport (2009). "Reported Road Casualties Great Britain: 2009 Annual Report" (PDF). Road Casualties Great Britain. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
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, 28 April 2005
3. Clark Collis, Mike Errico, "Rock's Worst Drivers" Archived 30 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Blender, January 2007
4. Newt Briggs, "Road scholar: Crash course – The Doom-and-Gloom Alternatives to the Beach Boys' 'Little Deuce Coupe'", Las Vegas Mercury, 15 July 2004
5. "MUSIC VIDEO: COMEBACK KID "G.M. VINCENT & I"". Under the Gun Review. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
6. Melodifestivalen genom tiderna, Premium förlag 2006 (first released 1999), page 263-265 – Melodifestival 1998, I schlagerns mikrokosmos...
7. Jack Sargeant "Violence and Vinyl: Car Crashes in 1960s Pop" in Mikita Brottman, ed. Car Crash Culture, Palgrave, New York, 2002 (see review)
8. "New Model Army - New Model Army". www.newmodelarmy.org.
9. https://www.allmusic.com/album/r199090