Album: Victory Day (1988)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The lead single from Victory Day, this peaked at #4 on the Canadian singles chart, the first Top 10 hit for Tom Cochrane & Red Rider.
  • The song tells the story of an anguished hockey parent whose son had earned a scholarship to play with a big American team in the titular "Big League." Sadly tragedy strikes shattering their dreams.

    The lyrics are based on a true story. Cochrane told The National Post in 2015 it was inspired by a parent who approached him before a show at a rink. "He came up and he said, 'My boy's a big fan of (1986 single) 'Boy Inside The Man.' And I said, 'Oh, is he coming to the show? We're playing it tonight,'" the singer recalled. "And he said, 'No, he passed away, he was an aspiring hockey player.'"

    "And that just hit me like a ton of bricks."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Metallica

MetallicaFact or Fiction

Beef with Bon Jovi? An unfortunate Spandex period? See if you can spot the true stories in this Metallica version of Fact or Fiction.

Grunge Bands Quiz

Grunge Bands QuizMusic Quiz

If the name Citizen Dick means anything to you, there's a chance you'll get some of these right.

Tom Bailey of Thompson Twins

Tom Bailey of Thompson TwinsSongwriter Interviews

Tom stopped performing Thompson Twins songs in 1987, in part because of their personal nature: "Hold Me Now" came after an argument with his bandmate/girlfriend Alannah Currie.

John Doe of X

John Doe of XSongwriter Interviews

With his X-wife Exene, John fronts the band X and writes their songs.

Booker T. Jones

Booker T. JonesSongwriter Interviews

The Stax legend on how he cooked up "Green Onions," the first time he and Otis Redding saw hippies, and if he'll ever play a digital organ.

John Waite

John WaiteSongwriter Interviews

"Missing You" was a spontaneous outpouring of emotion triggered by a phone call. John tells that story and explains what MTV meant to his career.