17 Songs For The Modern Vagabond

Are you sick of showering? Do you dream of ditching your friends, family and job for a new life filled with travel, booze, unprotected sex and isolation? If so, these tunes are just for you.

17. "New York" by Cat Power

Lyrics: Start spreadin' the news/ I'm leavin' today/ I want to be a part of it/ New York, New York

16. "Road To Nowhere" by the Talking Heads

Lyrics: There's a city in my mind/ Come along and take that ride/ And it's all right, baby, it's all right

15. "By My Car" by My Morning Jacket

Lyrics: Oh but Los Angeles ain't that far/ And the rest of the girls said they'd be there / By my car

14. "The High Road" by Broken Bells

Lyrics: Cause they know, and so do I/ The high road is hard to find/ A detour in your new life/ Tell all of your friends goodbye

13. "America" by Simon & Garfunkel

Lyrics: So we bought a pack of cigarettes and Mrs. Wagner's pies/ And we walked off to look for America/ Cathy I said as we boarded a Greyhound in Pittsburgh/ Michigan seems like a dream to me now

12. "On The Bus Mall" by The Decemberists

Lyrics: And here in our hollow we fuse like a family/ But I will not mourn for you/ So take up your makeup/ And pocket your pills away/ We're kings among runaways

11. "Rocket Man" by Elton John

Lyrics: And I think it's gonna be a long, long time ‘til touch down brings me round again to find I'm not the man they think I am at home/ Rocket man, burning out his fuse up here alone

Cover: My Morning Jacket's version might be just as good.

10. "Homeward Bound" by Simon and Garfunkel

Lyrics: I'm sittin' in the railway station/ Got a ticket for my destination/ On a tour of one night stands my suitcase and guitar in hand / And every stop is neatly planned/ For a poet and a one man band

9. "Midnight Rider" by the Allman Brothers

Lyrics: And I don't own the clothes I'm wearing/ And the road goes on forever, and I've got one more silver dollar/ But I'm not gonna let 'em catch me, no/ Not gonna let 'em catch the Midnight Rider.

8. "The Passenger" by Iggy Pop

Lyrics: I am the passenger and I ride and I ride/ I ride through the city's backsides I see the stars come out of the sky/ Yeah, the bright and hollow sky/ You know it looks so good tonight

7. "Ramble On" by Led Zeppelin

Lyrics: I'm goin' 'round the world, I got to find my girl, on my way/ I've been this way ten years to the day/ Ramble On/ Gotta find the queen of all my dreams

6. "Alabama Song" by The Doors

Lyrics: Oh, moon of Alabama/ We now must say goodbye/ We've lost our good old mama And must have whisky, oh, you know why

5. "Subterranean Homesick Blues" by Radiohead

Thom Yorke in Humo magazine: "A tribute to Dylan's 'Subterranean Homesick Blues.' (sings) 'Jonny's in the basement mixing up the medicine, I'm on the pavement thinking about the government.' Do I really hope to be on a spaceship? Why not. I believe there are aliens under the ground. I want to see them. I want to see ghosts. I want to walk on the street smiling, knowing that there are little green creatures with incredible large brains and big, beautiful, black eyes, that are filming us with their video cameras."

4. "Exit Music (For A Film)" by Radiohead

Lyrics: Wake.. from your sleep/ The drying of your tears/ Today we escape, we escape/ Pack.. and get dressed/ Before your father hears us/ Before all hell breaks loose

3. "Me And Bobby McGee" by Janice Joplin

Lyrics: Busted flat in Baton Rouge, waiting for a train/ And I's feeling nearly as faded as my jeans/ Bobby thumbed a diesel down just before it rained/ It rode us all the way to New Orleans

2. "Don't Think Twice, Its Alright" by Bob Dylan

Dylan once said: "A lot of people make it sort of a love song - slow and easygoing. But it isn't a love song. It's a statement that maybe you can say something to make yourself feel better. It's as if you were talking to yourself."

1. "Waiting Around To Die" by Townes Van Zandt

Lyrics: I guess I keep on gamblin', lots of booze and lots of ramblin' It's easier than just a-waitin' 'round to die