by Damien Sharkov
What would a road trip be without its sound track? Everybody has at least a song or two powerful enough to summon the urge of getting behind the wheel and taking to the closest motorway, tapping along with the rhythm with one arm out the window and on the car roof.
‘Born to be Wild’, ‘Highway to Hell’, and ‘Little Red Corvette’ are among so many beloved driving tunes. But how about caravan tunes then? How many tracks make us yearn for hitching an Airstream to the back of our cars and setting out for greener pastures?
With this in mind, we at CaravanTimes have come up with our top five favourite caravan-themed songs:
The Doors – Spanish Caravan (from ‘Waiting for the Sun’ 1968)
“Carry me Caravan take me away
Take me to Portugal, take me to Spain”
Two albums into their, now legendary, career and LA rockers The Doors were already setting the mould for rock n roll showmanship on and off the stage.
Profanity laden lyrics had already landed the band in hot water with US media, while scandalous frontman Jim Morrison’s self-proclaimed ‘shamanistic’ antics had already seen him arrested mid-performace, for taunting New Haven police, at the band’s 1967 gig, in the Elm City.
Their third record, released the following year, marked a summer of self awareness, in the band’s characteristically dark style, spawning one of their most emblematic efforts – Spanish Caravan.
Guitarist, Robby Krieger opens the song with a luxuriously exotic flamenco riff, lifted, from classical Spanish composer Isaac Albeniz.
The tone is unnerving, fatigued and followed by Morrison’s desperate pleas for a caravan getaway to the mystical ‘mountains of Spain’, or Portugal or seemingly anywhere.
The dark Byronic fantasy of distant lands, where ‘treasure is waiting’, hang like ominous promises, to the ornate organ riff of Ray Manzarek as drummer John Densmore kick drum beats the song into its conclusion.
The story of the journey remains incomplete or perhaps completely unfulfilled. Morrison is found dead in his Paris flat three short years later after his bonhomie lifestyle takes its toll.
Perhaps a caravan break would have done the band some good after all.
Van Morrison – Caravan (from ‘Moondance’ 1970)
“And the caravan has all my friends
It will stay with me until the end”
On paper it does not look too huge a transition, moving from the Jim Morrison of the 60s to, his good friend and namesake Van Morrison, aka ‘The Belfast Cowboy’ in 1970.
Any music fan would surely jump at the thought of the two icons caravanning together. With the release of Van’s ‘Moondance’ album however, it seems clear he envisions a trip, completely different to the Doors’ Andalusian anthem.
A clean cut piano paves the way for a folksy guitar, country beat, a sax, all with the kind of blue-eyed soul vibe that can brighten any road trip playlist. Writer Nick Hornby has even requested this song be played at his funeral.
Black Sabbath – Planet Caravan (from ‘Paranoid’ 1970)
“And so we pass on by the crimson eye
of great god Mars
as we travel the universe”
It seems difficult to imagine now, as Black Sabbath’s latest record, ’13’, tops UK charts in the days when the Brum quartet are regarded as the quintessential heavy metal band, with countless accolades to their name, millions of fans around the world and an MTV reality show in the case vocalist Ozzy Osbourne, but upon their arrival on the music scene they were venomously panned by critics.
Their subversive lyrics and down-tuned melodies alienated them not only from mainstream culture, but also from contemporary transgressive acts of the 70s.
Clad head to toe in black, sedated by various substances, they defied the conventions of an age when defying conventions was the norm.
Thus Ozzy and co. were unlikely to break their habit of challenging established ways of going about things, when it came to caravanning.
Their slow psychedelic ode to a caravan trip comes third on their sophomore album ‘Paranoid’, after their abrasive critique of the Vietnam War in ‘War Pigs’ and their frenetic sense of fearing for one’s own sanity in the title track – ‘Paranoid’.
‘Planet Caravan’ is a rapid mood shifter from the two opening tracks. A lethargic riff from Tony Iommi and a tribal drumbeat from then drummer Bill Ward sets the stage for Ozzy’s shockingly delicate wail.
Geezer Butler’s bass moulds to the contours of the song, forging a hazy, ethereal sound.
“We sail through endless skies; stars shine like eyes; the black night sighs”
The lyrics are, of course about a caravan love affair, through outer space, as if that did not go without saying!
The Housemartins – Caravan of Love (1986 from ‘London 0, Hull 4’ )
“Every woman every man
Join the caravan of love”
The boundaries between sincerity, ironic self awareness and embarrassingly clichéd exist in everyone’s musical taste, albeit varying widely from person to person.
To some of us the notion of an artist covering an already successful song amps up the likelihood that final product will be resigned to that third category.
As a rule of thumb, when that selfsame recording also has allusions to “love” in the title, said probability is at least doubled.
Alarm bells begin to ring when we discover the same piece of music is also a jangle pop, do woop, a capella cover of an already gloriously cheesy R’n’B Isley Brothers song.
In their rendition of caravan classic ‘Caravan of Love’ the Housemartins break all rules of ‘cool’, even by the abhorrent standards of the 80s.
On first listen the cover makes one feel compelled to mimic Paul Heaton’s ill fitting Yorkshire accent, singing the gospel inspired “From the highest mountain of valley low, we’ll join together with hearts of gold”.
It’s enough to make you question whether the fact the song topped the UK singles chart, immediately on its release, in a year that saw the release of Metallica’s Master of Puppets, AC/DC’s Who Made Who, The Ramones’ Animal Boy, Queen’s A Kind Of Magic, The Smiths’ The Queen is Dead, to name a few classics, is not some elusive slice of irony.
Of course then you slowly find yourself clapping along to the Housemartins’ effort, singing the call and response chorus.
Perhaps we like this song ironically or perhaps it actually is a great song. Ultimately, as with the original recording, it does not matter, because any caravan holiday would feel incomplete without a small helping of some sonic cheese, ironic or otherwise.
Stereophonics – Caravan Holiday (from ‘Just Enough Education to Perform’ 2001)
“It didn’t matter that we couldn’t sleep out,
I never really felt like sleeping rough.
Caravanning has inspired many a modern songwriter to freely romanticise about taking off to a distant locale in a two-wheeled home and escaping the mundanity of everyday life.
The results, as you can see, have often been beautiful, albeit quite outlandish. In, what is arguably a cruelly underrated album, the cruelly underrated Welsh rock band Stereophonics remedied that, by releasing a cruelly underrated song – Caravan Holiday.
Never released as a single, the penultimate song off the band’s third album, charmingly portrays Kelly Jones’s love for the fickle British summer, spending a “seven day holiday in the rain in June”.
The mellow ballad takes us through the familiar sights and sounds of damp shoes, fried food and the patter of the raindrops on the pale, blue roof.
Of course, “there’s always time to complain about the weather”. The song’s lyrical coda comes as the week-long caravan break is also coming to a close, with still not a dry day of summer in sight.
But, without a hint of regret we are reminded of the reason so many of us do choose to risk spending our days off, exposed to the elements when “seasons change in a day”, as perhaps it is those we share those days with that is most important. “Seven days holiday in the rain with you” Kelly sings us out nostalgically.
Honorable Mentions:
Blur – Caravan (from ‘Think Tank’ 2001)
Maybe not the most memorable Blur album, but the ominous lyrics, fuzzy vocals and trippy melody make this song worth more than just one listen. It was allegedly inspired by a caravan stay in Mali.
Rush – Caravan (from ‘Clockwork Angels’ 2011)
The Canadian power trio have outlived most, if not all of their contemporaries for a reason. Only listen if you want your caravan journey be made thrice as epic.
Caravan – Where But For Caravan Would I Be? (from ‘Caravan’ 1968)
No further description feels necessary.
What do you think about the songs we have picked? Have we missed out any classic tracks dedicated to caravans? Do you have a special mainstay song on your caravan holiday playlist? Please tell us in the comment section below.
