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This article is about a song, for other uses see Hitchhiking (disambiguation).

"Hitch Hike" is a 1962 song by Marvin Gaye, released on the Tamla label. Another song Gaye co-wrote (this time with Clarence Paul and William "Mickey" Stevenson), this time instead of confessing to being stubborn, the singer is now on the look out for his girl, whom he feels has run so far that he has to travel "around the world" thinking of places she could have found herself at including St. Louis, "Chicago City Limits" and "L.A.".

The song sparked a brief dance craze when audience members from "American Bandstand" performed the "hitch hike" dance. Marvin performed the song on the show and also did the move onstage. The single was successful enough to land Gaye his first top forty pop single in 1963 with "Hitch Hike" reaching number thirty on the pop singles chart while reaching number twelve on the R&B singles chart. Again, like "Stubborn", Martha and the Vandellas accompanied Gaye on this song. Artists including The Rolling Stones, The Mothers of Invention and Alice Cooper covered this song during their early years.

The Velvet Underground's song "There She Goes Again" is based on "Hitch Hike", as is the guitar intro to The Smiths' There is a Light That Never Goes Out (Johnny Marr specifically credits The Rolling Stones' cover as the inspiration).

Another song which is likely based on "Hitch-Hike", is You Can't Do That by The Beatles. Specially the use of cowbell and congas. Also the pronounced stops at the end of each verse.

Credits

• Lead vocals by Marvin Gaye
• Background vocals by The Vandellas: Martha Reeves, Rosalind Ashford and Annette Beard
• Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers:
  • Marvin Gaye: drums and piano
  • James Jamerson: bass
  • Henry Cosby: saxophone
  • Eddie Willis: guitar
  • Robert White: guitar
  • Joe Messina: guitar
  • Jack Ashford: tambourine, percussion
  • Earl Van Dyke: piano
  • Dayna Hartwick: flute solo