Cover Song

Released in 2006, Rascal Flatts an American country music band covered the song “Life is a Highway”. They covered the song for the Disney/Pixar animated film cars. The movie was released in June 9th, 2009. The song also sold a large quantity of digital download copies, this lead to a top 10 in the “Hot 100”. The cover was placed on a bonus track for Rascal Flatts album Me and My Gang. The song also won favorite song in a movie at the 33rd People’s Choice Awards. The music in the movie portrays the three members from the band, and the cars that they drive are allusive to, Lightning McQueen, Doc Hudson, and Mater. The lyrics “Life is a Highway”, Rascal Flatts are singing are relevant for the movie because the movie is about Cars who can talk and are alive. The lyrics mean that life is just like driving on a highway and your life can have ups and downs.
Do you think that Rascal Flatts thought that this song was going to be such a hit? I believe that the cover by Rascal flats throws off the same meaning as the original song writer Tom Cochrane. “Knock me down an' back up again/you’re in my blood/I'm not a lonely man”. The meaning of these lyrics shows how life can knock you down during the rough times but somehow you will get through it. The only different I found between the original and Rascal Flatts version is, Rascal Flatts sound more upbeat and happy, unlike Tom Cochrane he sounds uptight like he doesn’t enjoy life as much as the Rascal Flatts version. Furthermore there are many poetic devices that are found throughout the song. “Life's like a road that you travel on/when there's one day here an' the next day gone”, is an example of a simile, comparing life and a road, also these lyrics show objectification by taking “Life” and treating it as it is a physical object “Road”. Also imagery and local color are seen in the lyrics, “From Mozambique to those Memphis nights/The Khyber Pass to Vancouver's lights”. “You're in my blood/I'm not a lonely man”, is an example of a metaphor, a comparison devoid of like or as. The song uses abstract and inanimate things and compares them to objects or living human characteristics.
Although Rascal Flatts gets credit for the song and all their hard work, many people do not know that Tom Cochrane is the original song writer. In his album Mad Mad World, the song “Life is a Highway” is Tom Cochrane’s most famous song. It was a number one hit in Canada, and also the song peaked to number 6 on the United States Billboards chart in 1992. Some interesting information on why Cochrane wrote the song was because, he and his family went on a trip to West Africa in the early 1990’s. After his trip it led him to write his next album Mad Mad World which included the hit “Life is a Highway”. Interestingly the song only reached the Top 40 hits in the United States, while in Canada he was selling off the charts with the song. As I said before I do not find much difference in the original and the cover by Rascal Flatts, I only hear a difference in the tone and the mood. Cochrane sounds more upset and sad as he sings the song, which could be from seeing everything during his trip in West Africa. Although Cochrane sounds more upset and sad, Rascal Flatts sounds a lot more upbeat and happy as they sing the song and also a difference in the instruments played.
I really like the song “Life is a Highway”. I give Tom Cochrane the credit for the lyrics and the music, but I like Rascal Flatts version better. I probably like it better because I like country music better than rock music and Cochrane’s version was a rock version more than a country version. Rascal Flatts country twang in the song, makes me more interested in the song, and I really like listening to it. My themed genre, wished and dreams in country music, is seen in a small way throughout the song. The message sent over the song is that “Life” will not always be easy but he wishes that it could be the same for everyone.