Pet Peeve #9: Songs That Contain Traffic Noises

One of the great things about taking a solo road trip, as I discovered this past weekend, is that you can do whatever you want in the car. You can:

  • wipe your sticky hands on your jeans
  • undo your belt. And your jeans. And your zipper
  • fart at will
  • sing at the top of your lungs

I’m sure you’ve had this happen. You’re lost in your own world, singing some Lady Ga-Ga song (I use that purely as an example…not a fan), hitting all the key notes (not really), and all of a sudden:

BEEP BEEP!

Instantly you’re snapped out of you’re revelry. You glance all around you–mirrors, blind spots, everywhere–for the car that’s honking at you.

And then you realize that Lady Ga-Ga put traffic noises in her song.

That’s not even the worst. Honks and beeps are one thing, but police and ambulance sirens are on a whole new level. Those noises will scare you.

So to all you musicians out there: Please, please don’t put traffic noises in your cars. Leave me in peace with my sticky jeans, farts, and off-key singing. Please.

Daily Quickie: There are only a few bands that I love so much that I would buy their entire album without testing a single song. Arcade Fire is one such band, and their latest album, The Suburbs, dropped today. Yeah, I just used the term “dropped.” I went there. Deal with it. (And let’s hope Arcade Fire didn’t use any traffic sounds in their new songs!)

11 thoughts on “Pet Peeve #9: Songs That Contain Traffic Noises”

  1. I totally agree with you. I still get spooked from sirens in a song even if it’s an album I’ve been listening to for years. I think one is just tuned to those sounds when in the car, because that is what is learned in driving school…well, I went to driving school. As for things I do when taking a solo road trip, I’ll keep this family friendly, HAHA.

    A similar situation is when my dogs hear doorbells or phones ringing in movies and react like they do for the real thing. Absolutely hilarious.

    Reply
    • Wait, don’t keep things family friendly! What do women do in the car when they’re alone for long periods of time?

      Reply
  2. HAHA, well, I for one do the singing at the top of my lungs. My bra usually comes off on long trips if I start getting uncomfortable, and yes, I can remove it while driving without taking my shirt off. Is there a law against that yet? If I start getting bored, I’ll make kissy faces at truckers and bikers and try to get them to honk or rev the engine.

    Reply
      • I definitely do this, or at least I used to. But one car accident where you find yourself buttoning up your pants in front of complete strangers in the middle of Kansas will break you of that habit.

        I make kissy faces and truckers and bikers on any trip, even if it’s just to the grocery store!

        Reply
  3. Oh thank goodness other females take off their bras ninja style in cars, I was scared I was the only one! If my trip in the car is going to be more than 2 hours, the bra comes off usually. Sometimes it doesn’t even make it on my body and just tags along, riding shotgun with me. 5 hour drive to Chicago= bra stays off and just enjoys the ride.
    Now then, getting back to the original blog topic…the siren thing happened to me today! I forgot what song but it scared the mess out of me! 6am on Clayton Road and this siren noise comes on and I’m looking around like a crazy person seeing if I need to get over and wondering what I did wrong and where the cop is. Sleep deprivation might have played a part in that too, but still it’s definitely not a good idea to put traffic noises in songs.

    Reply
  4. Everyone in LA is probably thinking that gunfire on rap songs ain’t such a good idea. As soon as they hear the shots they’ll be ducking down under the steering wheel and hoping it some other person being shot at.

    Okay, so maybe it’s a slight stereotype. 😀

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Jamey StegmaierCancel reply

Discover more from jameystegmaier.com

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue Reading