Back in October, one of my good friends and I came up with a half-baked drunk idea that the two of us were going to put together a playlist of 100 songs, 50 a piece, decide in a direction, and just drive. Once that hundredth song ended, we would find a place to stay, park the Jeep, and go get drunk. Then we’d spend the next day just checking out the city or town we were in, and depending on the level of excitement in terms of nightlife, we’d either stay for another night of shenanigans or just call it a night.
Well, last weekend the plan went into action, after a couple of weeks of arguing over songs and which direction we would take.
Coming up with music was both easy and hard. We’re both big fans of classic rock through to more 80’s prog-rock type music up into nostalgic “90s rock” (for lack of a better term). We both hate country, so that was easy. In terms of more modern bands, we ran into some issues. I, being a fan of some hip-hop, was quickly shut down when I tried to throw some J. Cole, Drake & Kanye West into the mix. He, being a fan of stuff like Maroon 5 and Cee-Lo, had some songs of his own shut down. Eventually, we found the newer bands we liked, and we were set to roll.
A bicycle sits in a tree at Notre Dame - Kyle W. Brown
But, we still needed a direction. At first we thought about heading east, keeping it in Canada. I realized that we were going to end up way too close to my hometown for it to have any sort of adventure to it, so I put the kibosh on that. He wanted to go through Buffalo, try to make it somewhere on the east coast. I suggested we make course for the midwest, the heartland of America, if you will. So, we consulted, and alas, the midwest won. Off we were, with the goal of making it to Chitown.
The ceiling of the Student Center at Notre Dame - Kyle W. Brown
On the drive we ran into some random fellow outside a gas station peddling contraband cigarettes, got caught in traffic in Detroit and were fearful for our lives (it wasn’t even all that bad), went from one timezone into another, then back into the first one five minutes later, and saw the beautiful town of Paw Paw.
We never quite made it to Chitown…but we were close! (I think?) We ended up pulling into South Bend, Indiana, home of the University of Notre Dame and…uh, Notre Dame football and…Notre Dame students! We were able to find a nice Scottish pub to drink the night away, and then spent the next day just walking around the monstrous (to a guy coming from Laurier, anyway) campus.
In our brilliance, we went on the weekend of American Thanksgiving, and as such, most of the students were actually at home, and therefore the massive frat and sorority parties we geared ourselves up for were simply not happening. So, we called it a good trip and headed home.
The Engineering Honor Society symbol - Kyle W. Brown
On our way back we did stop at an Applebees in Jackson, Michigan, though, and had a really bitchy waitress and some stomach-upsetting food. So, maybe that was karma that we never should have left and the greatest night ever was waiting for us back in South Bend…probably not, though.
You can find the playlist after the jump.
1. AC/DC – You Shook Me All Night Long
3. Steely Dan – Rikki Don’t Lose That Number
5. Elton John – Crocodile Rock
6. Meatloaf – Paradise By The Dashboard Light
7. DJ Kool – Let Me Clear My Throat (Surprisingly not mine, and I have no idea why this was allowed but Kanye wasn’t.)
8. Lenny Kravitz – Are You Gonna Go My Way
9. Electric Light Orchestra – Mr. Blue Sky
10. The Outfield – Your Love (Why yes, this song is awesome.)
11. Wolfmother – Joker and the Thief
12. The Rolling Stones – Street Fighting Man
13. Whitesnake – Here I Go Again
16. Gin Blossoms – Hey, Jealousy
17. Bruce Springsteen – Dancing in the Dark
18. The Tragically Hip – New Orleans Is Sinking
19. Red Hot Chili Peppers – Otherside
20. Rascal Flatts – Life Is A Highway
21. Murray Head – One Night in Bangkok
24. Thin Lizzy – The Boys Are Back in Town
25. Norman Greenbaum – Spirit in the Sky
27. Meatloaf – Bat Out of Hell
28. The Killers – All These Things That I’ve Done
30. Ace Frehley – New York Groove
31. Foo Fighters – Everlong (Only one Foo Fighters song, I know, I’m disappointed in myself too)
32. The Buggles – Video Killed The Radio Star
33. T-Rex – Get It On (Bang A Gong)
34. Bachman Turner Overdrive – You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet
35. Arkells – Kiss Cam (No, there may be no better song in 2011)
36. Bachman Turner Overdrive – Taking Care of Business
38. Golden Earring – Radar Love
39. TV On The Radio – Wolf Like Me
43. The Fratellis – Chelsea Dagger
44. Lynyrd Skynyrd – Simple Man
46. Hall & Oates – You Make My Dreams Come True (Say what you want, I dare you not to sing when this song comes on)
48. Boomtown Rats – I Don’t Like Mondays (I had never heard this song before, and wish I could go back to that…)
50. Ray Parker Jr. – Ghostbusters
51. Arkells – Oh, The Boss Is Coming
52. The Beatles – With A Little Help From My Friends
54. Traveling Wilburys – Tweeter and the Monkey Man
55. J. Geils Band – Centerfold
57. Trooper – Boys in the Bright White Sports Car
58. Bruce Springsteen – The Ghost of Tom Joad
60. MIKA – We Are Young (Whoops – Tears of Jupiter was supposed to play here, but somehow they got mixed up.)
62. Eagles – Life in the Fast Lane
63. Hall & Oates – You Make My Dreams Come True (I called this song for my 50, and he stole it! Bastard)
65. Cage The Elephant – Shake Me Down
66. Boston – More Than A Feeling
67. Queen – Fat Bottomed Girls
68. Bon Jovi – Livin On A Prayer
69. Journey – Anyway You Want It (Shuffle made this song the 69th? That’s all I have to say)
70. Guns N Roses – Sweet Child O Mine
73. Harvey Danger – Flagpole Sitta
74. The Black Keys – Lonely Boy (I may never have rocked out as hard as when this song came on)
76. John Mellencamp – Pink Houses
77. Dire Straits – Sultans of Swing
78. Steve Earle – Copperhead Road
79. Lonely Island (ft. Akon) – I Just Had Sex
80. Kool & The Gang – Celebration
81. Led Zeppelin – Rock N Roll
82. Creedence Clearwater Revival – Lookin’ Out My Back Door
83. Cee-Lo Green – Fuck You (Needless to say, when this came on, I was not too happy. This broke two rules – that’s one Kanye and a Drake)
84. The Sweet – Ballroom Blitz
85. Creedence Clearwater Revival – Up Around the Bend
87. Creedence Clearwater Revival – Fortunate Son (The iPod really knew the importance of playing CCR in rural Indiana somehow)
88. Derek & The Dominos – Layla
90. The Black Keys – Next Girl
91. Bruce Springsteen – Glory Days
92. Steve Miller Band – Take The Money And Run
93. Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run
95. Neil Diamond – Sweet Caroline (Why I went with a Red Sox fan I have no idea…)
96. Boston – Rock and Roll Band
98. Hootie and the Blowfish – Let Her Cry
99. Sam Roberts – Canadian Dream
100. Arkells – Agent Zero (Or, is this the best song of 2011?)
Kyle Brown 
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