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Top 10 Songs to Listen to in the Desert

Recently, I had the absolute privilege to live in a tent for five weeks across the Western United States. It was a pretty cool experience! I created a playlist in advance, anticipating the vibes I would need to survive my trip, and it held up pretty well. So, without further ado, here are my top ten songs that most helped me weather the west. I highly recommend them all!

Number 10: “Destination Unknown”

“Destination Unknown” by Marietta Waters may not be the most popular song off of the Top Gun soundtrack, but it certainly felt the most apt as I could never remember where the next stop was. As the group’s font of endless positivity, I also felt the need to keep that feeling running through my soul. Quite frankly, the only thing it’s missing is some more Western vibes.

Number 9: “Blaze of Glory”

The music video for “Blaze of Glory” by Jon Bon Jovi was, according to my professor, recorded around one of the places we visited. I did use an old coat for a pillow, though I had a camping cot and thus did not have to use the earth as last night’s bed. It’s got a beautiful country twang to it and really captures the feeling of wandering around a vast expanse and thinking you might die soon.

Number 8: “Love is Like a Rock”

Maybe I just like “Love Is Like a Rock” by Donnie Iris because the whole point of this trip was to look at rocks.

Number 7: “Gold Dust Woman”

We did get a lot of exposure to Nevada Gold Mines on our trip, but “Gold Dust Woman” by Fleetwood Mac is just generally a great song without considering the geological implications. Sometimes you need to listen to a song that makes you feel powerful in the unrelenting face of the desert. Maybe I was the one who shattered the desert into pieces and the desert went home. Plus, the twang is a nice touch.

Number 6: “Rio”

“Rio” by Duran Duran is a song I have listened to on repeat for hours. I love new wave! It’s also a great desert song because I did in fact dance on the sand, and I even saw the Rio Grande. If we can all strive to be as cool as “Rio” is, we might be a little less uptight and a little more able to have a good time.

Number 5: “Cowboy Take Me Away”

While my experience was not quite as consistently idyllic as the one imagined by The Chicks in “Cowboy Take Me Away”, I am a big rodeo and cowboy fan, so it was fun to listen to as a sort of thought experiment. Sometimes, when you’re out there, it truly does feel like the world is at your fingertips. My blanket was stars, and I did touch the earth and break it in my hands. This song does truly capture the majesty that the west has to offer.

Number 4: “Scrap”

The 2000 Broadway musical The Full Monty has a lot of great songs, but “Scrap” was one of two I listened to the most. Sometimes you have a great, “Cowboy Take Me Away” experience, and sometimes you do feel like a slob instead of a person. “Scrap” is the people’s song, truly. I listened to it when I needed someone to relate to me, and that someone was a collection of unemployed steel workers from early-aughts Buffalo.

Number 3: “A Horse with No Name”

One of America’s (the band, not the place) classics, “A Horse with No Name” is one of the best depictions of life in the desert there is. There were indeed plants and bird and rocks and things, and I had a great time looking at all of them, the birds especially. I did in fact look at ancient river beds and saw the stories they told of rivers that flowed. However, plenty of skin was red and I didn’t even get a horse, so there are still drawbacks.

Number 2: “Riders on the Storm”

Would you believe it rains quite a bit in the desert? The Doors understood that, I think. “Riders on the Storm” was the song I put on every time the weather started to freak me out a bit. I also did a freestyle dance to in in the middle of a sandstorm, my “Rio” moment. Maybe it’s more about the metaphorical storm of life than it is about literal thunder, but the smooth rhythm of it did wonders to calm me down either way. Maybe not very country, but western nonetheless.

Number 1: “Any Turn”

All of Orville Peck’s album Bronco was on my playlist, along with half of his album Pony. He was truly the artist that got me through my desert jaunt. I very easily could have also chosen Bronco, Trample Out the Days, or Lafayette, but I feel like “Any Turn” captures the chaos, the non-stop cross country drives, and needing to find the ways to get through it. Plus, it’s really catchy. In my opinion, it’s really hard to go wrong with Orville Peck.


Anna Gallaway

Howdy, I’m Oiseau! You pronounce Oiseau like wah-zoh! Oiseau means bird in French, and Nighthawks is a painting and also my radio show. In an ideal world, we have fun and chill times. In the real world, we have fun and chill times, but we also occasionally go a little insane from life’s inevitable longing and melancholy. If this is a surprise, you should go to the Art Institute of Chicago and stand in front of Nighthawks for a little while; perhaps then you’ll understand. Also I talk about birds, because my greatest goal in life is to be a bird. Music happens also.


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