"Free Ride" is a song written by Dan Hartman and performed by the Edgar Winter Group from their 1972 album They Only Come Out at Night, produced by Rick Derringer. The single was a top-15 U.S. hit in 1973, reaching number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 10 on Cash Box. In Canada, it peaked at number eight.
Tavares recorded a version of the song for their 1975 album, In the City. Their version peaked at number 52 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number eight on the Hot Soul Singles chart. Hartman himself re-recorded the song and released it on his 1979 album Relight My Fire. Audio Adrenaline recorded the song and released it on their 1996 album Bloom. When The Cats Away recorded a version and was released in January 1990 and peaked at number 12.
The song was featured in the 1990 film Air America and in The Drew Carey Show episode "The Dog and Pony Show". The song is featured in the 1993 film Dazed and Confused, while Hartman's recording appeared in ' and on . It was also featured as a song in the video game tie-in for the 2006 film Cars, and is also used in the Disney California Adventure ride, ' It was sampled on the Girl Talk mash-up album Feed the Animals (2008). The song was also included on , on the in-game radio station Liberty Rock Radio.