RELEASE DATE: 1971 / 2005
PURCHASE: iTunes | True North
* Bonus tracks on the remastered CD version released by Rounder Records in 2005
1. My Lady And My Lord (2:15)
Casting shadows over streets they seem to despise
Come on, come on, wind and rain
I know the sun will shine again
Till then my lady and my Lord will keep me sane
I went down to the dead lake shore to see what I could see
Along the breeze came, away my cap went, my head it was set free
Come on, come on, wind and rain
I know the sun will shine again
Till then my lady and my Lord will keep me sane
And I hear a far away tune come drifting through the gray
It clears a path before my feet, it makes my fingers play
Come on, come on, wind and rain
I know the sun will shine again
Till then my lady and my Lord will keep me sane
Come on, come on, soot and storm
I know the sun will break your arm
Till then my lady and my Lord will keep me warm
released 1971 & 2005
Also On:
Sunwheel Dance – 2005
2. Feet Fall On The Road (2:41)
Bound to motion
Though chains be of gold
They are chains all the same
Traveler on the bridge
Awakens to find
It’s not the river that flows
But the bridge that moves o’er
In the hand of the cloud
Liquid as time
The heron’s wings well
Know the grace of space
released 1971
Also On:
Waiting For A Miracle – 1987
3. Fall (2:58)
Don’t cry
We’ll walk down the meadow with sunrise inside
So dry your eyes
The winds of all kingdoms meet where we stand
The gray forest people cast off their old clothes
Good-bye
Everything’s sleeping as winter draws near
So close your eyes
The mists of all twilights dance close at hand
The rust-coloured river is now slowing down
Going dry
Harvest has lifted the crown from the ground
But don’t you cry
The song of the seasons brings life to the land
released 1971
4. Sunwheel Dance (1:42)
released 1971 & 2005
Also On:
Speechless – 2005
Rumours Of Glory box set – disc 1 – 2014
5. Up On The Hillside (3:00)
Out in the alley hear the hungry dog whine
You and I, friend, sit waiting for a sign
See how the sunset makes the lake look like wine
Over the mountain I can hear myself called
I want to come running but my window’s too small
The cliffs are so high and I might fall
What were you saying? — oh, it’s nothing at all
Yes, the world’s in convulsions and the weather is fine
Buicks get bigger and five cents costs a dime
I must get going, you know, there’s not much time
The road is waiting and I’m running out of rhyme
Up on the hillside, see how the cross does shine
released 1971
Also On:
Waiting For A Miracle – 1987
6. Life Will Open (4:06)
We can’t dance without seasons upon which to stand
Eden is a state of rhythm like the sea
Is a timeless change
Turn your eyes to the world where we all sit and dream
Busy dreaming ourselves and each other into being
Dreaming is a state of death, can’t you see?
We must live through who we are
If we can sing with the wind song
Chant with thunder
Play upon the lightning
Melodies of wonder
Into wonder life will open
We are children of the river we have named “existence”
Undercurrent and surface pass in the same tense
Nothing is confined except what’s in your mind
Every footstep must be true
If we can sing with the wind song
Chant with thunder
Play upon the lightning
Melodies of wonder
Into wonder life will open
released 1971
7. It’s Going Down Slow (3:35)
To get that thing repaired
They’re losing their pawns in Asia
There’s slaughter in every square
Oh —
It’s going down slow
It’s going down slow
Go get the fire department
To bring that hose along
And them and the schoolboy bandits
Can water each other’s lawn
Oh —
It’s going down slow
It’s going down slow
Everybody seems to be leaving
Better say your travelling prayers
It don’t matter how you get it
It’s where do you go from there
Oh —
It’s going down slow
It’s going down slow
It’s going down slow
It’s going down slow
God, damn the hands of glory
That hold the bloody firebrand high
Close the book and end the story
Of how so many men have died
Let the world retain in memory
That mighty tongues tell mighty lies
And if mankind must have an enemy
Let it be his warlike pride
Let it be his warlike pride
released 1971
Also On:
Mummy Dust – 1981
Waiting For A Miracle – 1987
Update: 2003 – This song was rewritten and rerecorded for a compilation album put out by warchild.ca.
8. When The Sun Falls (2:28)
The bird of paradise
Spreads his wings wide
When the rain shines
The earth sighs gratitude
And spreads her hues bright
You come to me
Bringing the sun and rain
Bringing my song
released 1971
9. He Came From The Mountain (3:12)
To walk among the wounded
They couldn’t see him
But the snow did melt whenever he passed by
He came behind winter
His face was like the sun
They wouldn’t see it
But he sang on the bank and made the waters run
In his world we wait
In his hands our fate
Keep on climbing
We shall see his gate
In good time
He came to the lowlands
He said we must have faces
So we could see like him
Before our wings would ever come to fly
In his world we wait
In his hands our fate
Keep on climbing
We shall see his gate
In good time
released 1971
Staring at the splintered sun
You could drown yourself in jewels
Like a thousand other fools
While you stand there looking down at what you’ve won
Sitting on a mountain of ashes
Face to face with past regrets
You could roll down to the canyon
Piss away this incarnation
But remember that you pay for what you get
And he says, “But don’t you know
How hard it is
To hit the ground and mean it.
And mean it?”
Walk the jangling streets of the city
Trying to find the buried sun
You could drown yourself in jewels
Like a thousand other fools
While you wander waiting for it to be done
And he cries, “Why don’t we celebrate?
Why don’t we celebrate?
Love can make you sad.
Come on, let’s drive ourselves mad.”
And he’s aware
How hard it is
To kiss the sun and mean it.
And mean it.
And he screams, “Why don’t we celebrate?
Why don’t we celebrate?
Life can make you sad.
Come on, let’s drive ourselves mad.”
Standing on a rock in a river
Staring at the rain made one
On the surface flashing diamonds
Rolling down the twilight canyon
And we shall kiss the sun in spite of him
So why don’t we celebrate?
Why don’t we celebrate?
Why don’t we celebrate?
released 1971
11. For The Birds (2:14)
Flashes like a spray of blue jays
Hmmm — a golden crown upon each one
Like an eagle seen against the sun
released 1971
12. Morning Hymn * (2:36)
Brittle corners slide away
Smile back at the day
Shadows flying
Like the mist before the sun
See the sadness run
Silk-spun web of pearls
Glistens in the grass in summer
North wind changes all the fields
To dazzling glass in winter
Come near to me
Hear this song I sing to you
Are you singing, too?
Written in 1968 – released in 2005 – (also 1972 as b-side to It’s Going Down Slow)
13. My Lady And My Lord * [Solo] (2:15)
Casting shadows over streets they seem to despise
Come on, come on, wind and rain
I know the sun will shine again
Till then my lady and my Lord will keep me sane
I went down to the dead lake shore to see what I could see
Along the breeze came, away my cap went, my head it was set free
Come on, come on, wind and rain
I know the sun will shine again
Till then my lady and my Lord will keep me sane
And I hear a far away tune come drifting through the gray
It clears a path before my feet, it makes my fingers play
Come on, come on, wind and rain
I know the sun will shine again
Till then my lady and my Lord will keep me sane
Come on, come on, soot and storm
I know the sun will break your arm
Till then my lady and my Lord will keep me warm
released 1971 & 2005
Also On:
Sunwheel Dance – 2005
Bruce Cockburn’s third album is an undeniably joyous affair. “It was a period when I was searching but very unaware of my own inner workings,” Cockburn later explained. “There was all this optimism, even though the songs themselves may have been in different directions. But the imagery of light was there _ a lot.”
Album Info:
The musicians are:
Trisha Cullen, accordian
Ian Guenther, violin
Carol Marshall, cello
Eugene Martynec, electric guitar (on “Feet Fall on the Road”), piano and electronics (on “Fall”)
Eric Nagler, jaw harp
Dennis Pendrith, bass
John Savage, drums
the chorus on “For the Birds” consisted of Michael Ferry, Anne and Mose Scarlett, Eric and Marty Nagler
Bruce Cockburn, acoustic guitar, dulcimer, mandolin, harmonica, bottleneck guitar, piano and electric guitar (on “It’s Going Down Slow”)
The album was recorded and mixed between mid-September and mid-December, 1971 at Thunder Sound in Toronto. The engineer was Bill Seddon.
The cover design and photography was done by Bart Schoales.
All songs written by B. Cockburn
© 1971 Golden Mountain Music Corp. (SOCAN) (BMI)
All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.
Produced by Eugene Martynec for True North Productions.
Digitally Mastered by Vic Anesini, Sony Studios, NY
Night Vision
RELEASE DATE: 1973
PURCHASE: iTunes | True North
1. Foxglove (1:29)
released 1973 & 2005
Also On:
Speechless – 2005
Rumours Of Glory box set – disc 1 – 2014
Nothing left to give away
Naked as the Hanged Man’s secrets
Nothing left to do but pray
You don’t have to play the horses
Life’s a gamble all the same
It don’t take much to make you lose sight
Of the object of the game
Anyone can be a soldier
It’s a prevalent disease
Oh God I don’t know where to step now
Help me find the right road please
So we wait beside the desert
Nothing left to give away
Naked as the Hanged Man’s secrets
Praying for the break of day
February 9, 1972 – Ottawa, Canada
Also On:
Mummy Dust – 1981
Rumours Of Glory box set – disc 1 – 2014
3. The Blues Got The World (1:51)
I’ve been in jail to learn the golden rule
I’ve been to the workhouse — served my time in those hallowed halls
The only thing I know is the blues got the world by the balls
I’ve been to the tundra and the mountain too
I’ve been in paris doing what the frenchmen do
I’ve been in boston where the buildings grow so tall
Everywhere you go the blues got the world by the balls
You can catch ’em from the preacher or from the pool shark
You can find ’em in the grammar of the socialite’s remark
Or down in the washroom you can read it on the wall
Everywhere you look the blues got the world by the balls
Spring 1972 – Mostly Chilliwack, British Colombia, Canada
Watching everybody stand around and cheat
A man comes up and says, “Move along
Down to the corner where you belong”
But mama just wants to barrelhouse all night long
I hear the city singing like a siren choir
Some fool tried to set this town on fire
TV preacher screams “come on along”
I feel like Fay Wray face to face with King Kong
But mama just wants to barrelhouse all night long
Sometimes I wonder what I am
I feel like I’m living in a hologram
It doesn’t seem to matter what’s right or wrong
Everybody’s grabbing and coming on strong
But mama just wants to barrelhouse all night long
January 19, 1973 -Toronto, Canada
Also On:
Circles In The Stream – 1977
Resume – 1981
Waiting For A Miracle – 1987
Slice O Life – 2009
Rumours Of Glory box set – disc 2 – 2014
5. Islands In A Black Sky (7:40)
released 1974 & 2005
Also On:
Speechless – 2005
Rumours Of Glory box set – disc 2 – 2014
Sometimes I wonder if it hasn’t already been
But like the firebreathing rebel
I’m not sure what I mean
All I know is you’re not me and that you’ll never be
He tells me the future is not to be believed in
“Don’t waste your wishes on what hasn’t already been”
But like the strong arm policeman
He’s not sure what he means
All he knows is he can’t see what he will come to be
He says if we burn up the roof from above us
We surely will see the light and maybe more
But like the burnt out hooker
We’ll only see down to the floor
All we know is that we’re here until we are set free
September 28, 1969 – Ottawa, Canada
7. When The Sun Goes Nova (2:43)
And the world turns over
I don’t want to be alone
So honey come on home
If you’re in the valley
When the dam breaks, palley
You is going to feel alone
So honey come on home
If you’re on the bum
And the policemen come
If you lose your grip
Or your trousers rip
I’ll be waiting dear
Honey won’t you come on home…
Spring 1972 – Between Jasper and Valleyview, Alberta, Canada
8. Deju Vu (5:36)
Glass cafe faces
Fade into the wash
Of brick-dust-yellow afternoon
Deja vu
Slow lines on pages
Shape words like echoes
Of a ball bounced in an empty street
Deja vu
Sun on hair dancing
To breeze-borne snatches
Of a lost music box melody
October 22, 1972 – Toronto, Canada
9. Lightstorm (2:34)
released 1973
10. God Bless The Children (4:18)
The mask of the world
Resolves into round bits of silver on the table
Round arrow nocked against the bow
Round fruit devoured by time
While the moon climbs
Sea swells
Illusion is queen
In the shallow graves of experience time-centred
Grave silence reigns over the stars
Graven image hanging in time
While the earth unwinds
With rain the world grows us older
Lord let us not be lost
God bless the children with knowledge of the cost
Day comes
The hawk of gold
Springs forth in flame from a highway paved with diamonds
Lion rampant on a green field
Ramparts cracked into the sky
While the Christ stands by
With pain the world paves us over
Lord let us not betray
God bless the children with visions of the Day
June 14, 1972 – Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Also On:
Circles In The Stream – 1977
Includes the classic ‘Mamma Wants To Barrelhouse All Night Long’.
Album Info:
Of all the albums I’ve been involved with, this has been the most exciting for me, and the one I’ll probably be able to actually listen to in times to come (thanks to the fine playing of Dennis, John and Pat). The music is both a departure and a return. For various shifts and re-enforcements of point of view, I’m indebted to:
Kitty, Gene
Samuel R. Delaney (Driftglass)
Django Reinhardt
L. Durnell, (and my brother)
John (the Alexandria Quartet)
David Wiffen (in spite of himself)
life going round and round
I hope you like it
-Bruce Cockburn
All songs written by B. Cockburn © 1973 Golden Mountain Music Corp. (SOCAN) (BMI) All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.
Produced by Eugene Martynec and Bruce Cockburn for True North Productions
Recorded at Thunder Sound between February and May 1973
Engineer: Bill Seddon
Rehearsals and Pre-Production at Tatsi (Toronto)
Digitally Remastered by Vic Anesini, Sony Studios, NY
Musicians:
Pat Godfrey-Keyboards
Dennis Pendrith-Bass
John Savage-Percussion
Bruce Cockburn-Guitars, Banjo, Vocals
Cover Painting: A. Colville (1954)
Inside Photo and Art Direction: Bart Schoales
Salt, Sun And Time
RELEASE DATE: 1974
PURCHASE: iTunes | True North
1. All The Diamonds (2:41)
That mean anything to me
Are conjured up by wind and sunlight
Sparkling on the sea
I ran aground in a harbour town
Lost the taste for being free
Thank God He sent some gull-chased ship
To carry me to sea
Two thousand years and half a world away
Dying trees still grow greener when you pray
Silver scales flash bright and fade
In reeds along the shore
Like a pearl in sea of liquid jade
His ship comes shining
Like a crystal swan in a sky of suns
His ship comes shining.
July 25, 1973 – Stockholm
Also On:
Circles In The Stream – 1977
Mummy Dust – 1981
Waiting For A Miracle – 1987
Rumours Of Glory box set – disc 2 – 2014
2. Salt, Sun And Time (3:09)
released 1974 & 2005
Also On:
Speechless – 2005
Frying in the afternoon sun
Don’t want to sit by no fountain
Listening to the man-made stream run
Just want to stand where the sea-spray
Gleams like fire with you
And I don’t have to tell you why
Don’t want to go to no parties
Full of fair-weather friends
Don’t want to be in no “in” crowd
Chasing after every trend
Just want to stand on some hillside
In Wales with you
And fly — don’t have to tell you why
Don’t want to live in no mansion
Ornate as a crown prince’s church
Don’t want to live on no sidewalk
Underneath no pigeon’s perch
Just want to stand at the rainbow’s
Real end with you
And I don’t have to tell you why
December 1, 1973 – Toronto, Canada
4. Stained Glass (3:12)
Looking outward
Show me a sequined sky
Rubies shine in my glass of wine
Dusk breezes
On oiled water
Paint a pointillist facade
It’s ceaselessly shifting world —
Like today I’m far away
I see your face behind each time-blurred pane
Strings vibrate
Music leaps out
In a shimmering intrigue
Words unsaid whirl away like dust
From the sidewalk-sweeper’s broom
Across a fold in space you touch my hand
June 26, 1973 – London, England
released 1974 & 2005
Also On:
Speechless – 2005
Rumours Of Glory box set – disc 2 – 2014
6. Never So Free (3:57)
Grit in my eyes and fish in my nose
White as whalebone, wheeling seagulls cry
Outside the bar in the high street
Blind fingers spin an accordion reel
Shoes and sedan wheels grudgingly keeping time
Fishing boat stretched out at low tide
Dog and a black man work on the deck
Bright as a bottle, sunlight skips wave to wave
Part of a map of somewhere
Teases my foot like a haunting dream
Never so free, i’m lost in the seagulls’ flight
July 6, 1973 – Sheffield, England
Also On:
Circles In The Stream – 1977
7. Seeds On The Wind (7:00)
released 1974
8. It Won’t Be Long (3:49)
Couldn’t see no dawn
But I know it won’t be long
To keep the fire burning
Ain’t no easy game
But we’ll do it just the same
I’m going to the northland
Where the weather keeps you real
Till this devil’s law is repealed
And I know it won’t be long
released 1974
9. Christmas Song (3:52)
A dog in the distance barks
The sky speaks in patterns of starlight
The fire replies in sparks
The stream is a motionless moment
Salmon in the sea swims deep
Pregnant with force as a prayer is
Spring in the hard earth sleeps
Like the snow on the stark spruce limb
Coated with ice, then stripped by wind
We melt away and return again
Stronger for the tempering flame
Stronger for the Saviour’s name.
December 25 1973 – Cumberland, Ontario, Canada
Includes the classic ‘All The Diamonds In The World’
Album Info:
Musicians
Bruce Cockburn: guitar and voice
Eugene Martynec: guitar and synthesizer
Jack Zaza: clarinet
Art direction: San Murata
Design: Wayne Lum
Illustrator: John Bicknell
Photography: Lyle Wachovsky
Concept: Bob Fresco
Words and music by Bruce Cockburn (except “Seeds on the Wind” which is by Bruce Cockburn and Eugene Martynec)
Produced by Bruce Anthony and Eugene Martynec for True North Productions.
Recorded at Thunder Sound (Toronto) between May and August, 1974
Engineered by Bill Seddon
All songs mixed at Thunder Sound with Bill Seddon as Engineer except songs 2 [Salt, Sun and Time] and 5 [Roulier Sa Bosse] which were mixed at Manta Sound with Leo De Carlo.
Mastered by Vic Anesini at Sony Music Studios, NYC
Joy Will Find A Way
RELEASE DATE: 1975
PURCHASE: iTunes | True North
1. Hand-dancing (4:30)
I’m hand dancing in your hair
You’re hand dancing in my soul
June 18, 1974
Worthless money changing hands
“Changing them to what?” — I wonder
As in the dust the jet plane thunders
Carries every feeling into gloom
I miss you like I miss the flowers in bloom
There’s a crisis in the outer world
In the sky the smoke trails curl
Some Winnipeg boys are Cyprus-bound
I hope they live to touch home ground
I hope we live to touch, if just once more
I need you like the river needs the shore
In life so delicate and strange
Understanding seldom comes in range
We stumble through familiar scenes
Never thinking what it means,
In this cluttered landscape to be loved
I need you like I need the stars above
February 2, 1975
3. Starwheel + (3:16)
You’re bound to move on and so am I
On this world we’ve had time to burn —
how come nobody ever seems to learn?
See how the starwheel turns.
Crystal drift on the whistling wind —
Constant change is the space we’re in
You may use a slide rule or a golden crown
But nothing’s worth it that you can pin down —
See how the starwheel turns.
Don’t go playing no shell game with God —
Only Satan’s going to give you odds
We’re given love and love must be returned —
That’s all the bearings that you need to learn
See how the starwheel turns.
January 23, 1975
Also On:
Circles In The Stream
Note: Lyrics/music co-written with Kitty Cockburn
4. Lament For The Last Days (5:24)
Swiftly blades in ice do grow
On the branches star-bleached snow
Waits while time is passing
Outside the door the dancer whirls
Chiming bells and shining curls
Flying footsteps in the snow
Rhyme the rhythm of ruin
Beside the wall the beggars call
“Man have mercy on us all”
The night-bound choir inside chants on —
A hymn to brick and pistols
You can stumble, you can fall
Or you can make the nations crawl
But when death comes in to call
He don’t care about it
Oh, Satan take thy cup away
For i’ll not drink your wine today
I’ll reach for the chalice of light
That stands on Jesus’ table
February 23, 1975
Make me to lie down with a smile
Everything that rises afterward falls
But all that dies has first to live.
As longing becomes love
As night turns to day
Everything changes
Joy will find a way
September 6, 1974
Also On:
Circles In The Stream – 1977
Mummy Dust – 1981
Rumours Of Glory – 1985
6. Burn (4:08)
Yankee gunboat come this way
Uncle Sam gonna save the day
Come tomorrow we all gonna pay…
And it’s burn baby burn
When am I going to get my turn
Something dead under the bed
Local diplomats hang their heads
Never mind what the government said
They’re either lying or they’ve been misled…
And it’s burn baby burn
When am I going to get my turn
Phillipines was yesterday [updated lyrics June 2003] – Vietnam was yesterday
Santiago and Greece today [updated lyrics June 2003] – Kabul and Baghdad today
How would they ever make the late news pay
If they didn’t have the CIA?
And it’s burn baby burn
When am I going to get my turn
Here it comes, the loaded gun
“Must keep the Commies on the run ” [updated lyrics June 2003] – gotta keep the bad guys on the run
You’d buy or bury everyone
For liberty and life
And just plain fun
And it’s burn baby burn
When am I going to get my turn
January 28, 1974
Also On:
Waiting For A Miracle – 1987
7. Skylarking (3:20)
released 1975
8. A Long-time Love Song (4:41)
Words fragment and fall
Into blue shadows by a white-baked wall.
Through shimmering spaces a single thrush calls —
A song when it’s over is no song at all
And you know I long to feel that sail
Leaping in the wind
And i long to see what lies beyond that rim
Oh, ever-new lover and friend
Sing me that love song again.
Time measured in summersaults
And flickering kids’ play —
Cross-world and southward it’s a fine summer day
Translucent life-span evaporates away
To bead on the cool grass in a cyclic ballet
November 25, 1974
9. A Life Story (6:16)
Far cry
Wings-slash-free
Christ is born for you and me
Wind rush
Reed bend
Storm tossed sea
Christ is nailed upon a tree
Mists part
Sunrise
Shining key
Christ is risen to lead us free
December 13, 1974
10. Arrows Of Light (4:55)
Pierce my soul
Pierce my soul
Breath of the bright wind
Make us one
Make us one
Life is singing
Like a great bell ringing
July 1975
Also On:
Circles In The Stream – 1977
Includes the classic ‘Burn’.
Album Info:
All songs written by B. Cockburn except + [Starwheel] by B. Cockburn-K. Cockburn © 1975 Golden Mountain Music Corp. (SOCAN) (BMI) All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.
Produced by Eugene Martynec for True North Productions
Musicians:
Dennis Pendrith-Bass
Terry Clarke-Drums
Dido Morris-Percussion
Pat Godfrey-Keyboards
Eugene Martynec-Guitar
Beverley Glenn-Copeland-Background Vocals
Bruce Cockburn-Acoustic and Electric Guitars, Dulcimer, Vocals
Background Vocals on “Burn”: Linda Page Harpa, Malika Hollander, Zezi Tado, Alexa de Wiel, Jeffrey Crelingston, Beverley Glenn-Copeland
Recorded at Eastern Sound, Toronto, July-August 1975
Engineer: Ken Friesen
Digitally Remastered by Vic Anesini, Sony Studios, NY
Cover Paintings: Blair Drawson
Art Direction: Bart Schoales
In The Falling Dark
RELEASE DATE: 1976 / 2002
PURCHASE: iTunes | True North
* Deluxe Edition – Bonus tracks on the remastered CD version released by Rounder Records in 2002.
1. Lord Of The Starfields (3:22)
Ancient of Days
Universe Maker
Here’s a song in your praise
Wings of the storm cloud
Beginning and end
You make my heart leap
Like a banner in the wind
O love that fires the sun
Keep me burning.
Lord of the starfields
Sower of life,
Heaven and earth are
Full of your light
Voice of the nova
Smile of the dew
All of our yearning
Only comes home to you
O love that fires the sun
keep me burning
May 12, 1976 – Burritt’s Rapids
Also On:
Circles In The Stream – 1977
Resume – 1981
Rumours Of Glory – 1985
Rumours Of Glory box set – disc 2 – 2014
2. Vagabondage (“Drifting”) (4:17)
La danse du paysage
Et dans les nuages
Le decoupage
D’un tour billon avec des naufrages
Vagabondage
Toujours en route
Nous sommes encore en route
On joue du tambour
On joue de la flute
Comme l’eau qui bondit d’une chute
Nous sommes en route
Et bientot
Dans le berceau
Un autre petit tzigane
Qui jouera du piano
Pour les chemineaux
Dans les bistros de la lune
Saut perilleux
Subitement il pleut
De la lumiere partout
Et puis tout a coup
Nous sommes trois clowns fabuleux
Faisant des sauts perilleux
Nous cinglons
Dans le wagon
D’un train qui grandit sans cesse
Comme l’univers:
Haute dans les airs
Une rose des veuts
Pointe vers des nouvelles plages
TRANSLATION: “Drifting”
Drifting
The dance of the landscape
And in the clouds
The cutout
Of a whirlwind with shipwrecks
Drifting
Always on our way
Again we’re on our way
Somebody plays the drum
Somebody plays the flute
Like water leaping from a waterfall
We’re on our way
And soon
In the cradle
Another little gypsy
Who will play the piano
For the hobos
In the bars on the moon
Somersault
Suddenly it’s raining
Light all over the place
And then all at once
We’re three improbable clowns
Doing somersaults
We skim along
In the coach
Of a train that’s perpetually expanding
Like the universe:
High in the air
A compass-card
Points toward new shores
July 10, 1976 – Ottawa, Canada
Also On:
Waiting For A Miracle – 1987
3. In The Falling Dark (4:50)
The moon is nothing but a toothless grin
Floating out on the evening wind
The smell of sweat and lube oil pervades the night
And the rush of life in flight at the speed of light
A million footsteps whispering
A guitar sounds — some voices sing
Smoke on the breeze — eyes that sting
Far in the east a yellow cloud bank climbs
Stretching away to be part of tomorrow’s time
Earthbound while everything expands
So many grains of sand
Slipping from hand to hand
Catching the light and falling into dark
The world fades out like an overheard remark
In the falling dark
Light pours from a million radiant lives
Off of kids and dogs and the hard-shelled husbands and wives
All that glory shining around and we’re all caught taking a dive
And all the beasts of the hills around shout, “such a waste!
Don’t you know that from the first to the last we’re all one in the gift of grace!”
March 9,1976 – Ottawa, Canada
4. Little Seahorse (4:30)
Swimming in a primal sea
Heartbeat like a
Leaf quaking in the breeze
I feel magic as coyote
In the middle of the moon-wild night
In the forge-fire time
Your mother glowed so bright
You were like a
Voice calling in the night
And I’m watching the curtain
Rising on a whole new set of dreams
The world is waiting
Like a Lake Superior gale
A locomotive
Racing along the rail.
It’ll sweep you away
But you know that you’re never alone
Little seahorse
Floating on a primal tide
Quickening like a
Spark in a haystack side
I already love you
And I don’t even know who you are
December 14, 1975 – Toronto, Canada
5. Water Into Wine (5:30)
released 1976 & 2005
Also On:
Resume – 1981
Speechless – 2005
6. Silver Wheels (4:41)
Hot tires sing like a string being bowed
Sudden town rears up then explodes
Fragments resolve into white line code
Whirl on silver wheels
Black earth energy receptor fields
Undulate under a grey cloud shield
We outrun a river colour brick red mud
That cleaves apart hills soil rich as blood
Highway squeeze in construction steam
Stop caution hard hat yellow insect machines
Silver steel towers stalk rolling land
Toward distant stacks that shout “Feed on demand”
100 miles later the sky has changed
Urban anticipation — we get 4 lanes
Red orange furnace sphere notches down
Throws up silhouette skyline in brown
Sundogs flare on windshield glass
Sudden swoop skyward iron horse overpass
Pass a man walking like the man in the moon
Walking like his head’s full of irish fiddle tunes
The skin around every city looks the same
Miles of flat neon spelling well-known names
USED TRUCKS DIRTY DONUTS YOU YOU’RE THE ONE
Fat wheeled cars squeal into the sun
Radio speakers gargle top 40 trash
Muzak soundtrack to slow collapse
Planet engines pulsate in sidereal time
If you listen close you can hear the whine
July 21, 1976 – Burritt’s Rapids
Also On:
Resume – 1981
Mummy Dust – 1981
Waiting For A Miracle – 1987
Bruce Cockburn – Live – 1990 / 2002
Rumours Of Glory box set – disc 2 – 2014
7. Gift Bearer (4:39)
released 1973
8. Gavin’s Woodpile (8:00)
Safe within the harmony of kin
Visions begin to crowd my eyes
Like a meteor shower in the autumn skies
And the soil beneath me seems to moan
With a sound like the wind through a hollow bone
And my mind fills with figures like Lappish runes of power1…
And log slams on rough-hewn log
And a voice from somewhere scolds a barking dog.
I remember a bleak-eyed prisoner
In the Stoney Mountain life-suspension home
You drink and fight and damage someone
And they throw you away for some years of boredom
One year done and five more to go —
No job waiting so no parole
And over and over they tell you that you’re nothing…
and I toss another log on Gavin’s woodpile
and wonder at the lamp-warm window’s welcome smile.
I remember crackling embers
Coloured windows shining through the rain
Like the coloured slicks on The English River2
Death in the marrow and death in the liver
And some government gambler with his mouth full of steak
Saying, “If you can’t eat the fish, fish in some other lake.
To watch a people die — it is no new thing.”
And the stack of wood grows higher and higher
And a helpless rage seems to set my brain on fire.
And everywhere the free space fills
Like a punctured diving suit and i’m
Paralyzed in the face of it all
Cursed with the curse of these modern times
Distant mountains, blue and liquid,
Luminous like a thickening of sky
Flash in my mind like a stairway to life —
A train whistle cuts through the scene like a knife
Three hawks wheel in a dazzling sky —
A slow motion jet makes them look like a lie
And I’m left to conclude there’s no human answer near…
But there’s a narrow path to a life to come
That explodes into sight with the power of the sun
A mist rises as the sun goes down
And the light that’s left forms a kind of crown
The earth is bread, the sun is wine
It’s a sign of a hope that’s ours for all time.
November 17, 1975 – Burritt’s Rapids
9. I’m Gonna Fly Someday (4:02)
I’m gonna fly someday
If I keep ready and watch and pray
I’m gonna fly someday
February 29, 1976 – Calgary, Canada
Also On:
Waiting For A Miracle – 1987
10. Festival Of Friends (4:38)
When the palace falls and the parlour’s gone
We all must leave but it’s not the end
We’ll meet again at the festival of friends.
Smiles and laughter and pleasant times
There’s love in the world but it’s hard to find
I’m so glad I found you — I’d just like to extend
An invitation to the festival of friends.
Some of us live and some of us die
Someday God’s going to tell us why
Open your heart and grow with what life sends
That’s your ticket to the festival of friends.
Like an imitation of a good thing past
These days of darkness surely will not last
Jesus was here and he’s coming again
To lead us to his festival of friends.
Black snake highway — sheet metal ballet
It’s just so much snow on a summer day
Whatever happens, it’s not the end
We’ll meet again at the festival of friends.
April 5, 1975 – Burritt’s Rapids
12. Untitled Guitar * (8:46)
released in 2002
Originally released in 1976, In The Falling Dark was the first of a trilogy of recordings, that bridged Bruce Cockburn’s acoustic work of the early 70s with his electic period a decade later. It’s landmark album, one that anounced Cockburn’s arrival as an important songwriter. But it’s also a generative recording planting the creative seeds that came to fruition fully on the subsequent studio albums “Further Adventures Of” and “Dancing In The Dragon’s Jaw”. With its compelling songs and majestic sweep “In The Falling Dark” is a perfect place to discover the impressive range of Bruce Cockburn’s artistry.
Album Info:
Apologies to Tommy Graham who played tambora on “Joy Will Find a Way” and got no credit for it-and to Mose and Heather Scarlett who sang on the same album.
Thanks to “Encounter 76”-the messages were deeply appreciated and the money put to good use.
recorded at Eastern Sound, Toronto, September-November 1976
produced by Eugene Martynec for True North Productions
engineer Ken Friesen
front cover photo Arnaud Maggs
back cover photo Ted Grant
art direction Bart Schoales
The musicians and vocalists were:
Bruce Cockburn: voice, guitars, dulcimer
Michael Donato: bass
Bob Disalle: drums
Bill Usher: percussion
Kathryn Moses: flutes, piccolo
Jørn Anderson: percussion
Dennis Pendrith: bass
Fred Stone: fluegelhorn, trumpet
Luke Gibson: background vocals
Lyn Macdonald: background vocals
Erin Malone (of Killaloe): background vocals
All songs written by B. Cockburn
© 1976 Golden Mountain Music Corp. (SOCAN) (BMI)
All Rights Reserved Used by Permission.
Digitally Remastered by Vic Anesini, Sony Studios,NY.
Remaster Info:
Digitally remastered at the E Room in Toronto by engineer Peter Moore, utilizing 24-bit technology.
New liner note essay written by Nicholas Jennings.
Released by Rounder Records, 19 November 2002.
Circles In The Stream
RELEASE DATE: 1977 / 2005
PURCHASE: iTunes | True North
* Bonus tracks on the remastered CD version released by Rounder Records in 2005.
1. The Pipes, The Pipes (1:32)
released 1977
Note: The album notes say this song – a solo bagpipe piece – is performed by Pipe Major Ray MacKay. The first part of the tune I don’t recognise but is probably a traditional Scottish pipe tune, the second part is “Scotland The Brave”. On the album, the song serves as an introduction to Starwheel.
2. Starwheel (3:40)
3. Never So Free (3:46)
released 1977
Quelque chose
Peut etre le vent
Ou l’ouverture d’une rose
Moi je suis en courant
En courant
La cite
Bouche-bee
Semble de boire
La voie lactee
Moi je suis un homme brûlant
Homme brulant
Et dans la lueur
Tu m’appele
Habillee
Des arcs en ciel
Et je brule
Chatoyaut
Vert de mer
Je deviens
Une riviere
Et toi
Tu es l’ocean que je cherche
Que je cherche.
TRANSLATION: “Burning Man”
They’re waiting
For something
Maybe the wind
Or the opening of a rose
Me, I’m flowing,
Flowing
The city
Open-mouthed
Seems to be drinking
The milky way
Me, I’m a burning man
Burning man
And in the glow
You call me
Dressed in
Rainbows
And I’m burning
Sparkling
Sea green
I become
A river
And you,
You are the ocean I’m seeking
I’m seeking.
March 8,1977 – Quebec
6. Free To Be (2:29)
Never know my place
Ine thing I am sure of
You can’t judge a man by his race
Birth don’t come easy
Freedom doesn’t come cheap
Rules and worlds get swept away
While you waste your time in sleep
Grow up you
Grow up me
Grown together
Free to be
There’s music in the forest
Children laugh in the school yard
On the skid row of the spirit
Hear the ranting of the Western Guard
Why don’t you cool out
Can it be so hard
to love yourself without thinking
someone else holds a lower card
Grow up you
Grow up me
Grown together
Free to be
Wired to the switchboard
Always on the move
Things we love to cling to
But there’s nothing we can prove
You can only deal with
What’s before your face
And the life you’re given’s no use at all
If you burn it up in hate
Grow up you
Grow up me
Grown together
Free to beJanuary 30, 1977 – Burritt’s Rapids
Also On:
Waiting For A Miracle – 1987
7. Mama Just Want to Barrelhouse All Night Long (4:07)
8. Cader Idris (5:37)
released 1977
9. Arrows of Light (4:03)
10. One Day I Walk (3:16)
11. Love Song (4:48)
12. Red Brother Red Sister (3:54)
Saw your ancient bloom cut, pressed and dried
A sign said wasn’t it clever what they used to do
But it never did say how they died
Hey hey hey
Hey hey hey
Went to Regina, red sister
Heard a cab driver say what he’d seen
“There’s a grand place to eat out on Number One
All white ladies if you know what I mean”
Hey hey hey
Hey hey hey
Went to a pow wow, red brother
Felt the people’s love/joy flow around
It left me crying just thinking about it
How they used my saviour’s name to keep you down
Hey hey hey
Hey hey hey
July 26, 1976 – Burritt’s Rapids
Also On:
Mummy Dust – 1981
In The Falling Dark – 2002
Rumours Of Glory box set – disc 2 – 2014
13. Lord of the Starfields (5:27)
14. All the Diamonds (2:32)
15. Dialogue With the Devil (8:37)
16. Joy Will Find a Way (4:05)
17. God Bless the Children (4:50)
released 1977
Album Info:
Words and music by Bruce Cockburn except Starwheel words and music Bruce and Kitty Cockburn
Published by Golden Mountain Music Corp (SOCAN)
The musicians are:
Robert Boucher: bass
Pat Godfrey: electric piano, marimbas and vocals
P.M. Doug Mackay: bagpipes
Bill Usher: percussion and voice
Bruce Cockburn: acoustic and electric guitars, dulcimer, vocals
Recorded in concert at Massey Hall, Toronto April 8 + 9, 1977
House sound and stage monitoring by Westbury.
Remote recording: Fedco
Tour manager: Rob Bennett
Produced by Eugene Martynec for True North Productions
Mixed at Eastern Sound, Toronto
Engineer: Ken Friesen
Album cover/photo: Bart Schoales
Inside photograph: Skip Dean
Art direction: Bart Schoales
Restoration + Re-mastering: Peter J. Moore at the E Room
Further Adventures Of
RELEASE DATE: 1978 / 2002
PURCHASE: iTunes | True North
* Bonus tracks on the remastered CD version released by Rounder Records in 2002.
1. Rainfall (3:49)
Wavy lines and peacock sheen
Rainfall on rolling green
Prettiest world I’ve ever seen
Faces and places in a highway land
Beads strung on a silver strand
Quick silver in a callused hand
Never a place for the Son of Man
Born under a rainbow sign
Flash of wave in space and time
Molten glass and hearts that shine
Stone to gold in fire refined
released 1978
2. A Montreal Song (4:07)
Just to look and wonder why
Thunder crashed and red flash-flowers
bloomed a nightmare in the sky
So I went down to the cafe
Just to string myself along
On the way i found some riches —
Played the jukebox, got this song
While I sat there a ragged man came —
Bummed a coffee, talked awhile
Told me stories full of wonder —
Left me laughing like a well-loved child.
released 1978
A star has just exploded somewhere behind my eyes
In the dead of night the city seems to break down into tribes
You stare at too much concrete — you forget the earth’s alive
Young men see visions and old men dream dreams
See them pluck bright pebbles out of circles in the stream
Life’s not always like they tell you in the fashion magazines
When I set eyes on wonders, I’ve got to wonder what they mean
Outside in the starshine you can see beyond the wall
So take a look and tell me, can you hear those black holes call?
Everything is thunder under the celestial waterfall
You get close enough to real things — you don’t need your self at all
released 1978
Also On:
Sunday night and it’s half past nine
Sunday night and it’s half past nine
I’m leaving one more town behind
Mirrors are showing the day’s last glow
Mirrors are showing the day’s last glow
Mirrors are showing the day’s last glow
As we’re spit out into the jigsaw flow
Ahead where there should be the thickness of night
Stars are pinned on a shimmering curtain of light
Sky full of rippling cliffs and chasms
That shine like signs on the road to heaven…
I’ve been cut by the beauty of jagged mountains
And cut by the love that flows like a fountain from God.
So I carry these scars, precious and rare,
And tonight I feel like I’m made of air…
released 1978
released 1978
6. Laughter (3:39)
A laugh for the love of a friend
A laugh for the fools in the eyes of the world
The love that will never end
Ha Ha Ha…
Let’s hear a laugh for the man of the world
Who thinks he can make things work
Tried to build the New Jerusalem
And ended up with New York
Ha Ha Ha…
A laugh for the sun redballing
Through the thermal inversion haze
A laugh for the nuclear good-time boys
Numbering all our days
Ha Ha Ha…
A laugh for the newsprint nightmare
A world that never was
Where the questions are all “why?”
And the answers are all “because.”
Ha Ha Ha…
A laugh for the dogs barking at our heels
They don’t know where we’ve been
A laugh for the dirty window pane
Hiding the love within
Ha Ha Ha…
Tapping our feet to an ancient tune
A laugh for the time gone by
A laugh for me and Kitty in the delivery room
Waiting for the child’s first cry
Ha Ha Ha…
June 28, 1976 – Ottawa, Canada
Also On:
Resume – 1981
Mummy Dust – 1981
Rumours Of Glory – 1985
Waiting For A Miracle – 1987
7. Bright Sky (4:03)
In the bright sky, bright sky
Wild music ripples like a wake behind
In the bright sky, bright sky
Go higher, go higher where the wind is all
In the bright sky, bright sky
Where the bullets get tired and fall
In the bright sky, bright sky
They fly out of vision taking part of my soul
In the bright sky, bright sky
Well, maybe together we can touch down whole
In the bright sky, bright sky
I never saw the colours in the northern dark
In the bright sky, bright sky
But there were all those people floating like Noah’s Ark
In the bright sky, bright sky
And we all rush away on a river of wind
In the bright sky, bright sky
But if i live i’ll be coming back again
In the bright sky, bright sky
September 18, 1977 – Fort Saint John, Yukon Territories
8. Feast Of Fools (6:46)
Humour can sometimes be cruel
But under certain conditions
You have to forget the rules
At the feast of fools
Everybody has a voice
Nobody goes to the bottom
Except by their own choice
It’s time for the silent criers to be held in love
It’s time for the ones who dig graves for them to get that final shove
It’s time for the horizons of the universe to be glimpsed even by the faceless kings of corporations
It’s time for chaos to win and walk off with the prize which turns out to be nothing
At the feast of fools
Outlaws can all come home
You can wear any disguise you want
But you’ll be naked past the bone
At the feast of fools
People’s hands weave light
There is a diamond wind
Flowering in the darkest night
It’s time for the silent criers to be held in love
It’s time for the ones who dig graves for them to get that final shove
It’s time for the horizons of the universe to be glimpsed even by the faceless kings of corporations
It’s time for chaos to win and walk off with the prize which turns out to be (a big fat) nothing.
It’s time for the singers of songs without hope to take a hard look and start from scratch again
It’s time for these headlights racing against inescapable dark to be just forgotten
It’s time for Harlequin to leap out of the future into the midst of a world of dancers
It’s time for us all to stand hushed in the cathedral of silence waiting at the river’s end.
November 6, 1977 – Burritt’s Rapids
9. Can I Go With You (2:51)
To claim the ones who love you
Can I go with you?
Can I go with you?
When the angel shouts from the heart of the sun
And the living water flows down
Can I go with you?
Can I go with you?
When the earth and stars melt like ice in the spring
And a million voices sing praise
Can I go with you?
Can I go with you?
December 9, 1976 – Burritt’s Rapids
Also On:
Resume – 1981
Rumours Of Glory box set – disc 2 – 2014
10. Nanzen Ji (4:45)
Cooling wind
Mind swept clean like arctic sand
White stone lake
Crystal clear
I walk on the voices of nightingales
Pine-framed space
Tiger leaps
Emerald tea reflects the Lord
July 1977 – Morioka, Japan
11. Mountain Call * (5:33)
released 2002
Released in 1978 this was Cockburn’s ninth album and contains the timeless tracks ‘Montreal Song’ and ‘Laughter’.
Album Info:
Thanks for aid and/or inspiration to: Jesus, Kitty, Harvey Cox The Secular City “Feast of Fools’), Farrago Folks, Michael Moorcock (The Cornelius Chronicles), Tony Silverthorn, Tom’s Cabin people, and all involved in the making of the album.
Musicians:
vocals, electric and acoustic guitars Bruce Cockburn
drums and percussion Bob DiSalle
electric guitar Eugene Martynec
flute Kathryn Moses
bodhran Martha Nagler
Background Vocals
Bright Sky and Laughter: Beverley Glenn Copeland, Marty Nagler, Tommy
Graham, Brent Tlcomb, Shingoose
Prenons La Mer: Ronny Abramson
Rainfall, Phone booth and Can I go with you: Beverly Glenn Copeland
Feast of Fools: Montreal Song: Shingoose
Words and music by Bruce Cockburn
Published by Golden Mountain Corp. (SOCAN)
Traduction by Marcel Mousette
All songs copyright © Golden Mountain Corp.
*used by permission
Recorded at Eastern Sound, Toronto April-May 1978
Produced by Eugene Martynec for True North Productions
Engineer Ken Frieson, assisted by Peter Holcomb
Album art by Bart Schoales for Harrison Vardley, Los Angeles
Model photographed by Fred Bird, Toronto
Remaster Info:
Digitally remastered at the E Room in Toronto by engineer Peter Moore, utilizing 24-bit technology.
New liner note essay written by Nicholas Jennings.
Released by Rounder Records, 2002.
November 19, 2002 – From Rounder Records: “Further Adventures Of” contains some of the most beautifully intricate acoustic guitar work and lyrical mysticism Bruce Cockburn has ever put on record. Originally released in 1978 and now re-mastered for this deluxe reissue, “Further Adventures Of” features standouts such as “Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hands,” “Red Ships Take Off in the Distance,” and “Feast of Fools.” An instrumental bonus track originally recorded for the record, “Mountain Call,” is also included. “Further Adventures Of” continues the spirited acoustic jazz of Cockburn’s previous recording and finds him in full, exploratory flight. Produced by Eugene Martynec.
Dancing In The Dragon’s Jaws
RELEASE DATE: 1979 / 2002
PURCHASE: iTunes | True North
* Bonus tracks on the remastered CD version released by Rounder Records in 2002.
1. Creation Dream (4:00)
Counting on nothing
I saw you standing on the sea
And everything was
Dark except for
Sparks the wind struck from your hair
Sparks that turned to
Wings around you
Angel voices mixed with seabird cries
Fields of motion
Surging outward
Questions that contain their own replies…
You were dancing
I saw you dancing
Throwing your arms toward the sky
Fingers opening
Like flares
Stars were shooting everywhere
Lines of power
Bursting outward
Along the channels of your song
Mercury waves flashed
Under your feet
Shots of silver in the shell-pink dawn…
December 20, 1978 – Ottawa, Canada
Also On:>
Rumours Of Glory – 1985
Rumours Of Glory box set – disc 1 – 2014
2. Hills Of Morning (4:25)
A bunch of us were busy waiting,
Watching the people looking ill-at-ease,
Watching the fraying rope get closer to breaking
Women and men moved back and forth
In between effect and cause
And just beyond the range of normal sight
This glittering joker was dancing in the dragon’s jaws
Let me be a little of your breath
Moving over the face of the deep —
I want to be a particle of your light
Flowing over the hills of morning
The only sign you gave of who you were
When you first came walking down the road,
Was the way the dust motes danced around
Your feet in a cloud of gold
But everything you see’s not the way it seems —
Tears can sing and joy shed tears.
You can take the wisdom of this world
And give it to the ones who think it all ends here
Let me be a little of your breath
Moving over the face of the deep —
I want to be a particle of your light
Flowing over the hills of morning
released 1979
Also On:>
Rumours Of Glory box set – disc 1 – 2014
3. Badlands Flashback (6:12)
Ma main s’entends
Prends du gravier
Un morcean blanc de coquille
Pour un instant
Un mugissement
L’antique mer
Rempli cet espace qui a ete le mien
Lozanges mobiles
Des herbes flottantes
Un cri soudain
D’oiseau flamboie au firmament
Une troupe d’antilopes
Traverse l’horizon
Sabots scintillants comme du verre
Un rire sonne comme le cristal
Dans le ciel vide —
Quelqu’un danse comme une flamme
TRANSLATION: “Badlands Flashback”
The body stoops
The hand goes out
Picks up from the gravel
A fragment of white seashell
For a moment
A roaring
The ancient sea
Fills the space that just now was mine
Moving diamond-shapes
Grasses flowing
The sudden cry of a bird
Blazes all along the sky
A herd of antelope
Crosses the horizon
Hooves scintillating like glass
A laugh rings like crystal
In the empty sky —
Someone is dancing like a flame!
Easter 1979 – Ottawa, Canada
4. Northern Lights (4:05)
Sunday night and it’s half past nine
Sunday night and it’s half past nine
I’m leaving one more town behind
Mirrors are showing the day’s last glow
Mirrors are showing the day’s last glow
Mirrors are showing the day’s last glow
As we’re spit out into the jigsaw flow
Ahead where there should be the thickness of night
Stars are pinned on a shimmering curtain of light
Sky full of rippling cliffs and chasms
That shine like signs on the road to heaven…
I’ve been cut by the beauty of jagged mountains
And cut by the love that flows like a fountain from God.
So I carry these scars, precious and rare,
And tonight I feel like I’m made of air…
August 27, 1978 – Calgary-Medicine Hat, Canada
5. After The Rain (3:59)
I can just taste salt on the humid wind
Here comes that gasoline
Spreading hungry rainbow over shiny black tar
I’m blown like smoke and blind as wind
Except for when your love breaks in
Maybe to those who love is given sight
To pierce the wall of seeming night
And know it pure beyond all imagining
Engine throb street cruise light bullet car flash
Hollow beauty night gleam oily river tension glass
Ultraflame! Glittering dust falling in slow motion
Clouds tumbling one over another into apparent emptiness
It’s like a big fist breaking down my door
I never felt such a love before
Maybe to those who love it’s given to hear
Music too high for the human ear
And clear as hydrogen to go singing
June 13 1979 – Toronto, Canada
Also On:
Bruce Cockburn Live 1990 / 2002
The world survives into another day
And I’m thinking about eternity
Some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me
I had another dream about lions at the door
They weren’t half as frightening as they were before
But I’m thinking about eternity
Some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me
Walls windows trees, waves coming through
You be in me and I’ll be in you
Together in eternity
Some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me
Up among the firs where it smells so sweet
Or down in the valley where the river used to be
I got my mind on eternity
Some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me
And I’m wondering where the lions are…
I’m wondering where the lions are…
Huge orange flying boat rises off a lake
Thousand-year-old petroglyphs doing a double take
Pointing a finger at eternity
I’m sitting in the middle of this ecstasy
Young men marching, helmets shining in the sun,
Polished as precise like the brain behind the gun
(Should be!) they got me thinking about eternity
Some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me
And I’m wondering where the lions are…
I’m wondering where the lions are…
Freighters on the nod on the surface of the bay
One of these days we’re going to sail away,
going to sail into eternity
some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me
And I’m wondering where the lions are…
I’m wondering where the lions are…
January 12,1979 – Ottawa, Canada
Also On:
Rumours Of Glory – 1985
Waiting For A Miracle – 1987
Bruce Cockburn Live 1990 / 2002
Anything Anytime Anywhere – 2002
Slice O Life – 2009
Rumours Of Glory box set – disc 2 – 2014
7. Incandescent Blue (4:35)
So I could stand in this tunnel, waiting for the roaring train
And watch those black kids working out kung fu moves
If you don’t want to be the horses’ hoofprints you got to be the hooves
Hear that lonesome violin play
See the notes float up into the overcast
and change to white birds as they sail on through
and soar away free into incandescent blue
People getting ready behind all those rectangles of light
“Put on your grin mask, babe, you know we’re steppin out tonight”
You hear that sound, like hammers only small?
It’s what the people’s heads say when they beat them against the wall
Hear that lonesome violin play
See the notes float up into the overcast
and change to white birds as they sail on through
and soar away free into incandescent blue
Concrete vortex sucks down the wind
It’s howling like a blinded violin.
Oh — tongues of fire, come and kiss my brow
if I ever needed you, well I need you now
Hear that lonesome violin play
See the notes float up into the overcast
and change to white birds as they sail on through
and soar away free into incandescent blue
New York
8. No Footprints (5:38)
Above mist hangs stone face of mountain
Above mountain face hangs a net of sky-
Crack! there are wings and they rip the net!
And the dance flows on
Everything flows toward the rim of that
Shining cup
Crossed sticks lie on earth
Between crossed sticks — pile of ash
Something rises on the wisp of smoke
Dog’s feet move by fast
And the dance flows on
Everything flows toward the rim of that
Shining cup
Through these channels/words
I want to touch you
Touch you deep down
Where you live
Not for power but
Because I love you
So
Love the Lord
And in Him love me too
And in Him go your way
And I’ll be right there with you
Leaving
No footprints when we go
No footprints when we go
Only where we’ve been, a faint and fading glow…
July 19, 1978 – Mainly Banff, Canada
9. Dawn Music * (4:28)
released 2002
10. Bye Bye Idi * (4:41)
released 2002
Rounding out the 1970s and completing a trilogy of acoustic jazz/folk albums, that included “In The Falling Dark” and “Further Adventures Of”, Bruce Cockburn’s “Dancing In The Dragon’s Jaws” stands as both an era-ending album and a cumulative release that nearly built in the strengths of its predecessors.
Featuring some of his finest guitar work ever the album was voted an “essential” recording by Acoustic Guitar Magazine, putting Cockburn in the prestigious company of such revered pickers as Django Reinhardt, Andrés Segovia, Bill Frisell and Mississippi John Hurt.
It also provided Cockburn with a commercial breakthrough on the strength of his buoyant Top 40 hit “Wondering Where The Lions Are”.
Album Info:
Produced by Eugene Martynec for True North Productions
Recorded by Gary Gray at Manta Sound, Toronto, May-June, 1979
Assistant: Frank Kitson
Musicians are:
Bruce Cockburn: Guitar, Chimes, Synthesizer, Dulcimer
Pat Godfrey: Piano and Marimba, Background Vocals (“Wondering Where the Lions Are”)
Robert Boucher: Bass
Bob DiSalle: Drums
Larry “Silky Fingers” Silvera: Bass and Background Vocals (“Wondering Where the Lions Are”)
Ben Bow: Drums and Background Vocals (“Wondering Where the Lions Are”)
Cover painting: Norval Morrisseau (1979)
Inside photograph: Christopher Dew
Art direction: Bart Schoales
Humans
RELEASE DATE: 1980 / 2003
PURCHASE: iTunes | True North
Humans 2003 release includes a live version of Grim Travellers*
1. Grim Travellers (4:51)
Also work on the movement of capital
Also work on the movement of human beings
As if we were so many cattle
Grim travellers in dawn skies
See the beauty — makes you cry inside
Makes you angry and you don’t know why
Grim travellers in dawn skies
Twelve mercenaries got weapons primed
Gonna take that African nation in record time
You wonder why they bother, why not leave it alone
They say, “Every man wants to retire to a place he can call his own”
Those grim travellers in dawn skies
See the beauty — makes them cry inside
Makes them angry and they don’t know why
Grim travellers in dawn skies
Redness, richer than a rose
Blooms against the backdrop of somebody’s white clothes
Bitter little girls and boys from the Red Army Underground
They’d blow away Karl Marx if he had the nerve to come around
They’re just grim travellers in dawn skies
See the beauty — makes them cry inside
Makes them angry and they don’t know why
They’re grim travellers in dawn skies
Down on the plain of 10,000 smokestacks
Trucks butt each other to establish dominance
The newspaper next to me leans over and says matter-of-factly
“Sacred mountains towers above meadows” – uh huh – and above us
Grim travellers in dawn skies
I see the beauty — makes me cry inside
It makes me angry and I don’t know why
We’re grim travellers in dawn skies
released 1980
Also On:
Humans – 2003 (live version)
2. Rumours Of Glory (3:38)
After the sun’s gone down
Two vapour trails cross the sky
Catching the day’s last slow goodbye
Black skyline looks rich as velvet
Something is shining
Like gold but better
Rumours of glory
Smiles mixed with curses
The crowd disperses
About whom no details are known
Each one alone yet not alone
Behind the pain/fear
Etched on the faces
Something is shining
Like gold but better
Rumours of glory
You see the extremes
Of what humans can be?
In that distance some tension’s born
Energy surging like a storm
You plunge your hand in
And draw it back scorched
Beneath it’s shining like
Gold but better
Rumours of glory
December 31, 1979 – Burritt’s Rapids
Also On:
Rumours Of Glory – 1985
Waiting For A Miracle – 1987
Bruce Cockburn Live – 1990/2002
Humans – 2003 (live version)
Rumours Of Glory box set – disc 3 – 2014
3. More Not More (3:50)
It’s just I hate the day to have to end
Never enough time to spend
I haven’t done enough for this to be the end
There must be more… more…
More songs more warmth
More love more life
Not more fear not more fame
Not more money not more games
There — you — coming through the crowd
Blue light silhouettes your head
I want to shout your name out loud
But I shout inside instead
There must be more… more…
More current more spark
More touch deep in the heart
Not more thoughtless cruelty
Not more being this lonely…
Don’t I hear them talking?
Don’t I know what they say?
I’m a fool for thinking
Things could be better than they were today
There must be more… more…
More growth more truth
More chains more loose
Not more pain not more walls
Not more living human voodoo dolls
February 14, 1980 – Toronto, Canada
4. You Get Bigger As You Go (4:35)
As exciting maybe as doing the dishes
Face toward window — light received
You walk away to see a film
See some people see a man
Stab in throat twist in gut all too clear
Not too new — all been done before
Planet breathes exhaustion
Staggers on
Wnemy anger impotent gun grease
Too many thoughts
Too dogshit tired
One small step for freedom
From foregone conclusion
You get bigger as you go
No one told me — I just know
Bales of memory like boats in tow
You get bigger as you go
You get bigger as you go
Spent all day afraid to talk
Redneck children laugh out loud
I being target live and walk
You get bigger as you go
Telephone snarls “don’t touch me”
You move in waves like the midnight blues
You vector of this weird dis-ease
You get bigger as you go
News reruns — dawn comes rainbow
Pain takes shape of grimy window
You get bigger as you go
March 23, 1980 – Ottawa, Canada
5. What About The Bond (4:55)
To mute helplessness
Not enough communication
Too much not expressed
It’s all to easy
To let go of hope
To think there’s nothing worth saving
And let it all go up in smoke
What about the the bond?
What about the mystical unity?
What about the bond
Sealed in the loving presence of the Father?
Disfunction
Of the institutions
That should give a frame to work in
Got to find our own solutions
Confusion
Pressure from all sides
Got to head right down the centre
In the love that will abide
What about the the bond?
What about the mystical unity?
What about the bond
Sealed in the loving presence of the Father?
Man and woman
Made to be one flesh
Nobody said it would be easy
But can we let go now and fail the test?
Now you could say
Life is full of moving on
But do you want the pain that’s
Already been spent
To all be wasted — c’mon
What about the the bond?
What about the mystical unity?
What about the bond
Sealed in the loving presence of the Father?
March 28, 1980 – Ottawa, Canada
Behind icy mist and stark bare trees
Inside the dim empty cinema two guys in leather jackets
Glance at each other and shiver
“They never built these places with winter in mind”
Out the window down the gray road
You can see old walled monastery
Now become a barracks for the paramilitary police
I saw an old lady’s face once on a Japanese train
Half lit, rich with soft luminosity
She was dozing straight upright head bobbing almost imperceptibly
Wheels were playing fast in 9/8 time
Her husband’s friendly face suddenly folded up in a sneeze
Across the straight a volcano flew a white smoke flag of surrender
In a Roman street on a full moon night
I was sick and there was a young cop in a circle of yellow light
As we drew near he snapped the safety off his machine pistol
And slid a trembling finger to the trigger
I wanted to say something calming but couldn’t catch his eye
He didn’t want contact — he was trained to see movement
“Well don’t shoot me, man, I’m a graceful slow dancer
I’m just a dream to you not real at all”
I wonder if I’ll end up like Bernie in his dream
A displaced person in some foreign border town
Waiting for a train part hope part myth
While the station changes hands
Or just sitting at home growing tenser with the times
Or like that guy in “The Seventh Seal”
Watching the newly dead dance across the hills
Or wearing this leather jacket shivering with a friend
While the eye of God blazes at us like the sun…
Autumn 1979 – Pavia, Hokkaido, Paris
Also On:
Slice O Life – 2009
Rumours Of Glory box set – disc 3 – 2014
7. Guerilla Betrayed (3:56)
Out of the white light up river
At a certain point you can only die
High contrast resolution
Of wet rock and new snow
These bodies remind me
Of tire marks frozen in the mud
We thought we could change something
We helped them win
We changed the slogans
We get hunted again
When you’re the fighter
You’re the politicians tool
When you’re the fighter
You’re everybody’s fool
They move like bears through city streets
They’ve got a flag flying over every factory
I’d like to put a bullet through the world
Wagon full of logs with one flat tire
Armed men moving down through the bush
Up river at a certain point you can…
Ships… white light… only
November 25, 1979 – Gorizia-Milan
8. Tokyo (3:25)
Noise and smoke and concrete seem to be going on forever
Grinding gears and drivers getting high on exhaust
I’m thinking about the water down below and what got lost
Pachinko jingle and space torpedo beams
Comic book violence and escaping steam
Grey suited business men pissing against the wall —
Cut to crumbling guardrail, slow motions car fall
Oh Tokyo — I never can sleep in your arms
Mind keeps on ringing like a fire alarm
Me and all these other dice bouncing around in the cup
Did you have to show me that accident scene
Didn’t I get enough shaking up?
Still I’m gonna miss you…
Dragon of good fortune struggles with trickster fox
Energy and patience and the power of the buck
Tonight I’m flying headlong
To meet the dark red edge of dawn
I know somebody will be crying
And somebody will be gone
Oh Tokyo — I never can sleep in your arms
Mind keeps on ringing like a fire alarm
Me and all these other dice bouncing around in the cup
Did you have to show me that accident scene
Didn’t I get enough shaking up?
Still I’m gonna miss you…
September 15, 1979 – Tokyo
Also On:
Rumours Of Glory – 1985
Waiting For A Miracle – 1987
Anything Anytime Anywhere – 2002
9. Fascist Architecture (2:37)
Too long been keeping my love confined
You tore me out of myself alive
Those fingers drawing out blood like sweat
While the magnificent facades crumble and burn
The billion facets of brilliant love
The billion facets of freedom turning in the light
Bloody nose and burning eyes
Raised in laughter to the skies
I’ve been in trouble but I’m ok
Been through the wringer but I’m ok
Walls are falling and I’m ok
Under the mercy and I’m ok
Gonna tell my old lady
Gonna tell my little girl
There isn’t anything in the world
That can lock up my love again
May 5,1980 – Denver, Colorado
Also On:>
Waiting For A Miracle – 1987
You Pay Your Money And You Take Your Chance – 1997
Rumours Of Glory box set – disc 3 – 2014
10. The Rose Above The Sky (6:23)
Round the next bend with a splash
Laughing at the hands I hold out
Only air within their grasp
All you can do is praise the razor
For the fineness of the slash
‘Til the Rose above the sky
Opens
And the light behind the sun
Takes all
Gutless arrogance and rage
Burn apart the best of tries
You carry the weight of inherited sorrow
From your first day till you die
Toward that hilltop where the road
Forever becomes one with the sky
‘Til the Rose above the sky
Opens
And the light behind the sun
Takes all
Ozone on the midnight wind
Got me thinking of the sea
And the mercies of the currents that brought
Me to you and you to me
And in the silence at the heart of things
Where all true meetings come to be
‘Til the Rose above the sky
Opens
And the light behind the sun
Takes all
August 1979 – Ottawa
Also On:>
Rumours Of Glory – 1985
11. Grim Travellers (live version) 2003 release
Ranked by many as Bruce Cockburn’s best album, Humans is a watershed release in the acclaimed Canadian singer-songwriter’s stellar career. Humans represented the first of Cockburn’s more electric, rock-oriented releases, after the trilogy of acoustic jazz folk recordings that culminated in 1979’s Dancing in the Dragon’s laws. The latter produced the reggae-flavored “Wondering Where The Lions are,” which became a Top 40 hit in both Canada and the United States. Where “Lions” featured the rhythm section of Jamaican star Leroy Sibbles ‘group. Humans’ anthemic “Rumours of Glory,” with its bouncy bass, added the reggae legend himself on backup vocals. Cockburn, wielding an electric guitar and backed by such new band members as violonist Hugh Marsh and keyboardist Jon Goldsmith, infused the entire album with a tougher, more uptempo sound.
Album Info:
Words and music by Bruce Cockburn
© Golden Mountain Music (SOCAN)
All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission
Produced by Eugene Martynec for True North Productions
The Musicians Are:
Bruce Cockburn: Guitar and Vocals
Dennis Pendrith: Bass
Jon Goldsmith: Keyboards
Hugh Marsh: Violin
Patricia Cullen: Synthesizer
Pat LaBarbera: Reeds
Bob DiSalle: Drums
Kathy Moses, Beverly Glen-Copeland, Rachel Paiement*: Background Vocals
The Musicians on “Rumours of Glory” Are:
Bruce Cockburn: Guitar and Vocals
Tony Hibbery: Bass
Bernie Pitters: Keyboards
Ben Bow: Drums
Brian Leonard: Percussion
Leroy Sibbles, Mickey Edwards, Murray McLauchian: Background Vocals
*Rachel Paiemont appears courtesy of A & M Records.
Engineered by Gary Gray
Assisted by Dave Taylor
Mastered by George Marino, Sterling Sound, NY
Remastered by Vlado Meller, Sony Music Studio Operations, NY
Recorded at Manta Sound, Toronto July-August 1980
Art Direction: Bart Schoales
Photography: Roberto Masotti, Milano
Invaluable Assistance and General Bad Influence: Stuart Raven-Hill
Resume
RELEASE DATE: 1981
PURCHASE:
Compilation album
with 1 new * song
Trying to keep the latent depression from crystalizing
Now the sun is lurking just behind the Scarborough horizon
And you’re not even here
On the coldest night of the year.
I took in Yonge Street at a glance
Heard the punkers playing
Watched the bikers dance
Everybody wishing they could go to the south of France
And you’re not even here
On the coldest night of the year.
Hey look at me now
See the shape I’m in
It’s taken me so long to catch on to what’s going on
Inside this skin
When two lovers really love there’s nothing there
But this suddenly compact universe
Skin and breath and hair
I watched the all night TV show
In the all night bar
I drove all the people home
I was the one with the car
Now I’m sitting here alone and sleepless
and wondering where you are
And wishing you were here
On the coldest night of the year
released 1981
Also On:
Mummy Dust – 1981
Rumours Of Glory – 1985
Waiting For A Miracle – 1987
Anything Anytime Anywhere – 2002
Inner City Front – 2002
3. Can I Go With You
4. Laughter
5. Water Into Wine
6. Mama Just Wants To Barrelhouse All Night Long
7. Lord Of The Starfields
8. Outside A Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand
9. Dialogue With The Devil
