"Life Is a Highway" is a song by Canadian musician

Tom Cochrane Thomas William Cochrane ( ; born May 14, 1953) is a Canadian musician best known as the frontman for the rock band Red Rider and for his work as a solo singer-songwriter. Cochrane has won eight Juno Awards. He is a member of the Canadian Music ...

from his second studio album, ''

Mad Mad World ''Mad Mad World'' is the second studio album by Canadian rock singer Tom Cochrane, originally released in 1991 in Canada and in the United States on February 17, 1992. The first single from the album, " Life Is a Highway", became a hit in late ...

'' (1991). The song became a number-one hit in Canada in late 1991. "Life Is a Highway" also peaked at number six on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

chart in August 1992 and reached the top three in Australia and New Zealand the same year. The song was covered by Chris LeDoux for his 1998 album One Road Man and

Rascal Flatts Rascal Flatts is an American country music band founded in 1999. The band members were Gary LeVox (lead vocals), Jay DeMarcus (bass guitar, background vocals), and Joe Don Rooney (lead guitar, background vocals). DeMarcus is LeVox's second cousi ...

for the ''

Cars A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as t ...

'' soundtrack.

Background and release

Cochrane has stated that "Life Is a Highway" was originally conceived in the 1980s as "Love is a Highway" while he was still a member of

Red Rider Red Rider, later known as Tom Cochrane & Red Rider, is a Canadians, Canadian Rock music, rock band popular in the 1980s. While they achieved significant success in Canada, the band never had a song in the top 40 in the United States, although "L ...

, but was shelved at that time because he felt the unfinished song was unusable. Following a trip with his family to

Eastern Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historica ...

with the

World Vision In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

famine relief organization, Cochrane revisited the song on the advice of his friend John Webster, an instrumentalist on the ''Mad Mad World'' album. In a 2017 interview with

The Canadian Press The Canadian Press (CP; french: La Presse canadienne, ) is a Canadian national news agency headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Established in 1917 as a vehicle for the time's Canadian newspapers to exchange news and information, The Canadian Pre ...

to mark the song's 25th anniversary, Cochrane said Webster encouraged him to revisit the demo recording, which at that point only had mumbled vocals and improvised lyrics, but not the song's well-known chorus. "(The song) became a pep talk to myself... saying you can’t really control all of this stuff, you just do the best you can," he says. Cochrane says he was trying to make sense of the poverty he witnessed on his trip, which he found "shocking and traumatic". Eventually, the original demo version was released on the 25th-anniversary reissue of ''Mad Mad World'' under the original title "Love is a Highway". He later said the uptempo spirit of the song came from looking for something positive to "hang the experience on." Most of the vocals on the track were recorded in Cochrane's small home studio. The song was Cochrane's only top-40 hit in the United States, reaching number six on the ''

. In Canada, the song stayed at number one for two weeks, and three other singles from the album charted within the top 10; "No Regrets" peaked at number three, "Sinking Like a Sunset" reached number two, and "Washed Away" climbed to number seven. In Australia and New Zealand, the single peaked at number two in both countries. Elsewhere, it became a top-40 hit in Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden.

Music video

The video for "Life Is a Highway" was directed by David Storey and produced by Albert Botha, who went on to be the line producer on two films for ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

'': ''

Superstar A superstar is someone who has great popular appeal and is widely known, prominent, or successful in their field. Celebrities referred to as "superstars" may include individuals who work as actors, musicians, athletes, and other media-based profe ...

'' starring

Molly Shannon Molly Helen Shannon (born September 16, 1964) is an American actress and comedian who was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1995 to 2001. In 2017, she won the Film Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in ...

and ''

The Ladies Man ''The Ladies Man'' is a 1961 American comedy film directed by and starring Jerry Lewis. It was released on June 28, 1961 by Paramount Pictures. Plot Herbert H. Heebert is a young man who loses his girlfriend, swears off romance, and then takes ...

'' starring

Tim Meadows Timothy Meadows (born February 5, 1961) is an American actor and comedian. He was one of the longest-running cast members on ''Saturday Night Live'', where he appeared for ten seasons and for which he received a nomination for the Primetime Emm ...

. The video was shot in Alberta's Badlands, near the town of

Drumheller Drumheller is a town on the Red Deer River in the badlands of Central Alberta, east-central Alberta, Canada. It is northeast of Calgary and south of Stettler, Alberta, Stettler. The Drumheller portion of the Red Deer River valley, often ref ...

. Many of the shots are in familiar locations along the

Dinosaur Trail The Dinosaur Trail is a circular tourist route in the province of Alberta, Canada, located in the Canadian badlands paralleling the Red Deer River on both sides, from Drumheller to the Bleriot Ferry. It is divided in two segments, with the So ...

, including Cochrane playing guitar amid the

Hoodoos A hoodoo (also called a tent rock, fairy chimney, or earth pyramid) is a tall, thin spire of rock formed by erosion. Hoodoos typically consist of relatively soft rock topped by harder, less easily eroded stone that protects each column from the ...

and the couple, Kait Shane and

Brennan Elliott Brennan Elliott (born March 24, 1975) is a Canadian actor, best known for his role as Dr. Nick Biancavilla in the Lifetime medical drama series, '' Strong Medicine'' (2000-2004). Elliott later had recurring roles on ''The 4400'', '' Cedar Cove' ...

, running around the car while it rides the

Bleriot Ferry The Bleriot Ferry is a cable ferry in Alberta, Canada. It links the two sections of the North Dinosaur Trail ( Highway 838) as it crosses the Red Deer River from Kneehill County on the west, to Starland County on the east. Originally known as t ...

across the

Red Deer River The Red Deer River is a river in Alberta and a small portion of Saskatchewan, Canada. It is a major tributary of the South Saskatchewan River and is part of the larger Saskatchewan-Nelson system that empties into Hudson Bay. Red Deer River ...

. It also features an older man (gas station attendant), a couple (tall man, short wife), two women (

Jacqueline and Joyce Robbins Jacqueline "Jacquie" Robbins and Joyce Robbins (born September 9, 1949) are twin American-Canadian actresses best known for playing the Blind Twins in ''The Wicker Man'' and for playing the White Faced Women in ''A Series of Unfortunate Events''. ...

) from an

Anabaptist Anabaptism (from New Latin language, Neo-Latin , from the Greek language, Greek : 're-' and 'baptism', german: Täufer, earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re- ...

religious order (Alberta has a population of

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), and two First Nations men, one wearing a baseball cap with the words "Oka Standoff" printed on it, referring to the

Oka Crisis The Oka Crisis (french: links=no, Crise d'Oka), also known as the Kanehsatà:ke Resistance (), was a land dispute between a group of Mohawk people and the town of Oka, Quebec, Canada, which began on July 11, 1990, and lasted 78 days until Septe ...

(a land dispute between a group of

Mohawk people The Mohawk people ( moh, Kanienʼkehá꞉ka) are the most easterly section of the Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois Confederacy. They are an Iroquoian-speaking Indigenous people of North America, with communities in southeastern Canada and northern Ne ...

and the town of Oka, Quebec). The car featured in the music video is a 1965

Chevrolet Impala Super Sport The Chevrolet Impala () is a full-size car built by Chevrolet for model years 1958 to 1985, 1994 to 1996, and 2000 to 2020. The Impala was Chevrolet's popular flagship passenger car and was among the better-selling American-made automobiles in ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Chris LeDoux version

In 1998, Chris LeDoux covered "Life Is a Highway" for his album One Road Man. Changes include the intro, timing of vocal entrances on the chorus, and location names between the first and second chorus. LeDoux's version was released as a single the following year and peaked at number 64 on the ''

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart during the week of June 12, 1999, and remained at the spot for nine weeks.

Music video

The music video for the song, directed by Michael Salomon, takes place on multiple roads and highways as well as a blue and red static themed room. When on roads and highways, there is a chance for LeDoux to appear on a television that is sitting on a sidewalk or grass, however, while the background behind LeDoux (that appears on the TV) is the same background as everything behind the TV itself, LeDoux does not appear to be standing behind the TV. In most locations, LeDoux is walking down a road as at the start of the music video. The video ends with LeDoux singing the chorus while appearing on a flap-down TV inside of someone's car, then transitioning to LeDoux being once again in the static room and then walking out of it. After LeDoux leaves the room, the screen slowly fades to black and the video ends.

Charts

Rascal Flatts version

In 2005, American

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

band

recorded a cover of this song for the

Pixar Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californi ...

animated film ''

'', which was released on June 9, 2006. The song sold a large quantity of digital downloads, leading to a number seven peak on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 (one position lower than the Tom Cochrane original). In addition, the cover was placed as a

bonus track An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

on later versions of the album ''

Me and My Gang ''Me and My Gang'' is the fourth studio album by the American country music group Rascal Flatts, released on April 4, 2006 by Lyric Street Records. The album became the highest US debut of 2006, with 721,747 units and went double platinum in the ...

'', and also was included on '' Greatest Hits Volume 1'' and '' Twenty Years of Rascal Flatts: The Greatest Hits''. This version also won the "Favorite Song from a Movie" award at the 33rd People's Choice Awards. The instrumental of the Rascal Flatts' cover version was prominently featured in the '' Top Gear: US Special'', which aired February 11, 2007. The song is included on the soundtrack for ''

Lego Rock Band ''Lego Rock Band'' is a music rhythm game developed by TT Fusion in partnership with Harmonix and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. It is the 4th major console installment of the ''Rock Band'' series; it incorporates elements ...

''. It topped the two million mark in paid downloads as of the chart dated March 28, 2009. As of March 2013, the song has sold over three million copies in the US. On July 14, 2015, Scott Walker, Republican Governor of Wisconsin, launched his presidential campaign as Republican Party nominee in Waukesha, Wisconsin using the song. On December 8, 2020,

Harmonix Harmonix Music Systems, Inc., doing business as Harmonix, is an American video game developer company based in Boston, Massachusetts. The company was established in May 1995 by Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy. Harmonix is perhaps best known as bei ...

announced that the cover will be featured on the video game, FUSER, as a DLC on December 10, 2020.

Music video

The music video portrays the three band members pulling into a

drive-in theater A drive-in theater or drive-in cinema is a form of movie theater, cinema structure consisting of a large outdoor movie screen, a projection booth, a concession stand, and a large parking area for automobiles. Within this enclosed area, customers ...

driving three vintage vehicles. The cars allude to three characters from the movie:

Lightning McQueen Montgomery "Lightning" McQueen is a fictional anthropomorphic stock car who is the protagonist of the animated Pixar franchise '' Cars'', primarily voiced by actor Owen Wilson. His appearances include the feature films '' Cars'', ''Cars 2'', and ...

Doc Hudson Doctor Hudson Hornet, MD (also known as The Fabulous Hudson Hornet, Hud, Doc Hudson, or simply, Doc) is an animated, anthropomorphic retired race car which appears in the 2006 Pixar film ''Cars'' as a medical doctor and a local judge. He is ...

and Mater. As the projector rolls, scenes from the Disney/Pixar movie ''Cars'' are shown as the band plays through the number. It was directed by

Shaun Silva Shaun Silva is a music video director who works primarily in the country music field. He has directed a number of music videos for many country music artists, including many of Kenny Chesney's music videos. His other clients include Jason Aldean, ...

Charts

The Rascal Flatts version subsequently became a hit on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, where it peaked at number seven. Even though it was not officially released to

country radio Country radio refers to radio stations that play country music. Most country radio stations are commercial radio stations. Most country radio stations usually play only music which has been officially released to country radio by record labels. The ...

, many country stations played the song as an album cut, overlapping with their then-current country single "

My Wish "My Wish" is a song written by Jeffrey Steele and Steve Robson, and recorded by American country music group Rascal Flatts. It was released in August 2006 as the third single from their album ''Me and My Gang''. It reached number one on the U.S. ...

". The unsolicited country airplay brought "Life Is a Highway" to number 18 on the US Hot Country Songs chart. The song has sold 3.4 million copies in the US as of June 2016.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

Tom Cochrane "Life Is A Highway" Song Story
at tomcochranesite.com
Tom Cochrane "Life Is a Highway" music video
at

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

Chris LeDoux "Life Is a Highway" music video
at

Rascal Flatts "Life Is a Highway" music video
at

{{Authority control 1991 songs 1991 singles 1999 singles 2006 singles Tom Cochrane songs Rascal Flatts songs Music videos directed by Shaun Silva Song recordings produced by Dann Huff RPM Top Singles number-one singles Songs written by Tom Cochrane Songs about cars Capitol Records Nashville singles Lyric Street Records singles Walt Disney Records singles Juno Award for Single of the Year singles