- Is your favorite song on this list?
Science has proven that a hard-rocking song can give you an energy boost. However, there are some places where the rush may not always be welcome – like when driving.
A study published earlier this year found that major album release dates increase car accidents as people jam to the new tunes while driving. This study inspired the Aaron A. Herbert law firm to find out which popular songs have the same effect.
Their researchers pulled the 45 most popular songs from Spotify Daily Top Songs to ensure the listed songs are ones people actually listen to. They then evaluated them based on three main criteria: tempo, energy, and length.
Basically, research from South China University of Technology has shown that high-tempo, high-energy, high-volume songs make people step on the gas harder, which leads to speeding. Longer songs maintain this reckless state for longer, further amplifying the effect.
Put together, songs that score high on these factors tend to make you speed and drive recklessly. Here are the top 10 most dangerous songs to listen to while driving.
10. Gorillaz – Feel Good Inc.
At the bottom of the top 10 we have Gorillaz’ 2005 hit song Feel Good Inc. This one doesn’t score particularly high in any regard, being middle of the road in terms of energy and tempo. It’s also actually one of the shorter songs on this list.
However, Feel Good Inc. does have one of the catchiest bass lines ever written. It’s just enough to make you start tapping your foot, which should be keeping steady on the gas pedal.
9. Steve Lacy – Bad Habit
Steve Lacy’s Bad Habit features a strange combination of features. On one hand, this mellow song has the lowest energy score out of the entire top 10.
On the other hand, it’s surprisingly fast under the hood, being #1 in terms of tempo. Put together, the low-energy, high-tempo song may create a mesmerizing effect that can have you speeding up without realizing it.
8. Earth, Wind & Fire – September
Earth, Wind & Fire’s disco megahit September (do you remember?) is an extremely danceable tune. This high-energy, feel-good anthem is guaranteed to get your head bobbing, boost your spirits, and make your gas foot heavier if you don’t pay attention.
As a saving grace, September is both the slowest and shortest song in the top 10. Perhaps that’s a good thing, or the 21st of September might turn into a very cloudy day, figuratively speaking.
7. Ella Langley – Choosin’ Texas
Ella Langley’s country bop Choosin’ Texas has fairly sad lyrics, but you can’t say the same about the music. The high-tempo song is surprisingly driving and upbeat, which can make you feel like you’re cruising through Texas’ wide-open highways into the sunset to forget your heartaches.
But the chances are you’re actually on a curvy small-town road or a busy interstate coming home from work. Don’t let the song’s Southern charms fool you.
6. Bruno Mars – Locked Out of Heaven
Bruno Mars’ pop rock anthem Locked Out of Heaven hit the radio waves in 2012, and it hasn’t left them since. Even if you don’t like the song, you can probably understand why – when that chorus hits, it’s hard to not nod along.
That energy is probably also what makes you forget to keep an eye on the speed limit. With the song being also fairly long for a radio hit (pushing four minutes), it can easily overwhelm your good senses and make you drive less carefully than you mean to.
5. Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars – Die with a Smile
Bruno Mars strikes again, although he’s partnered with Lady Gaga this time. Together, they make for a dangerous combination, much like Steve Lacy did earlier.
Although the song sounds slow, it actually has a fairly high tempo with 150 beats per minute. At the same time, though, it has the second-lowest energy in the top 10 and the lowest in the top 5.
As with Bad Habit, Die with a Smile lulls into thinking you’re swaying along to a slow song while the speedometer keeps climbing. If you don’t catch yourself, the song title might be an ominous foreshadowing of things to come.
4. Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit
You don’t need a super fast tempo for a song to have heaps of driving force behind it. Nirvana’s ever-popular Smells Like Teen Spirit proves it by being the slowest song on this entire list at 117 beats per minute.
But each of those beats hits like a sledgehammer. This song ranks second in energy, just barely behind the #1 spot. Nirvana’s hard-hitting grunge packs a punch, and you may not realize how aggressively you’re starting to drive.
3. Olivia Rodrigo – Drop Dead
Olivia Rodrigo’s latest hit Drop Dead dropped only this year, but it’s proven massively popular. With its fast, 150-bpm tempo and high-energy vibe, the song is almost tailor-made to push your foot down harder on the gas pedal.
What’s more, the melodies and synth-poppy sound make the song feel deceptively light. In fact, it wouldn’t be out of place as the soundtrack to a neon-colored 80s-retro drive toward the horizon.
Don’t let that song title become literal on your part.
2. Michael Jackson – Beat It
No one wants to be defeated! Michael Jackson’s evergreen Beat It has the high-driving energy and never-stay-down lyrics create a dangerous mix behind the wheel.
The song also doesn’t let up and keeps going for more than four minutes. It’s the kind of go-go-go tune that makes you speed up unconsciously.
1. The Killers – Mr. Brightside
It’s fast. It’s energetic. It’s super popular. It’s on the radio all the time.
While the song is admittedly divisive, you can’t deny that The Killers’ Mr. Brightside is one catchy tune. It’s become an ever-present party anthem around the world for a reason.
And it really is ever-present. Part of this song’s danger is that you can’t escape it. Turn on almost any non-genre-specific radio channel and it’ll pop up, typically sooner rather than later.