Look out look out look out look out!

Car accidents are gruesome horrific tragic things. I hope you never have to experience one, and if you already have, I hope your neck has fully healed.

One winter several years ago I lost control and slid across four lanes of interstate highway. Fortunately I didn't hit anybody. Also fortunate was the location of the soft ditch that stopped me. Just a little ways down the road was a bridge. I don't know if I could've handled being airborne just then.

But from the life-changing event that is a car wreck stems great music. In the early sixties there was a whole genre of teenage tragedy songs, most of which revolved around fatal car crashes. "Last Kiss," "Tell Laura I Love Her," and "Dead Man's Curve" all immediately come to mind. "Leader of the Pack," "Teen Angel," etc.

But as cars got safer and radio stations became less-interested in the macabre, the death-by-automobile songs waned. Now we have to look hard for those unfortunate car tunes.

Dead Poetic - "Glass in the Trees"
This might also be Dead Poetic's best song.

Thursday - "Understanding in a Car Crash"
"Spinning hubcaps set the tempo for the music of the broken window." Nice.

dieradiodie - "The Bartender"
Drinking + driving = not coolness.

The Gloria Record - "Ascension Dream"
An over-remorseful song about hitting a deer. "Tell them I'm sorry that I ever learned to drive."

Damien Jurado - "December"
This one gives me the chilly willies.

Ghoti Hook - "Never"
Ghoti Hook had several serious songs, but they only had a couple ultra-serious songs.

Beulah - "A Good Man is Easy to Kill"
Easily the catchiest upbeat car wreck song ever made. Interestingly I once heard this song used as background music in a TV commercial.

You can probably listen to these songs while driving without any severe repercussions, just remember to buckle up, check your blind spots, and don't close your eyes while singing along.