
There’s No Night Out In The Jail – Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. This is an old Australian folk song, I think. The only known instance of Nick using the word ‘cobbers’.
This Year – The Thrills. From ‘Teenager’, which is one of the great albums of the last decades.
Born To Run – Frankie Goes To Hollywood. Perhaps the ultimate ‘escape’ song. Bruce’s version is just Too Much, but you can’t go wrong with FGTH.
The Sweet Escape – Gwen Stefani. Woooh hoo. Yeeeeh Ho!
You Keep Me Hangin’ On – Vanilla Fudge. No offence to Kim Wilde, but it had to be this version.
When Shall I Be Free? – Shpongle. I love Shpongle. This is from ‘Nothing Lasts… But Nothing is Lost’, another of my favourite albums of the last decade. Psychedelic Trance is not the easiest of genres to explore, I’ll be honest, but you can’t go wrong with Shpongle.
Lucas With The Lid Off – Lucas. If you have a spare couple of minutes, look up the video for this on YouTube.
You Are My Asylum – Alan Moore, Downtown Joe Brown & The Retro Spankees. Alan Moore! It’s really Alan Moore. From the CD that came with the first issue of his new underground magazine, Dodgem Logic.
Keep The Car Running – The Arcade Fire
Over The Wall – Echo & The Bunneymen
Breaking Free – Troy & Gabriella. I don’t fear High School Musical.
Jailbreak (live) – Thin Lizzy
Why Not? Why Not? Why Not? – Timothy Leary. Anyone curious about the philosophiocal background to this one should consult chapter 23 of <plug> my Leary biography </plug>.
Running Away (Section 22) – The Polyphonic Spree. Pretty much anything by the Polyphonic Spree seems to fit the theme of ‘escape’.
Free Man in Paris – Joni Mitchell. I had to fit a female singer/songwriter in here somewhere to keep Scott happy.
Opium Tea – Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. A second Nick Cave track, but like the first one it is so lyrically perfect for this theme that it has to be here. One of the tracks that didn’t make it on to ‘The Boatman’s Call’.
The Escapist – The Streets
Beyond Love (live) – The The. One of my all time favourite songs – especially this live version, with the added coda at the end. A fitting ending for a CD about ‘escape’, wouldn’t you say?



1. Enya – Miss Clare Remembers