"White Hot" - Tom Cochrane

This is how Nickelback reminds me..

Something that I missed out on growing up in a small town was concerts.  Obviously Nipigon wasn't big enough to host a movie theater, let alone a proper stadium. Thunder Bay wasn't much better when I was living there. Nickelback was the first live, fairly large concert that I ever saw.  Please note this was when Nickelback was considered popular (yes, there was a time), and "How You Remind Me", was the number one single...well pretty much everywhere.  When I moved out to Manitoba I was thrilled at the opportunity to attend not only Nickelback concerts...but good concerts as well!  The first concert I remember attending at the MTS Centre was Tom Cochrane. I don't remember much else about that night as Winnipeg was hosting Grey Cup that same weekend - but I do remember falling a little bit in love with Mr. Cochrane.

He's gonna ride it all night long

If you don''t know who Tom Cochrane is you will if I mention just one song, "Life is a Highway".  It's been covered by approx. 834 people.  Besides "Life is a Highway", Tom Cochrane has produced a number of hits such as, "Good Time", "Big Leagues", and "Wish you Well".  Born in Lynne Lake, Manitoba, Cochrane is an amazing artist that tends to fly under the radar. He's recieved an Order of Canada  for his charity work and patriotism, an Honorary Doctorate and a spot in the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.

I wouldn't say that "White Hot" is my favorite Tom Cochrane song, but it's a great one, with an even greater story behind it. Cochrane explained that he wrote the song after reading "White Heat/Time of the Assassins", by Henry Miller, an essay which details the life of 1800's French poet, Arthur Rimbaud.

Arthur Rimbaud

Cole's notes on Arthur Rimbaud,

•  French poet, most well known for his work "Season of Hell"
• Was gay, his family didn't approve
• Quit writing when he was 21, went to Africa and became a Gun Runner, many of his Gun Running routes are still in use today.
• The movie "Total Eclipse" with Leonardo Dicaprio is a biopic of Rimbaud's life.

By the Somalian Shore

In "White Hot", Cochrane embodies Rimbaud and his time in Africa, "I'm white hot, by the Somalian Shore".  He sings of Rimbaud missing his lover, Paul Verlaine, "I need you to come see me", and of Rimbaud getting caught selling weapons, "Cast out from the jungle, with no rations or canteen. For selling faulty rifles, to the thieves in Tanzania." "Exhibit A" on why Tom Cochrane is truly one of rock's legends.  He took a little known story from history and turned it into a mainstream hit. 




Waiting by the shoreline
In somalia for your reply
I need you to come see me
That's no lie
The guns are getting closer
The sweat pours like dew
That fell from the trees in Tripoli
In the spring

I'm white hot
I can't take it anymore
I'm white hot
By the somalian shore
Yes i'm burning to the core
I need rain

Cast out from the jungle
With no rations or canteen
For selling faulty riffles
To the thieves in tanzania

Adventures and misfortune
Nothing wagered, nothing gained
I have wandered through the desert
Found the ocean not the rain

I can remember the nights by the strand in Tripoli
We were so much cooler then
I had you and my poetry to protect me
We were so much younger then
I need rain

I'm white hot
I can't take it anymore
I'm white hot
By the somalian shore

I'm white hot
Yes i'm burning to the core
I need rain, I need rain, I need rain

I can remember the nights by the sea in Tripoli
Were were so much colder then
I had you and my poetry to protect me
We were both soldiers then
Bolder then, colder then
I need rain, I need rain, I need rain
White hot
White hot...
Water