Video Hangover: Tom Cochrane - "Life Is A Highway"
Every week, we dig in the archives for videos that we find noteworthy, memorable, or just unbelievably stupid. And then, Jon McMillan breaks 'em down for you. Why Video Hangover? Because when you watch as many videos as we do, you're going to feel it afterwards.
"Life is a Highway"
Tom Cochrane, 1992
Join Tom Cochrane on the lamest road-trip of all time.
Tom Cochrane looks like:
a) touring keyboardist for Hootie and the Blowfish
b) a homeless Chuck Klosterman impersonator
c) the Canadian Springsteen
d) a guy Kurt Cobain used to beat up in high school
e) Bryan Adams in a fat suit
Worst. Trip. Ever.
The only thing lamer than Tom's choice of road-as-life metaphor is the itinerary for this road trip. Driving? On the open highway? Of life? Maybe we'll meet some self-consciously quirky and "real" characters along the way. Like some old people. Or a vaguely indigenous-looking person. Or a fat man in suspenders eating a popsicle with his little-person bride. That's what the road of life is all about, right? Quirky, real people doing quirky, real stuff. On or near the road. Really, they should've run Cochrane down when they had the chance.
Or was it an abduction?
At the :53 mark, the woman (who looks suspiciously like Tina Yothers) makes a run for it, only to be corralled and forcibly returned to the car by the man (who looks suspiciously like Gerardo). Later, at the 2:37 mark, she tries again, and he wipes out trying to get around the car. Clearly, this woman is being coerced. I'm no Psychologist, but I can only assume that Stockholm Syndrome has set in by the time the incredibly awkward dance party begins at the 3:11 mark. I just don't see any other explanation.
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Posted at 11:53 AM in Video, Video Hangover
I'm embarassed to say that when this song first came out, and I was 11 or 12, I loved it. I taped this video off MTV (along with "Everybody Wants To Rule The World") and watched it all the time. I haven't seen it since then, and it is really horrible. What can I say? I grew up in Springfield, MO, and I had no older siblings to steer me towards the music I love now. Oh well. I'm interested in whether anyone sees anything redeeming here.
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This is a fantastic, fist-pumping all-american song. I do wonder how Tom thought anything could justify the Roy Orbison/Bono throwaway part just before the harmonica enters. Anyway, don't feel bad James, it's still a yummy song!
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I was 10 and I loved it, too. Pretty much spent the entire summer inside my friends house watching MTV and waiting for it to come on.
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Watching this again, I remember why it always bugged me-- there are no memorable verses, just a catchy chorus with a bunch of filler. Everything that's not the chorus feels like a bridge, which is weird.
Also, I'm going to have to work hard to get it out of my head now.
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Ahhh, back when you could point to people like Tom Cochrane and say, "This is why I'm not moving to Canada." Not so easy to say that anymore.
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Can this video be written off easily by saying that he's Canadian and leaving it at that?
Regardless, I still like the song. Anything that reminds me of being 10 years old and the summer automatically holds a soft spot in my heart.
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I enjoyed his work with Red Rider.
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this is basically the hold steady
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I was 15 or 16 when this video first came out. Oh, how I loathed it then. And not necessarily because I was too cool for school (which I was), because god knows I was listening to plenty of other shite at the time. There's just something particularly awful about this song. On relisten... yep, I still hate it.
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I forgot about this song...seriously one of the worst songs EVER! .
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ah, the 3rd worst song, of all time, ever, anywhere.
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redeeming qualities....none. closest thing to a redeeming quality....when he says gimme gimme gimme gimme-yeah! he is in the canadian music hall of fame, wow.
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I only knew this as a bad song. I didn't know it was a bad video too! Thanks Stereogum!
That dude looks like he's convulsing and puking into his harmonica.
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he had me at "gimme gimme gimme gimme YEAH"
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This is my Canadian fiancee's favorite song of all time....well, at least I can only assume that it is. She's Canadian.
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f) The illegitimate love child of Mitch Hedberg and Donal Logue.
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Tom's harmonica playing is just as bad as but a lot less entertaining than P Gill's:
http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2007/07/365-days-209---.html
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Didn't the girl's nipple slip out in this video? Or am I thinking of something else?
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Dan, that's probably wishful thinking on your part. And judging from the description, is this video depicting some sort of abduction?
Life is an abduction? I wanna flee from it all - night - long?
I ain't watching the video. You can't make me.
DwD
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Oh gawd... I hated this song then as a teen and I hate it now. Although this guy WAS indeed a better artist than this song would indicate (Red Ryder).
I think Prince should completely rewrite the melody and change the lyric to "Life is a highway... I want to ride her all night long." Then it might be worth a listen.
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life is a highway.....
i wanna ride it all night long....
that's what she said.
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Kurt Cobain never beat up anybody in high school.....or ever really. Oh, but why bother knowing anything about him, Nirvan aint en vogue now.
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