Cochrane was born in Lynn Lake, Manitoba to Violet and Tuck Cochrane, a bush pilot. The family relocated to Etobicoke, Ontario in the West Deane Park area when Tom was four years old. He purchased his first guitar at age 11 by selling a toy train set. He attended Martingrove Collegiate Institute in the 1960's. In the early 1970s, he was performing in coffee houses across Canada. He eventually made his way to Los Angeles where he found a job writing theme music for My Pleasure is My Business, a Xaviera Hollander movie. Unable to find steady income from music, Cochrane returned to Toronto where he drove a taxi cab and later took a job on a Caribbean cruise liner to help pay the bills. Cochrane went back to Los Angeles in 1976, trying to sell his songs to publishers but without success, and returned to Toronto in 1977. Cochrane walked into the El Mocambo club one night in Toronto and came across a band of locals calling themselves Red Rider. After an audition, they agreed to Cochrane joining the band as lead singer and songwriter, a decision that would change their musical careers.
After the Red Rider era, Cochrane set off on his soloist path again. In 1990, Cochrane took his family to West Africa where he helped to raise awareness and money for the World Vision famine relief organization. That experience shaped his next album Mad Mad World which contained the internationally acclaimed hit single "Life is a Highway".
The three-CD box set Ashes to Diamonds, including material by both Red Rider and Cochrane as a solo artist, was released in 1993.
In 1995, he released Ragged Ass Road and followed that with a Canadian tour in 1996. The tour resulted in Songs of a Circling Spirit, a live CD and multi-media package of previously released material.
In June 1999, Cochrane was involved in a light plane crash in Montreal, after his plane's engine stalled just after take-off. Fortunately, no one was injured.
At the 2003 Juno Awards, Tom Cochrane was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. The special award ceremony took place April 5, 2003 at Casino du Lac-Leamy in Gatineau, Quebec. According to the Life Is a Highway Songfacts, his other honors include seven Juno Awards, being an Honorary Colonel in the Canadian Air Force, and having been inducted onto the Canadian Walk of Fame. They take their rock stars seriously in Canada.
In December 2003 he was one of the musical guests on a CBC special called, Rick Mercer's Christmas in Kabul.
He currently lives with his family in Oakville, Ontario.
On July 2, 2005, Cochrane took part in the Live 8 concert series.
Cochrane's new album "No Stranger" recorded in rural Ontario was released in October 2006.
"Life Is A Highway" was re-made in 2006 by the country band Rascal Flatts for the motion picture "Cars" and became a successful country single.
Everything Comes Around
Tom Cochrane Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And it sounds like this
Everything has it's season
Let's bless it with a kiss babe
I'll be there for you
I'll be your rainy day man
Everytime the devil laughs out loud
When we make our big plans
What you haven't missed yet
When everyone's searching
For fortune and fame
It's been right in front of you
All of the time
Everything comes round and round
What goes up must soon come down
Just remember this my friend
The next time that it looks like rain
I heard a rumbling
It was a frightening sound
We thought the world was crumbling
It was just our wheels spinning around
You might see more action
Born in another age
You'll get more satisfaction
If you don't expect it that way
You might come to realize
What you haven't missed yet
When everyone's searching
For fortune and fame
Well it's been right in your face
All of the time
CHORUS x2
I look down the street
And I see the young matadors
The debutantes from Richmond
Decked out in their fine clothes
It's bred in the bone
A tireless search
The junkyard keeps whispering
"Who'll get there first"
CHORUS
In Tom Cochrane's song Everything Comes Around, the lyrics emphasize the cyclical nature of life. The opening lines, "I've got a reason and it sounds like this, everything has its season, let's bless it with a kiss babe," suggests that every stage of life and every event happening in our lives has a reason behind it. Through the lyrics, Cochrane urges the listener to appreciate every moment in life, be it happy or sad, because it is all a part of life's cycle. The line "When everyone's searching for fortune and fame, it's been right in front of you all of the time" emphasizes the message of appreciating what we have instead of always striving for more. Cochrane suggests that despite material wealth or fame, true satisfaction can be found simply by appreciating life and the people around us.
The chorus "Everything comes round and round, what goes up must soon come down, just remember this my friend, the next time that it looks like rain" continues to emphasize the cyclical nature of life. It suggests that even when things are tough, we should remember that eventually, things will turn around and life will continue to move forward.
In the third verse, Cochrane sings about how we might see more action if we were born in another time or place but the key to satisfaction is not to always be searching for what we think is missing. The final verse, "I look down the street and I see the young matadors, the debutantes from Richmond, decked out in their fine clothes. It's bred in the bone, a tireless search, the junkyard keeps whispering, 'Who'll get there first'" suggests that even though we may strive for material wealth and success, the cycle of life means that we should appreciate the journey rather than just focus on the destination.
Line by Line Meaning
I've got a reason
I have an explanation for my actions or statements
And it sounds like this
And this is how it sounds
Everything has it's season
Everything happens at the right time and in the right place
Let's bless it with a kiss babe
Let's give appreciation and love to what we have
I'll be there for you
I'll support you in any way possible
I'll be your rainy day man
I'll be there for you in times of need
Everytime the devil laughs out loud
Every time things go wrong despite our plans
When we make our big plans
When we think we have everything figured out
And you might come to realize
You may eventually understand
What you haven't missed yet
What you have not experienced, but still can
When everyone's searching
When people are trying to find
For fortune and fame
For wealth, status and public recognition
It's been right in front of you
It's been with you all the time
All of the time
All the while
Everything comes round and round
Life has its ups and downs, but it eventually evens out
What goes up must soon come down
What rises, falls too
Just remember this my friend
Remember this important truth
The next time that it looks like rain
The next time life feels challenging
I heard a rumbling
I heard a low, threatening sound
It was a frightening sound
It was an alarming and scary noise
We thought the world was crumbling
We thought everything was falling apart
It was just our wheels spinning around
It was just us feeling stuck in the same place
You might see more action
You may come across more opportunities
Born in another age
Born in another time period
You'll get more satisfaction
You will be more content
If you don't expect it that way
If you don't anticipate it to happen a certain way
CHORUS
Reiteration of the song's main idea – what goes up must come down, and everything comes around in due time.
I look down the street
I glance down the road
And I see the young matadors
And I see the youth aggressively chasing their aspirations
The debutantes from Richmond
The debutantes dressed in their best in search of attention
Decked out in their fine clothes
Adorned with their best fashion
It's bred in the bone
It's an intrinsic part of their nature
A tireless search
An unrelenting pursuit
The junkyard keeps whispering
The run-down and derelict places hide pieces of treasure
"Who'll get there first"
"Who will outdo the rest?"
CHORUS
Life's quicksand continues to ensnare, but everything comes full circle eventually.
Contributed by Mason H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.