Songfacts®:

• Written by lead singer Jack Blades and guitarist Brad Gillis, this song is about navigating the ups and downs in life and accepting it for what it is. In a Songfacts interview with Jack Blades, he told us about how it had a profound impact on one fan: "I had a letter that was sent to me, it was some Night Ranger lyrics that I wrote, 'Big Life,' that this young man said, 'because of your lyrics, I ended up not killing myself. Because your words said life is what you make it, you can do anything with your life. It was kind of like, maybe that was the whole reason that I'm a musician. Maybe that's the whole reason I was on this earth is to save that one person from making probably the worst mistake they could ever make in their life. Maybe that was the whole reason we even exist was to save that one person. It's pretty cool, I think. It is pretty stunning when you think about it. It makes you sit back and go, Well, okay, I did something right in my life. You know what I mean? I did something good, that's a good thing."
• The lyrics, "On the radio, the guy says come on, It's so hip, hip, hip to be square" are a reference to the 1986 Huey Lewis & the News hit "Hip To Be Square."