An Album/Song A. Week: "Life Is A Highway" - Tom Cochrane

You often read or hear people on their musical memories:  weddings, first date, high school.  But I don't hear enough about their musical memories regarding the birth of their children.  My son was born on June 6th, 1992, and I'm here to tell you that I remember just about every musical memory of the last days leading up to his birth.  VH-1 was at its peak in the early 90's.  It played music videos!  Often videos that MTV would only sporadically play or skip altogether.  That's because VH-1 was supposed to be the Adult Contemporary version of MTV.  

A good portion of my time was spent switching back and forth among video channels.  There was a 24 hour Country video channel at that time as well (no longer around).  As the due date got closer, more anxiety begins to set in.  And contractions become more frequent.  Which means many sleepless nights. A Often I got up with my wife late at night and sat in front of the TV watching music videos.  "Life Is A Highway" was first released in 1991 in Canada where Cochrane was born.  It didn't debut on the Hot 100 until May of 1992.  But I had heard it before.  If VH-1 didn't play it before it charted than I must have heard it on the radio.  By June of 1992, it was moving up the U.S. charts and started to become a VH-1 staple.  It's the song my wife & I refer to as the pregnancy song.  Even after my son was born, the song became synonymous with the early months of his birth.  

Tom Cochrane never had another hit in the States.  But "Life Is A Highway", which ended up peaking at #6,  became a hit again for the Country group Rascal Flatts in 2006 after it was featured in the animated movie Cars.  But the original has place firmly in our family's heart.  Whenever I hear it today, the Summer of '92 comes roaring back.