James Taylor's "Traffic Jam"
All right, I know that owning a James Taylor album means that I have to write a Guilty about it at some point (It was a gift -- honest!), but this cornball song does indeed reference the gas shortage of the '70s. "I used to think that I was cool / Ridin' around on fossil fuel / Then I realized what I was doin' / Was ridin' down the road to ruin." Too true JT, too true... (cc)

The New Year's "Gasoline"
Except for the title, thrown in lyrically from time to time, this song doesn't seem to have a whole lot to do with the action down at your local Sunoco. Still, it's creepy and literate and clever and it does have the memorable line, "I'm lying in the floor in a fetal position / now I know I should never have been a musician." And obviously, that's how lots of bands feel when they finish putting $50 of gas in the tour van.

Jan & Arnie's "Gas Money"
Jan & Dean predecessor group -- yeah, it just doesn't have the same ring to it, does it? -- released this mostly instrumental single in the early 1960s. It's all swinging sax and Halley-ish R'n'R, and even then, with the pumps asking pennies a gallon, the band breaks to shout, "I need some gas money."

Modest Mouse's "Out of Gas"
Isaac Brock is not just out of gas, he's out of road and car, too. From the breakthrough Lonesome Crowded West, which, come to think of it, is now in the throes of invading the jihad-happy, oil-rich east.

The Cure's "Killing an Arab"
Perhaps Robert Smith's most jaggedly post-punk single, this alienated track finds its character (drawn from Camus's The Stranger) staring at the sun, staring at the sand, aiming a gun at someone who has nothing to do with his problem. Sound familiar? Fill'er up.

The Kinks' "A Gallon of Gas"
Fortunately, the oil-crunched '70s taught a valuable lesson about conserving energy, driving smaller cars, not relying too much on foreign producers...until, uh, we forgot. The brothers Davies remind us of the alternate license plate schedules, the around the block lines, the bad hair of 1978 or so, when it was easier to score coke than fuel.

Model Rockets' "Pay for the Gas"
Imagine power pop in a world where the guy can't afford to drive half the night to get his girl back? Where this big old country is full of open roads and romantic quests, but fuck, you're stuck on a ten-speed. This slice of crazed garage pop from Seattle, produced by Scott McCaughey, asks the eternal question, "Who's gonna pay for the gas?"

The Psychedelic Furs' "President Gas"
Technically it's a Reagan song, but this Rundgren-produced B-side is just as appropriate now. With the world falling apart and Priuses vying with Hummers as the car of choice, "Here comes president gas on everything but rollerskates." And speaking of Priuses...

Kelley Stoltz's "Are You Electric"
Who would have thought that small, smart cars that get 68 miles a gallon would one day be fashionable? Who would have thought that Kelley Stoltz's great second album would languish in obscurity? This fuzzily great garage song asks the question of the day, "Are you electric / Are you electric / Are you plugged in?" (And, even more importantly, how long is the cord?)

The Clash's "Brand New Cadillac"
Of course, certain gas-hogging bourgeoise will feel totally justified in saying "fuck no" to fuel-saving no matter how expensive it becomes. So if your baby drove up in a brand new Cadillac, would you kick him (or her) out of the garage?

Gasoline's "Go Psycho"
Gas prices got you feeling a little aggressive? When you think drive-thru, are you thinking "drive through" the bloody station? This short, furious blast of distorted garage punk from Japan's Gasoline will get you in the mood for pump shock mayhem.

T-Rex's "Life's a Gas"
Electric warrior Marc Bolan will bring you back down with a stripped down, swoony acoustic song that makes the reassuring, if somewhat drug-addled, point that "it doesn't matter at all / life's a gas." When they shut the power off for good, we'll all be singing songs like this around makeshift campfires -- living out of our cars, not driving them anymore.