Story by Karen Bliss | October 10, 2024
Tom Cochrane’s gratitude is at an all-time high these days as the 71-year-old was recently inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame (Sept. 28) at Toronto’s Massey Hall.
“I remember I did the induction speech for Gordon [Lightfoot, in 2003] and I was very honoured to do that. I sung ‘Early Morning Rain,’ and then I sung ‘American Woman’ with Big Wreck for the Guess Who [in 2005], and now this thing has blossomed into quite a big event,” says Cochrane.
Cochrane is no stranger to picking up awards, from multiple Junos to the other big inductions, Canadian Music Hall of Fame and Canada’s Walk of Fame, but this CSHF induction is special in that it recognizes the very thing that has enabled him to have a career for over 45 years: the songs — songs like “Life Is A Highway,” “Big League” and “Lunatic Fringe,” all cemented into Canadian pop culture.
Although he toiled in pubs and bars early on, as a singer-songwriter, his success was immediate and ongoing once the Manitoba-born, Ontario-based frontman joined rock band Red Rider in 1978. Their first three albums, Don’t Fight It (1979), As Far As Siam (1981), and Neruda (1983), all went platinum, thanks to such hits as “White Hot,” (top 50 in the U.S.), “Don’t Fight It,” “What Have You Got To Do,” “Lunatic Fringe” and “Young Thing, Wild Dreams (Rock Me).”
For the next few years, as his fame rose, the band was billed as Tom Cochrane & Red Rider, for an eponymous album (1986), Victory Day (1988) and The Symphony Sessions (1989), then he finally went solo. His 1991 debut, Mad Mad World, achieved rare diamond status in Canada (1 million albums sold), with singles “No Regrets,” “Sinking Like a Sunset,” and, of course, “Life Is A Highway,” which went to No. 1 in Canada and No. 6 in the U.S. on Billboard’s Hot 100. The album would go on to sell some six million copies worldwide.
“Life Is A Highway” later reached a new and much younger audience when American country act Rascal Flatts covered it for the 2006 animated film, Cars. The song was also added as a bonus track to the band’s 2006 album, Me and My Gang. For the CSHF ceremony, former Rascal Flatts singer Gary LeVox flew in to perform the song and Cochrane ended up joining him.
Karen Bliss talked to Cochrane about the induction, the trust he feels with his audience, and if he came up with the metaphor “life is a highway.”
What does this induction mean to you, since it’s based on your body of work as a songwriter?
It’s the most poignant. It’s an honour. I’m very grateful for the career I’ve had and the support I’ve had, but, first and foremost, I’m a songwriter. Without the song there’s nothing. Without the script, there’s no play. Without the book, there’s no script. And the song is the book. It’s what contributes to our culture. And without the song, no matter how good the musicianship, it doesn’t mean anything. So, to me, songwriting is the basis of everything.
It’s late in the game. I’m probably one of the older ones that have accepted it.
You are now in your 70s and your whole adult life, you’ve been creating art, playing music, which is pretty fun way to spend your life, right?
It really is. It really is.
You must have had some special moments on tour, meet people who tell you how your songs have resonated with them?
I often say that those are the special moments. Those are the moments that resonate with you and that make you feel like it’s not just something you’ve done to make a living. I mean, the making a living at it, being a professional, is a by-product of writing songs from the heart, and you hope that those songs resonate with people. And every once in a while, you get lucky with a particular song that happens to resonate exceptionally well with a lot of people, i.e. “Life is a Highway.” It puts a smile on their face. It motivates them to do things and to move forward. I feel very blessed to have written that song, in particular. “Lunatic Fringe” is the other end of the coin. It’s angry or it has a very strong statement to make.
And when I play these songs, every show, there’s always somebody that makes a comment about how that song got them through tough times or that song was reminiscent of something profound and wonderful that happened to them or if they’re having a rough time, that song comes on the radio and puts a smile on their face, and it diffuses some of that negative energy. If you can do that, and if you can make people feel a little less alone in the world as a songwriter, then I think you’ve done your job. And I feel I’ve done my job with some of those songs. When people tell me some of these experiences or somebody that’s passed and they wanted that song played at the memorial, you realize just what a trust it is.
Was “Lunatic Fringe” inspired at the time by the resurgence of anti-Semitism?
I will say yes. In general, it’s an anti-racist song, but, yeah, that’s a particular focus of it. We won’t let the negativity of racism seep into the fabric of our society again, after what happened back in the 40s and 30s. I’m not going to be coy about it.
And it’s happening now.
Yeah, it is. And we have to be vigilant against intolerance and racism, getting a grip on it as a society. The old adage that history repeats itself if we let it. We have to be aware, in this world that is increasingly more confusing and changing all the time. It’s easy to fall back on tribalism and blaming other people for our problems.
“Life is a Highway” is your biggest hit. There is a birthday card that has “Life is a Highway” on it. I bought many of them. Have you seen it?
I haven’t seen it [laughs]
I’ve never asked you this before, but that phrase, that metaphor, does not seem to have existed before you? Did you coin it?
There was The Band’s “Life is a Carnival,” but “Life is a Highway” was mine.
That’s a big deal because people say that now — and it’s on a birthday card!
Yeah. I had dinner with a friend of mine out in Kelowna [BC] and he had an associate come in from Australia, who was opening some businesses there in affiliation with him, and he said to me, “Mate, do you know that that’s what we say in Australia now? If you run into rough times, you go ‘life’s a highway, mate.’ In other words, keep moving forward.” I put a big smile on my face; I thought, “That’s pretty cool.” So exactly to your point. it’s become one of those cliches that people tend to use to describe being positive and moving forward and try not let the bumps on the road slow you down too much.
I don’t know if anyone told you this. I didn’t actually see it myself, but recently “Life Is A Highway” was on the TV game show Name That Tune. Apparently, the contestant guessed the song and then the host commented that it was by Rascal Flatts. It’s an American show, so I suspect that happens a lot.
Here’s what I will say about that. First of all, Rascal Flatts guys are the classiest people on earth. I mean, they flew a bunch of writers down to Nashville and presented us with awards. They’ve shown so much gratitude to people that have contributed to their career. And indeed, I’m so incredibly honoured that Gary’s [came] up to sing. I’m totally verklempt by it all. People have said to me often, “Man, it’s too bad Rascal Flatts stole that song from you.” And I say, “I wish they’d steal a few more.” It’s put a lot of tanks of gas in the old tour bus, let’s put it that way.
Do you remember when you saw or heard their version in Cars?
Yes. It’s just wonderful that they did it. It’s the biggest honour for a songwriter when other artists are covering your songs because, in a lot of ways, you use a song up for people. So sometimes they’re hesitant to cover those songs, and for those guys [Rascal Flatts] to not only cover it, but for it to become this massive crossover hit for Rascal Flatts, that’s a big honour for a songwriter. I love their version. It’s just one of those fortuitous things. At the time, I remember I knew the name of the band, and I said, “Sure, let them do it for the movie,” and then didn’t think any more about it. It took a while for it to come out, then all of a sudden it became this juggernaut at radio when they released the movie and released the song.
As you are talking, these memories are popping into my head. Did I see you on Letterman performing it?
Yeah, we were on Letterman. I think we did “Big League” and “No Regrets” at one point, too.
Your last studio album was Take It Home in 2015. Are you writing new material?
I will say I’m formulating a lot of stuff and I’ve got a lot of what I call sketches. I often, like the great Gordon Lightfoot did, compare what I do to painting or writing a book, so I’ve got sketches and, hopefully, I’m going to get a record made in the next year. I think it’s time because it’s been a few years between albums.
