My guess is that we all know Rascal Flatts’ song Life Is A Highway; this theme song for Disney Pixar’s Cars (the animated Route 66) has topped many charts.
What you may not know is that this is actually a cover of Tom Cochrane’s Life Is A Highway, written in 1991. To me, this song and Cochrane’s original music video represent the ideals of Route 66.
In his lyrics, Cochrane speaks of the freedom of the road and the promise of a “distant shore.” This distant shore, presumably Los Angeles, represents opportunity. Not only are the lyrics dripping with life, free agency and the open road, but the video also reflects this. Although it does not look exactly like the barren desert of Route 66 we usually visualize, a vast, green, open plain with a dirt road is repeatedly shown. Again, this visually represents a sense of freedom and individualism. Even Cochrane himself is rugged in flannel and ripped jeans, wailing away on his guitar; his stance and appearance remind me of the infamous road-dweller Jack Kerouac. As we see Cochrane leave his life behind for new beginnings, we see exactly what Route 66 once represented: no strings attached.
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