Myself and 3 friends are going to a concert in Chicago in a week and a half, its about a 2 hour drive from where I live. I want to make a CD of good songs to sing along with that everyone will know and happy songs in general. Does anybody have any good suggestions?
Tony
Depends a lot on tastes and age.
For myself, I would make an eighties tape with acts like Duran Duran, Eurythmics, Simple Minds, U2, Tears for Fears, Ultravox, and also some Bananarama and Madonna thrown in for good measure.
Here are a couple of songs that are specifically about traveling on The Road:
Born to be Wild by Steppenwolf;
Me and You and a Dog Named Boo by [sub]mumbles incoherently[/sub].
Howyadoin,
Who are you going to see in Chicago? That would be a big factor in what to choose, IMHO… But here’s some personal road trip favorites…
“The Mona Lisa’s Sister” - Graham Parker
“Radar Love” - Golden Earring
“Immigrant Song” - Led Zeppelin
“Red Barchetta” - Rush
“Driven” - Rush
“Rock 'n Roll Hoochie-koo” - Rick Derringer
I suppose these aren’t sing-along kinda songs, but when you listen to these tunes, you tend to get where you are going very quickly, which is even better, no?
-Rav
Songs and CDs that I’ve found work well on road trips:
Pretty much anything off the Beatles’ 1 CD
The La’s “There She Goes”
Queen “Bohemian Rhapsody”
The Pixies “Here Comes Your Man”
Elvis (Rat Elvis or thin Elvis according to your preference. I’m particularly fond of “Little Sister,” “His Latest Fling,” and “Devil in Disguise.”)
Dead Can Dance Aion (A bit out of left field but still excellent for driving)
YMMV (no driving pun intended)
Gah. The sentence should of course read “Fat Elvis or thin Elvis according to your preference.”
The Oh Brother Where art Thou soundtrack.
Bruce Springsteen’s Live Box set.
(The Album) Layla, by Derek (Clapton) and the Dominoes.
Pink Floyd’s - Animals album will have you there and back in no time. How about Supertramp’s - The Long Way Home.
I agree with Fionn on “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Best road trip song ever! I add “Me and Bobby McGee” (Janis version) and “I Will Survive.” You can’t help but sing along.
Nobody has mentioned “On the Road” yet? Tsk tsk.
Also, Ramblin Man is pretty good.
“Running on Empty”
“Running down a dream, going where it leads.”
Those aren’t necessarily the titles but rather memorable quotes from the songs that I can’t ID properly. But they make me want to cruise across the Great Plains.
The best road trip song ever is “Radar Love” by Golden Earring.
Your mileage may, of course, vary. 
Running on Empty is by Jackson Browne, from the album of the same name
“Running down a dream, going where it leads.” is Tom Petty, but I can’t recall the title either.
My contribution: Green Grass and High Tides by the Outlaws
Random selections from a cd that my best friend made for me:
“Video Killed the Radio Star” - The Buggles
“Psycho Killer” - Talking Heads
“Kung Fu Fighting” - Carl Douglas (? Is that his name?)
“Mysterious Ways” - U2
“Don’t Forget About Me” - Simple Minds
“Our House” - Madness
“Cars” - Gary Numan
“No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn” - Beastie Boys
“Rock The Casbah” - The Clash
“Blister in the Sun” - Violent Femmes
“Rock and Roll High School” - The Ramones
I also recommend any kind of ‘punk covers’ cd, like Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. They sing songs you know, but with a twist. Really fun stuff to sing along to. My personal favorites of theirs are “Mandy” and “The Spy Who Loved Me (Nobody Does it Better”.
Several good ideas already, but I cannot believe nobody has mentioned the Eagles’s “Take It to the Limit”!