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.
Vacation
Tom Cochrane Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Don't know what I'll find
Taking a vacation in my mind
Taking a vacation
Don't know what I'm gonna find there
Stuck some clothes in a sack
I'm slipping out the back door
Sit by the range
See the splendors of the Bronze Age
I'll be wild eyed and waiting
They got me there and well placed
Where are you
Where you are I will be
I am on a vacation
Only in my mind
Vacation
Taking a vacation
Don't know what I'll find
I'm taking a vacation
I'm self-hypnotized
Blue man swings to the beat
Over there she's got a weapon
We're going to kick it in the sand
Some guys are selling visas
They're trying to sell tickets to the promised land
People going to get there
I see it in my dreams
Saw people dancing, saw people moving
In the hot summer steam
Where you are
Where you are I will be
I am on vacation
Only in my mind
I can see you from here
I am on vacation
Vacation
Taking a vacation
I don't know what I'll find
I'll be taking a vacation
Don't know what we'll find
We're going to discover America
Take a train to Mecca
We'll be lying on the beach there
The old wise fool and me
Where you are
Where you are I will be
I am on vacation only in my mind
I can see you from here
I am on vacation
Where you are I will be
I can see you from here
Taking a vacation
Don't know what I'll find
We're taking a vacation only in our minds
No traffic and noise here, well a word to the wise
There's splendors of the Bronze Age
That's about my favorite drive
In Tom Cochrane's song Vacation, the lyrics express the singer's desire to escape and take a trip to somewhere unknown, both literally and figuratively. He escapes his life by imagining himself on vacation, not knowing what he might find there. He packs clothes in a sack and slips out the back door, taking off in his mind. He sits and sees the splendors of the Bronze Age and is wild-eyed and waiting, happy to be placed wherever they take him. He wants to find the girl he's been looking for, wanting to see her across the horizon, and he is intrigued by the Blue man who swings to the beat.
The singer imagines people getting to where they need to go and dancing in the hot summer steam. He is self-hypnotized and imagines himself in faraway places, taking a train to Mecca and lying on the beach. He is taking a vacation only in his mind with no traffic or noise, with the splendors of the Bronze Age as his favorite drive. The song's lyrics express a yearning to escape the constraints of everyday life by taking an imaginary trip to an unknown place.
Line by Line Meaning
Taking a vacation
Deciding to escape from daily routine
Don't know what I'll find
Uncertain about the outcome of the vacation
Taking a vacation in my mind
Imagining a trip without actually going anywhere
Don't know what I'm gonna find there
Unsure of the destination's offerings
Stuck some clothes in a sack
Packing some essentials for the trip
I'm slipping out the back door
Trying to leave secretly without being noticed
Sit by the range
Observing the beauty of nature
See the splendors of the Bronze Age
Marveling at ancient wonders
I'll be wild eyed and waiting
Excited and impatient to explore
They got me there and well placed
They have prepared a perfect spot for me
Where are you
Asking someone's location
Where you are I will be
Willing to travel anywhere to be with the person
I am on a vacation only in my mind
Daydreaming about a trip
Blue man swings to the beat
Seeing a performer playing lively music
Over there she's got a weapon
Noticing someone with a dangerous object
We're going to kick it in the sand
Planning to have fun on the beach
Some guys are selling visas
Encountering people selling travel permits
They're trying to sell tickets to the promised land
Attempting to entice people to a paradise-like destination
People going to get there
Confident that people will reach their dream location
I see it in my dreams
Imagining the best vacation ever
Saw people dancing, saw people moving
Picturing a festive atmosphere
In the hot summer steam
Referring to a humid climate
I can see you from here
Feeling connected to someone while on the trip
Don't know what we'll find
Uncertain of what the group will encounter
We're going to discover America
Planning to explore a new land
Take a train to Mecca
Traveling to a holy site
We'll be lying on the beach there
Relaxing by the shore
The old wise fool and me
Heading on the trip with a companion
No traffic and noise here, well a word to the wise
Choosing a peaceful destination
That's about my favorite drive
Referring to a preferred route
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: JOHN WEBSTER, KENNETH WILLIAM GREER, THOMAS WILLIAM COCHRANE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
ProdByMono
My dad used to have this on a CD-R and would play it every time we went on vacation. Thanks for the upload, couldn't find it on spotify or anything