"2-4-6-8 Motorway" is a single by British punk rock/new wave group Tom Robinson Band which was released in 1977, and reached #5 in the UK singles chart.

The music and lyrics were written by Tom Robinson, and it was the first single released by the Tom Robinson Band, who had formed in January 1977 and were signed to EMI in August 1977.

Robinson wrote the song between leaving Café Society in 1976, and forming the Tom Robinson Band in 1977, when he was performing with whichever friends were available on the night, so the song had to be simple enough to learn in a few minutes.

Robinson came up with the tune "trying to work out the chords to Climax Blues Band’s "Couldn’t Get It Right"" which he couldn't really remember. This led to the simple three chord repeat of 2-4-6-8. The verse came from Robinson's memories of driving back to London through the night after gigs with Café Society, "By the time our van hit the last stretch of M1 into London the motorway sun really was coming up with the morning light." The chorus was lifted from a Gay Lib chant "2,4,6,8, Gay is twice as good as straight... 3,5,7,9, Lesbians are mighty fine".

EMI initially turned the song down, but after touring the band became much tighter, and guitarist Danny Kustow expanded his riffs, which persuaded EMI to release the record.

The song is about the joys of driving a lorry through a rainy night, until dawn. Although the chorus is based upon a gay liberation chant, this is not clear to the casual listener, so the song is in contrast to their far more blatantly political later songs, covering subjects such as homophobia "Glad to Be Gay" and civil disorder "Long Hot Summer".

"2-4-6-8 Motorway" was originally released on 7 October 1977 and immediately attracted attention. It rose to #5 in the Official Charts Company UK Singles Chart on 22 October 1977 and stayed on the chart for 9 weeks. This is Robinson's highest charting single; his later (solo) single "War Baby" only reaching #6. The band performed it on Top of the Pops on 27 October, and again on 10 November.

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