Every outdoors person needs a list of songs about adventure. And as life is one big adventure, every person, outdoorsy or not, can appreciate the themes that adventure songs deliver.
Good adventure songs should help motivate you into doing that thing you always wanted to go do. Or perhaps they might spark curiosity about a particular place, culture or time in history.
Another great reason to hear new adventure songs or to have an adventure playlist is to create memories. There’s nothing better than having a song you’ve not heard in years take you instantly back to a specific moment. Music is a powerful way of making memories so be sure to have a soundtrack at the ready for your next adventure. In 10 years time you’ll thank yourself for it!
Whatever your reasons are for seeking out some new (or old) tunes, our list of songs about adventure should spark some kind of positive emotion in you that results in positive action.
- Songs about adventure
- Songs about climbing mountains
- Songs about the wilderness
- Canoeing songs
- Songs about exploring
Songs about adventure
Songs about adventure aren’t hard to come by. Especially when adventure has a different meaning for each person. Adventure songs include themes like love, growing up, heartbreak, travel, life, overcoming obstacles, new beginnings, trying new things, experimentation, exploration, fun, fantasy, hard work etc etc.
However, this short list of songs about adventure roughly stays on the theme of literal adventures and life on the road, with some deeper metaphors of life and love thrown in there!
- Fast Car — Tracy Chapman
“You got a fast car. I want a ticket to anywhere. Maybe we make a deal. Maybe together we can get somewhere” - Adventure Of A Lifetime — Coldplay
“If we’ve only got this life, this adventure, oh then I. And if we’ve only got this life, you’ll get me through, oh” - Hopeless Wanderer — Mumford and Sons
“I will call you by name. I will share your road. But hold me fast, hold me fast, ‘cause I’m a hopeless wanderer” - Adventure — Matthew Parker
“Together we touch the sky. Wherever we go we fly. Forever we know adventure’s in the air tonight” - The Open Road — Hollow Coves
“I’m dreaming of the road again. Set free in the wind. Feels like we’ve found home again, on the road that’s grown within” - I’ve Been Everywhere — Johnny Cash
“I was totin’ my pack along the dusty Winnemucca road when along came a semi with a high an’ canvas-covered load. “If you’re goin’ to Winnemucca, Mack, with me you can ride”” - Born To Be Wild — Steppenwolf
“Get your motor runnin’. Head out on the highway. Looking for adventure in whatever comes our way” - Fly Away — Lenny Kravitz
” I wish that I could fly. Into the sky. So very high. Just like a dragonfly.” - Leaving on a Jet Plane — John Denver
“All my bags are packed I’m ready to go. I’m standin’ here outside your door. I hate to wake you up to say goodbye”
Adventure songs about climbing mountains
The below list of songs about climbing mountains is a big old mish-mash of genres and styles. Climbing mountains is a frequently used metaphor for the struggles of life and love that many song-writers have incorporated in their lyrics over the years. But there are a few items on the list that are first and foremost songs about climbing mountains – or at the very least, songs about mountains!
Whether you’re needing motivation to overcome an obstacle or simply looking for some pretty ditties with a mountain climbing theme, you should find something suitable on the following list of songs about mountains.
- Ain’t No Mountain High Enough — Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
“Listen, baby, ain’t no mountain high. Ain’t no valley low, ain’t no river wide enough, baby. If you need me, call me, no matter where you are, no matter how far, don’t worry, baby” - Mountain Climbing — Joe Bonamassa
“I’m just a poor man working day by day. Lost in the struggle, there’s a mountain in my way” - Take Me Home, Country Roads — John Denver
“Almost heaven, West Virginia. Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River. Life is old there, older than the trees, younger than the mountains, growin’ like a breeze” - Climb Every Mountain — Rogers and Hammerstein
“Climb every mountain, search high and low. Follow every highway, every path you know” - Climb That Mountain High — Reba McEntire
“Red sun rising, over the hill. I’ve had enough of this desert to last from now until” - Big Rock Candy Mountain — Harry McClintock
“One evening, as the sun went down and the jungle fire was burning, down the track came a hobo hiking, and he said, “Boys, I’m not turning” - She’ll Be Coming Round The Mountain When She Comes
“She’ll be coming ’round the mountain when she comes (yee-haw). She’ll be coming ’round the mountain when she comes (yee-haw)” - Rocky Mountain High — John Denver
“But the Colorado Rocky Mountain high, I’ve seen it rainin’ fire in the sky. The shadow from the starlight is softer than a lullaby, Rocky Mountain high “ - Mountain Top — Bedouin Soundclash
“It all came down today. There’s not much left to say. We sit alone and stare. Hotel rooms in nowhere” - The Climb — Miley Cyrus
“I can almost see it. That dream I’m dreaming, but there’s a voice inside my head saying you’ll never reach it” - Landslide — Fleetwood Mac
“I took my love, I took it down. I climbed a mountain and I turned around. And I saw my reflection in the snow-covered hills” - Climbing High Mountains (Trying to Get Home) — Oliver Wood
“I’ve been climbing high mountains tryin’ to get home. I’ve been climbing high mountains tryin’ to get home” - Climbing Up the Mountain — Don Gibson
“Now I travel in the valley no more, yeah I’ll reach the other side by and by. Well well I’m climbing up the mountain to the sky, I’m a going where I never never die. I’m climbing yes I’m climbing you know I’m climbing” - Blue Ridge Mountains — Fleet Foxes
“My brother, where do you intend to go tonight? I heard that you missed your connecting flight to the Blue Ridge Mountains, over near Tennessee”
Adventure songs about the wilderness
Songs about the wilderness tend to be on the rather melancholy and sad side with lyrics about being alone or lost. So if you’re looking for songs about the wilderness then that’s really exactly what you’re going to get! There are very few wilderness songs out there with lyrics that joyfully extol the beauty of empty spaces and wide open plains. Most of them are linked to the emptiness, sorrow and conflict that humans suffer.
So, enjoy this selection of cheery songs about the wilderness! Actually, there are some great tunes in this selection, so don’t be too put off.
- A Horse With No Name — America
“On the first part of the journey, I was looking at all the life. There were plants and birds and rocks and things. There was sand and hills and rings. “ - Standing Tall — Tribes of Asaph
“We were not born to be alone. But we have to find ourselves, in the wilderness. Under a tree in Babylon or out in the sea standing tall” - Table in the Wilderness — Russ Taff
“There’s a table in the wilderness. Where the blind can see and the poor possess. Where the weak are strong and the first one’s last. There’s a table in the wilderness” - Roam — The B-52’s
“Take it hip to hip, rocket through the wilderness. Around the world the trip begins with a kiss.
Roam if you want to. Roam around the world” - Out of the Wilderness — The Be Good Tanyas
“Tell me how did you feel, when you come out of the wilderness? How did you feel, when you come out of the wilderness?” - Here in the Wilderness — Joe Creek
“Dark is the night and a cold wind crawling, here in the wilderness. Near is the sound of a coyote calling, here in the wilderness” - Wilderness — Joy Division
“I travelled far and wide through many different times. What did you see there?” - Lost Youth — Stornaway
“In a winterstorm, flushed into the channel. Through this swept off shore. We are lost” - Cowboy Take Me Away — The Chicks
“Cowboy take me away. Fly this girl as high as you can into the wild blue. Set me free oh I pray, closer to heaven above and closer to you closer to you” - I’m Alone In The Wilderness — Culture
“I’m alone in the wilderness, I’m alone. Reach out my Jah. I’m alone in the wilderness. We told and take for I and I and I” - Lonesome Dreams — Lord Huron
“I land on an island coast where the only souls I see are ghosts. I run through a wooded isle and I chase the sunlight mile after mile”
Songs about canoeing and rivers
If you’ve ever spent more than an hour floating down a gentle river or paddling across a still lake in a canoe, you’ll understand just how calming and relaxing the experience can be.
The slow, rhythmic movement of the paddle dipping in and out of the water combined with the sound of gentle splashes as both the boat and paddle displace the water, is completely mesmerising. And so it makes sense that songs about canoeing are equally dream-like and gentle.
That said, canoeing isn’t all about calm and serenity. Hit some fast moving water and rapids and it can be quite the adrenaline-fueled adventure. Or simply pick up the paddling pace to get somewhere quickly and it can be an upbeat and joyous activity.
This list of songs about canoeing has all your paddling moods covered with some jolly tunes to keep morale high on long slogs into the wind, as well as melodic meanders that will slow the pace of life down even more.
- Land Of The Silver Birch — Fred Penner
“Land of the silver birch, home of the beaver. Where still the mighty moose wanders at will” - The Canoe Song — Connie Kaldor
“Take me where the loons are calling. Mist in the morning, smell of pine. Whiskey jack, wake me up. Send me out with a fishing line” - Moon River — Henry Mancini
“Moon river, wider than a mile, I’m crossing you in style some day” - Can You Canoe? — The Okee Dokee Brothers
“We don’t need a motor, we don’t need a sail. And we don’t need no fins or gills, and we don’t need a tail” - Ol’ Man River — Oscar Hammerstein
“Ol’ man river, that ol’ man river. He must know something, but he don’t say nothing” - Paddle Your Own Canoe — The Wolfe Tones
“I’ve travelled about a bit in me time, of troubles I’ve seen a few. I found it far better in every clime to paddle me own canoe” - River Flows — Sting
“I looked out across the river today. I saw a city in the fog and an old church tower” - Paddle Your Own Canoe — The Wolfe Tones
“I’ve travelled about a bit in me time, of troubles I’ve seen a few. I found it far better in every clime to paddle me own canoe” - Canoe — Small Black
“On my way to the 7th house, I ended up caught right in the rivers mouth, spinning in circles” - Canoe — Kat Edmonson
“On such a night in June, beneath a silver moon, they shared a boat for two, canoe. Across a glassy lake their little boat did skate and little sound they made at all”
Adventure songs about exploring
It’s tricky to find songs about exploring that aren’t of a more risqué nature! However, there are plenty of explorer songs out there, even if they are exploiting the metaphorical sense of the word.
That said, the below selection of songs about exploring are pretty much all about genuine exploration and travel. Of forging new paths and seeking out unknown discoveries.
- Final Countdown — Europe
“We’re leavin’ together. But still it’s farewell. And maybe we’ll come back to Earth, who can tell?” - Roscoe — Midlake
“1891 they roamed around and foraged. They made their house from cedars. They made their house from stone” - Exploring the Blue — Luka Bloom
“I go down into the water. Dive as deep as man can go. Into those dark places. Watch the underwater flow. Exploring the blue” - The Silver Globe — Oskar Czechowicz
“New lands, new paths, they always tempted us. Vast fields, broad straths and deserts full of sands” - Heart of The Great Alone — Stornaway
“We go south, chasing the light in our captain’s eyes. Blinded by the snow. You lead us down, into the silence. We stare in the face of it.” - Explore with Me — Yuri Kim
“Sun goes down, our spirit’s free. Nothing left but our energy. Take my hand we can go and see. World Unknown. Come explore with me now” - See New Stars — Slay’em
“Let’s travel across the seas of starry galaxies. Find a place to call home. Explore where no one goes” - Explore the World — Brainheart
“Explore the world In your way. Create memories that you won’t forget. You only live once so don’t waste your time, please don’t waste your time “ - These Memories — Hollow Cove
“We found our place on the branch of an old gum tree. Our feet would sway to a voice in the breeze. And birds would sing on the banks of a narrow stream. These memories will stay with me” - The Road You Didn’t Take — Stornaway
“Sleep up on a mountain, for a night to shiver under skies. But play cool as the cats’ eyes on the road you didn’t take” - Time — Sergiotheintrovert
“Dang I feel alive yeah. Let’s go on an adventure just you and I yeah. Beyond the horizon, through day and night yeah”
There are SO many songs about adventure out there that it’s been tricky to create a list that isn’t too obvious yet sits well within the themes. But hopefully you’ve found some gems on our list that will be the perfect theme tunes for wherever your next adventure may take you.
Sing on, happy adventurers!
