Roadtrip Earworms 2025 – Editor’s Pick for Favorite Songs
There’s nothing like an earworm, sounding so good no matter how many times you play it. I’ve been an earworm listener since I was a kid – hitting repeat to keep that feeling going for hours. There were a lot of them this year, and I hear a lot of music over the course of a year. Finally, here is my go-to, road trip earworm list for albums that came out in 2025. I invite you to follow this list & listen with me (scroll down to find the actual playlist) and test drive it on your next road trip. All of these songs are soooooo great!
Find my top favorite albums, if you’re interested, with a playlist too, here: Editor’s Pick: Favorite Albums of 2025
Vote for our favorites of 2025 here: Vote for Your Favorite Albums of 2025
Jason Isbell “True Believer.” “I finally found a match and you kept daring me to strike it. Now I have to let it burn to let it be.” Sing it loud!
Todd Snider “While We Still Have a Chance.” (aka “While We’ve Still Got a Chance,” which is actually what he sings the whole time) TODD SNIDER RULES (forever)! This song is beautiful, catchy, and cathartic all at once. I’m nowhere near ready to let him go yet.
James McMurtry “Sons of the Second Sons.” Talk about nailing the current state of affairs, with a view to where we came from: “sons of the fucking earth, in search of a Ceasar.” Chilling, James.
Lori McKenna “Tied To You (feat Medium Build).” Can’t say how many times this one was on repeat this fall as my only child went off to college. Tears streaming in public, Lori, thank you.
Ken Pomeroy “Stranger.” Sad, so sad. The vulnerable confiding and the level at which she does it makes you do a double take, and it’s profound.
Helene Cronin “Copperhill.” Holy dear god what are we doing to the environment and each other? Play the song and you’ll be thinking that sentence, in awe.
Patterson Hood “The Forks of Cypress (feat. Waxahatchee).” Holy what the bejeezus is going on, Patterson? Forbidden all the way to hell. I hope everyone involved found a way to be at peace with themselves in the end.
Ben de la Cour w/ Elizabeth Cook “The Devil Went Down to Silverlake” Southern gothic with the devil and Ben’s always top quality songwriting plus Elizabeth Cook. I mean… You gotta hear this one.
Sunny War w/Valerie June “Cry Baby.” Sometimes you just need to break down, let it all out and cry. Important message.
Tyler Childers “Eatin’ Big Time.” How it feels to make it on your own – wrapped in multiple metaphors and a smokin’ band.
Terry Klein “The Job Interview Song” A fantastic song, definitely one you want on repeat. “I like spreadsheets and 12 hr days.” Yep.
June Star “Long Time Running.” Still longing for someone to find their way back to you, even after the damage was done. A memorable song.
Maia Sharp “Tomboy.” This song goes deep into what it feels like not to fit in, and nails it beautifully.
Julien Baker w/TORRES “Sugar in the Tank.” “I love you all the way to hell and back, I love you tied up on the train tracks.” Sometimes, that’s unfortunately exactly how it is.
Lyal Strickland “Gatherin’ Dust” “nobody wants to go slow now, nobody wants to be last, everybody wants their trophy wall, and I just want to kick back.” Ain’t that the whole truth?
Grace Morrison “Poor Man’s Daughter.” This song totally rocks, with the relatable confession “Poverty is in my bones … I’ve been down to the river, some things don’t wash away with water, I’ll always be a poor man’s daughter.”
Kathleen Edwards “Little Red Ranger.” This heartwrenching song about your son leaving home hits hard: “you’ve driving your little red ranger all over LA, someday soon you’re gonna call home and tell us that you’re gonna stay.”
King Koyote “Radiowaves” This outlier is about regrets after someone passes: “I’ve got grass stains on my knees from laying you in your grave.”
Gary Louris “Getting Older.” This one is really hooky: “Time won’t wait for you to make decisions that lurk in the dark, while breaking each other’s hearts.”
Leon Majcen “Don’t Leave the Light On.” This song is about having to leave the one you love and how that feels: “you deserve the world and more, sunny skies and open doors, breezy summers, easy winters, and flowers in springtime.”
Hayel Carll “Progress of Man” is a casual rhythm making a wry commentary: “world’s gettin’ turned on by assholes and racists and it’s all for the progress of man.”
Parry Lamont “Go Home Handsome Molly.” A timeless sounding folk song with a tale of one night that changed lives forever, from the next great undiscovered songwriter.
Jackson Emmer “Turned Off the Power.” He lit a fire and tried to make a deal: “if you want to hear a story gather ’round.”
Jason Eady “Burn It Down.” Snuck on here from a live album. Is that cheating? Maybe a li’l but this song really gets in your head.
Wednesday “Elderberry Wine.” This is a magnetic tale about coming back home and everyone getting back together and, “the champagne tastes like elderberry wine.”
Betty Soo w/James McMurtry “Gulf Road.” Betty sings of the relationship that are made between broken down people with a heartfelt vibe: “straight bourbon whiskey was all we could abide.”
Otis Gibbs “Eastside.” An easygoing song about choices made along the way, and community on the East side: “we did not get here by making career decisions along the way.”
Crys Matthews “The Bigger Picture.” A skilled song metaphorically linking the act of putting a puzzle together with life itself. Catchy and good.
Mavis Staples “Beautiful Strangers.” Nice and easy, Mavis opens up about the idea of a heaven, and “whether you are gonna get on in is up to you.”
Dar Williams “The Way I Go.” Pretty and full of thoughtful observations about the path we choose in life: “the way I go is the only one I know.”
Mike Farris “Heavy On the Humble.” This song soars to glorious heights and it memorable as all get-out. Really.
Will Kimbrough & Songwriting with Soldiers “At Ease.” It’s nice to add Will’s perspective to the voices of calm and comfort we need so badly right now, and this song is just that.
Lukas Nelson w/ Sierra Ferrell “Friend in the End.” An emotionally resonant song about when the storm passes and a new friendship has formed.
Kris Delmhorst “Wolves.” Wolves circling the fire and Kris’s easy hushed delivery here are just magnetic.
Tommy Womack “I Guess We’re At That Age.” A unique song about how it feels when you’re old enough to start attending too many funerals, and life isn’t fair.
Rees Shad “Magic Lantern Presentation.” An intriguingly dark song about having a wild father: “mules hitched with bad intention.”
Heather Aubrey Lloyd “Are You Lost?” Heather’s heartfelt song about how to find your way home when you’re lost out there in the woods on your own.
Them Coulee Boys “Up Close.” This picks the mood up a bit, with a love song that lets you kick your heels a bit.
Jubal Lee Young “Don’t Be a Dickhead.” A likable folk song about advice from the Bible.
Vicki Peterson & John Cowslip “Come to Me.” This song reminds us of how wonderful it feels when someone welcomes us with open arms.
The Wildwoods “I’m in Sandusky.” A touching song about what to do when your heart is broken and someone you love is potentially passing away, too soon.
Lance Cowan “I Can’t Stand the Winter.” An ode to a drafty house and the “cold stillness in the air that cuts right through you… and reminds you of how it was warm” once. Nicely done.
Jerry Joseph “You Want it Darker.” Sneaking in a cover song, but it’s Leonard Cohen and it’s so heavy and so, so, so good it NEEDS to be listened to.
Mason Via “Fireball.” A true earworm, this is so catchy you’ll sing it all day.
Anna Tivel “Holy Equation.” Realism and observations with a little jazz, “the math doesn’t add up, there’s holes in the fabric of dreams you see right through.”
John Calvin Abney “Transparent Towns.” This song is just really pretty, and JCA sings it nice and easy.
Jay Farrar & Shannon McNally “Blood on the Leaves.” Nice to hear his voice, even when the topic and observations are chilling: “more mass shooting than days of the year … sadness beyond tears, how did we ever get here?”
Snocaps “Wasteland.” Catchy, but with a serious pushback: I don’t wanna be your wasteland.
MJ Lenderman “Just Be Simple.” Mournful, this connects deeply emotionally: Why put an address on the same old loneliness? everybody knows where it is.
Moss Henry “Damn Good.” A great gravelly vocal and a requisite drivin’ down the road song.