Tom Cochrane

Song Stories - Life Is A Highway

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"The song was inspired by my trip to Africa. Seeing all the hunger and poverty in countries like Ethiopia and Mozambique firsthand leaves a real tattoo on you. I had an obligation to write about it. Approaching it from a positive deal with life's hardships, the best you can attitude." - Tom Cochrane

"I had a sketch of this song laying around for quite a few years, and after my first visit to Africa with World Vision, the world relief organization that I supported then and still support, I needed to write something that would pull me up, pull me out of that funk, make me feel good. I was exhausted mentally, physically and spiritually after that trip, and John Webster had been encouraging me to finish that sketch. I woke up one morning early, went out to my studio in the back shed and laid down the song and the lyric in about two hours. Again, the song was just born. I felt exhilarated, I felt good! And soon I guess it made a lot of other people feel pretty good too. The song had that effect. Songwriting is therapeutic, for the writer sometimes as much as for the listener ..." - Tom Cochrane

"Yes and no. Sometimes you can get too much of a good thing." Cochrane admitted during the post-'Highway' period, when his marriage had started falling apart. He'd flown too high, and he was starting to burn up.