O Sun O Moon

Howl of anger, howl of grief
Here comes the heat, there’s no relief
Social behavior
Beyond belief
Throw those punches, drop that ball
Commit to nothing, excuse it all
Here comes the future
Here comes the fall

Time takes its toll
But in my soul
I’m on a roll

Time takes its toll
But in my soul
I’m on a roll

The wolf has fixed you with its stare
Finality is hard to bear
Continue breathing
And beware
Eat what’s before you – pay the bill
There goes your bonehouse, right down that hill
Time waits for no one, and never will

Time takes its toll
But in my soul
I’m on a roll

Time takes its toll
But in my soul
I’m on a roll

I had a dream. There was a storm
And all the earth was without form
The sun was cold, the ether warm
Pressure building left and right
Timer ticking, just out of sight
I’m taking shelter
In the light

Time takes its toll
But in my soul
I’m on a roll.

I’m on a roll.
I’m on a roll.
I’m on a roll.

27 July 2020 – San Francisco

TOUT ME SOURIT

Hurlement de colère, hurlement de tristesse
Voici venir la chaleur, sans soulagement
Comportement social qui défie toute croyance
Lance ces coups de poing, échappe cette balle
Ne t’engage à rien du tout, dispense toi de tout
Voici le futur, voici la chute

Le temps prend son dû
Mais en mon âme
Tout me sourit

Le loup t’a regardé fixement
La finalité est difficile à supporter
Continue à respirer
Et prends garde
Mange ce qui est devant toi – paie la facture
Voilà ton paquet d’os sur une pente descendante
Le temps n’attend personne, et ne le fera jamais

Le temps prend son dû
Mais en mon âme
Tout me sourit

J’ai fait un rêve, il y avait une tempête
Et toute la terre était sans forme
Le soleil était froid, et l’éther chaud
La pression monte à gauche et à droite
Tic tac d’une minuterie, juste hors de vue
Je me mets à l’abri dans la lumière

Le temps prend son dû
Mais en mon âme
Tout me sourit

SF, 27 juillet 2020

Traduction français par Marcel Moussette et Jane Macaulay.

Musicians:
Bruce Cockburn / Vocal, Resonator Guitar
Gary Craig / Drums, Percussion
Viktor Krauss / Upright Bass
Shawn Colvin / Guest Vocal
Colin Linden / Electric & Resophonic Guitars
Ann & Regina McCrary / Vocals

The just, the merciful, the cruel
The stumbling well-intentioned fool
The deft, the oaf, the witless pawn
The golden one life smiles upon
The squalling infant in mid-squall
The neighbors fighting down the hall
The list is long – as I recall
Our orders said to love them all

The cynic and the crooked priest
The woman wise, the sullen beast
The enemy outside the gate
The friend who leaves it all to fate
The drunk who tags the bathroom stall
The proud boy headed to his fall,
The list is long – as I recall
Our orders said to love them all

The pastor preaching shades of hate
The self-inflating head of state
The black and blue, the starved for bread
The dread, the red, the better dead
The sweet, the vile, the small, the tall
The one who rises to the call
The list is long – as I recall
Our orders said to love them all

The one who lets his demons win
The one we think we’re better than
A challenge great – as I recall
Our orders said to love them all

7 December 2020 – San Francisco

ORDONNANCES

Le juste, le miséricordieux, le cruel
Le sot bien intentionné qui trébuche
Le rusé, le niais, le pion naïf
La personne en or à laquelle la vie sourit
Le bébé au milieu d’une crise de larmes
Les voisins se querellant au bout du corridor
La liste est longue – en autant que je me souvienne
Nos ordonnances nous disent de les aimer tous

Le cynique et le prêtre pervers
La femme sage, la bête maussade
L’ennemi à la porte
L’ami qui laisse tout aller au destin
L’ivrogne qui laisse sa marque sur les murs des toilettes
Le Proud Boy en route vers sa chute
La liste est longue – en autant que je me souvienne
Nos ordonnances nous disent de les aimer tous

Le pasteur prêchant des nuances de haine
Le chef d’état auto-gonflable
Les maltraités, celui privé de pain
La terreur, le rouge, le mieux mort
Le doux l’abject le petit le grand
Celui qui répond à l’appel
La liste est longue en autant que je me souvienne
Nos ordonnances nous disent de les aimer tous
Celui qui laisse gagner ses démons
Celui dont on pense que l’on est meilleur
Un grand défi – en autant que je m’en souvienne
Nos ordonnances nous disent de les aimer tous

SF, 7 décembre 2020

Traduction français par Marcel Moussette et Jane Macaulay.

Musicians:
Bruce Cockburn / Vocal, Acoustic Guitar
Gary Craig / Percussion
Viktor Krauss / Upright Bass
Jim Hoke / Marimba, Clarinet, Saxophones
Jeff Taylor / Accordion, Dulceola
Chris Brown / Drums

What will go wrong will go wrong
What will go right will go right
Push come to shove
It’s all about love
The sight of your smile fills my heart with light

There are days when tedium rules
Others when you wish that were so
Push come to shove
It’s all about love
Or so it would seem in the great to and fro

I could sail what’s left of the seven seas
I could swim with the bears where the ice used to be
I could look in the mirror and blow myself a kiss
But reality calls and it comes down to this:

The place that you hold in my life
Is the axis it all spins around
Push come to shove
It’s all about love
The ring of your laugh is the sweetest of sounds

4 September 2022 – San Francisco

EN FIN DE COMPTE

Ce qui va mal aller va mal aller
Ce qui va bien aller va bien aller
En fin de compte
Tout cela tourne autour de l’amour
La vue de ton sourire remplit mon cœur de lumière

Il y a des jours où règne l’ennui
D’autres quand tu souhaites qu’il en soit ainsi
En fin de compte
Tout cela tourne autour de l’amour
Ou ainsi que s’en aurait l’air dans le grand ici-et-là

Je pourrais naviguer sur ce qu’il reste des sept mers
Je pourrais me baigner avec les ours là où déjà il y avait de la glace
Je pourrais me regarder dans un miroir et me souffler un baiser
Mais la réalité m’appelle et ça revient à cela :

La place que tu occupes dans ma vie
Est l’axe autour duquel tout gravite
En fin de compte
Tout cela tourne autour de l’amour
Le tintement de ton rire est le plus mélodieux des sons

SF, 4 septembre 2022

Traduction français par Marcel Moussette et Jane Macaulay.

Musicians:
Bruce Cockburn / Vocal, Acoustic Guitar
Gary Craig / Drums, Percussion
Viktor Krauss / Upright Bass
Shawn Colvin / Guest Vocal
Jenny Scheinman / Violin

Track of the moon on the ocean tonight
     Colin went down to the water
Beckoning path — such a beautiful sight
     Colin went down to the water
Bound for the infinite, finally unbound
Freed in the spirit, a way forward found
Into the current — no slowing down
     Colin went down to the water

Once in a while we lose track of the way
     Colin went down to the water
Forget where the poles are, the plot of the play
     Colin went down to the water
Lifted away, taken out of the fight
Gone to where all of the choices are right
The sea’s a receptacle brimming with light
Colin went down to the water

Oh —
Colin went down to the water
Colin went down to the water

Sparkling horizon can lay your heart bare
     Colin went down to the water
Stare til the glare is the only thing there
     Colin went down to the water
“What’s become of me?” cries the rooster at dawn
Wind in the palms plays a sorrowful song
One singer’s singing and one singer’s gone
     Colin went down to the water

Oh —
Colin went down to the water
Colin went down to the water

21 July 2021 – Maui

COLIN EST DESCENDU JUSQU’À L’EAU

Sillage de la lune sur l’océan ce soir
Colin est descendu jusqu’à l’eau
Sentier qui interpelle – tellement beau à voir
Colin est descendu jusqu’à l’eau
En partance vers l’infini, finalement délivré
Libéré dans son esprit, une voie trouvée vers l’avant
Colin est descendu jusqu’à l’eau

De temps en temps on perd le sens du chemin
Colin est descendu jusqu’à l’eau
Perd le Nord de vu, oublie l’intrigue de la pièce
Colin est descendu jusqu’à l’eau
Emporté, hors de combat
Parti là où tous les choix sont bons
La mer est un réceptacle resplendissant de lumière
Colin est descendu jusqu’à l’eau

Oh –
Colin est descendu jusqu’à l’eau (2)

Un horizon étincelant peut vous dénuder le cœur
Colin est descendu jusqu’à l’eau
Regarde fixement jusqu’à ce qu’il ne reste plus que le reflet
Colin est descendu jusqu’à l’eau
” Qu’est-ce qui m’arrive ” s’écrie le coq à l’aurore
Le vent dans les palmiers joue un chant plein de tristesse
Un chanteur qui chante et un chanteur qui n’est plus là
Colin est descendu jusqu’à l’eau

Oh –
Colin est descendu jusqu’à l’eau

Maui, 21 juillet 2021

Traduction français par Marcel Moussette et Jane Macaulay.

Musicians:
Bruce Cockburn / Vocal, Acoustic Guitar
Gary Craig / Drums, Percussion
Viktor Krauss / Upright Bass
Allison Russell / Harmony
Buddy Miller / Harmonies
Colin Linden / Electric Guitar, Harmony
Jim Hoke / Marimba, Bass Clarinet

Breakers hit heavy on the sands of the strand
Humans land hard on the border
Bank comes down heavy when the mortgage ain’t paid
Cops come down hard on disorder

The moon weighs one hundredth of our island earth
Baby weighs a ton on the eve of its birth
Light as the feet of birds hunting on sod
Love trickles down like honey from God

Honey from God, honey from God
Love trickles down like honey from God

Trade winds come sweeping in off of the sea
Setting the bamboo to clatter and bow
Infinite blue invitation to me
Out of the armor and into the now

Into the now, into the now
Out of the armor and into the now

To all the places where I’ve never been
Some in the distance and some in my skin
I raise a glass like a bright crystal ball
See if I get there at the end of it all

End of it all, end of it all
See if I get there at the end of it all

End of it all, end of it all
See if I get there at the end of it all
Honey from God, honey from God
Love trickles down like honey from God
Into the now, into the now
Out of the armor and into the now.

8 July 2021 – Maui

DANS LE MOMENT PRÉSENT

Les brisants se fracassent sur les sables de la grève
Les humains atterrissent mal à la frontière
Les banques vous tombent dessus quand l’hypothèque n’est pas payée
Les policiers répriment le désordre sans hésiter

La lune pèse un centième de notre île la terre
Le bébé pèse une tonne à la veille de sa naissance
Léger comme les pieds des oiseaux chassant sur le gazon
L’amour s’égoutte pareil à un miel venant de Dieu

Miel venant de Dieu, miel venant de Dieu
L’amour s’égoutte pareil à un miel venant de Dieu
Les vents alizés nous arrivent impétueux du large
Faisant claquer et se courber les bambous
Une infinie invitation de bleu qui m’est faite
Sans mon armure et dans le moment présent

Dans le moment présent, dans le moment présent
Sans mon armure et dans le moment présent

À tous les endroits où je ne suis jamais allé
Certains au loin et certains dans ma peau
Je lève un verre comme une boule de cristal lumineux
Reste à voir si j’y parviens à la fin de tout ça

La fin de tout ça, la fin de tout ça
Reste à voir si j’y parviens à la fin de tout ça

La fin de tout ça, la fin de tout ça
Reste à voir si j’y parviens à la fin de tout ça
Miel venant de Dieu, miel venant de Dieu
L’amour s’égoutte pareil à un miel venant de Dieu
Dans le moment présent et dans le moment présent
Sans mon armure et dans le moment présent

Maui, 8 juillet 2021

Traduction français par Marcel Moussette et Jane Macaulay.

Musicians:
Bruce Cockburn / Vocal, Acoustic Guitar
Gary Craig / Drums, Percussion
Viktor Krauss / Upright Bass
Sarah Jarosz / Mandolin, Harmony
Jeff Taylor / Accordion

Here we are, faced with choice
Shutters and walls or open embrace
Like it or not, the human race
Is us all

History is what it is
Scars we inflict on each other don’t die
But slowly soak into the DNA
Of us all

Us all

I pray we not fear to love
I pray we be free of judgement and shame
Open the vein, let kindness rain
O’er us all

Us all

29 August 2020 – San Francisco

NOUS TOUS

Nous voilà face à un choix
Les volets fermés et les murs ou la chaleureuse accolade
Que tu l’aimes ou non l’espèce humaine
Est nous tous

L’histoire est ce qu’elle est
Les cicatrices que l’on s’inflige les uns aux autres ne meurent pas
Mais s’imbibent lentement dans l’ADN
De nous tous

Nous tous
Nous tous

Je prie pour que nous n’ayons pas peur d’aimer
Je prie pour que nous soyons libres de jugement et de honte
Ouvre la veine, laisse la bienveillance pleuvoir/ régner
Sur nous tous

Nous tous
Nous tous

SF, 29 avril 2020

Traduction français par Marcel Moussette et Jane Macaulay

Musicians:
Bruce Cockburn / Vocal, Resonator Guitar
Gary Craig / Glockenspiel
Viktor Krauss / Bowed Bass
Jenny Scheinman / Violins

Haze hangs over hills
Bright in the morning breeze
It’s warm in the endless sunshine
Not so good to breathe

Smoke of a thousand fires
Filling up the sky
All around the great wide world —
Forecast: warm and dry

The hills of California
Romania and France
Algeria, Australia,
Siberia’s expanse

The countryside of Greece and Spain,
The Amazon the same —
From the tundra to the tropics
Our world’s gone up in flames

Hey hey hey
Hey hey hey

Even up north in Iqaluit
Where there’s not a tree for miles
Fire shoots out the kitchen tap
Apocalyptic style

Waters rise, grassland dries
Mother Earth, she weeps
Willful ignorance and greed
Prevail while reason sleeps

There are people who live to believe
In the good we all can make
There are people who live to believe
In how much they can take

Ashes and mudslides all around —
Is this any way to go?
Got to think past your bank account
To keep the world we know

Hey hey hey takvatuak silarjuak …… ……
Hey hey hey tamnatuummat silarjuak ……. ……
Hey hey hey unatuummat silarjuak …… ……
Hey hey hey taamnatuummat silarjuak ……. ……

There’s a drive to live at the heart of things
Gotta sink a pipe into that spring
And let it water everything
To keep the world we know
To keep the world we know
To keep the world we know

21 December 2021 – San Francisco

Bruce’s translation of Aglukark’s chorus:

This is one world, one chance
It’s the only world we have
Here it is. This is it – one world
It’s the only world we have

POUR CONSERVER LE MONDE QUE NOUS CONNAISSONS
(Aglukark/Cockburn)

Petite brume sur les collines
Brillante dans la brise matinale
Il fait chaud dans ce soleil sans fin
Pas tellement bon à respirer

La fumée de milliers de feux
Qui remplit le ciel
Tout autour du monde vaste et grand
Prédictions : beau et sec

Les collines de la Californie
Roumanie et France
Algérie, Australie
Sibérie à sa grandeur

La campagne de la Grèce et de l’Espagne
De même pour l’Amazone __
De la toundra aux tropiques
Notre monde s’envole en flammes

Hé hé hé

Même en haut au Nord à Iqualuit
Où il n’y a pas d’arbres pendant des milles
Le feu jaillit par le robinet de la cuisine
Apocalyptiquement

Les eaux montent, les prairies se dessèchent
La Terre-Mère, elle pleure
L’ignorance et la cupidité voulues
Dominent pendant que la raison sommeille

Il y a des gens qui vivent pour croire
Dans le bien que nous pouvons tous faire
Il y a des gens qui vivent pour croire
Dans combien ils peuvent soutirer

Cendres et glissements de terrains partout
Est-ce une façon de s’en aller
Il faut penser plus loin que le compte en banque
Pour conserver le monde que nous connaissons

Hey hey hey takvatuak silarjuak
Hey hey hey tamnatuummat silarjuak
Hey hey hey unatuummat silarjuak
Hey hey hey taamnatuummat silarjuak

Il existe un désir de vivre au cœur des choses
Tu dois planter un tuyau dans cette source
Et la laisser tout irriguer
Pour conserver le monde que nous connaissons

SF, 21 décembre 2021

Traduction français par Marcel Moussette et Jane Macaulay.

Musicians:
Bruce Cockburn / Vocal, Dulcimer
Gary Craig / Drums, Percussion
Viktor Krauss / Upright Bass
Susan Aglukark / Harmonies
Sarah Jarosz / Mandolin, Harmony
Colin Linden / 12 String Guitar, Electric Guitar, Harmon

Outside full moon straight overhead
It’s moon high noon — I’m not in my bed
There’s a large human being at the back of the bar
Pulling visceral sounds from a no-name guitar

In the flickering murk he might be tricky to see
Planted on a bench like the trunk of a tree
A densification of darkened air
Solid but you wonder if he’s actually there

Who is it plays like that
Who is it plays like that
Freight rolling down the track
Got a double chin all the way round his neck
And a pot belly in the back

Sweat running into a size 30 collar
It’s not Minnesota Fats or Domino or Waller
Or Arbuckle or anybody painted by Botero
Sign says TONITE: KING OF THE BOLERO

But who is it plays like that
But who is it plays like that
Freight rolling down the track
Got a double chin all the way round his neck
And a pot belly in the back

His baby was bad. Took all he had.
She left him a mule to ride
He never caught on til she was long gone
Now humiliation wrestles with pride
He’s wide, he’s tall, he’s a cannonball
Makes his big archtop axe look small
The tone is a crunch — packs a Joe Louis punch
Pokes at the heart like a saddlemaker’s awl

Who is it plays like that
Who is it plays like that
Freight rolling down the track
Got a double chin all the way round his neck
And a pot belly in the back

Outside full moon straight overhead
It’s moon high noon — I’m not in my bed…

17 July 2021 – Maui

LE ROI DU BOLÉRO

Pleine lune dehors droit au-dessus de la tête
C’est le midi de la lune – je ne suis pas dans mon lit
Il y a un gros être humain à l’arrière du bar
Tirant des sons viscéraux d’une guitare générique

Dans l’obscurité tremblotante il peut être difficile à voir
Planté sur un banc comme un tronc d’arbre
Une densification d’air obscurci
Massif mais on se demande s’il est actuellement là

Qui est-ce qui joue comme ça
Qui est-ce qui joue comme ça
Un convoi de marchandises déboulant la voie ferrée
Avec un double-menton autour du cou
Et pansu du derrière

La sueur coulant dans son collet de grandeur 30
Ce n’est pas les Minnesota Fats ou Domino ou Waller
Ou Arbuckle ou qui que ce soit peint par Botero
L’affiche dit CE SOIR : LE ROI DU BOLÉRO

Mais qui est-ce qui joue comme ça
Mais qui est-ce qui joue comme ça
Un convoi de marchandises déboulant la voie ferrée
Avec un double menton tout autour du cou
Et pansu du derrière

Sa meilleure était mauvaise. Elle prit tous ses avoirs
Elle le laissa Gros Jean comme devant
Il n’a jamais compris jusqu’après qu’elle fut partie pour de bon
Maintenant l’humiliation lutte avec l’orgueil
Il est large il est grand il est un boulet de canon
Il fait paraître petite la grosse archtop
Le ton est écrasant – renferme un coup de poing à la Joe Louis
Farfouille le cœur comme l’alêne d’un sellier

Qui est-ce qui joue comme ça
Qui est-ce qui joue comme ça
Un convoi de marchandises déboulant la voie ferrée
Avec un double menton tout autour du cou
Et pansu du derrière

Pleine lune dehors droit au-dessus de la tête
C’est le midi de la lune – Je ne suis pas dans mon lit

Maui, 17 juillet 2021

Traduction français par Marcel Moussette et Jane Macaulay.

Musicians:
Bruce Cockburn / Vocal, Resonator Guitar
Gary Craig / Percussion
Viktor Krauss / Upright Bass
Jim Hoke / Marimba, Saxophones, Clarinet
Jeff Taylor / Accordion
Chris Brown / Drums

Manhatten or Dakar
Makes no difference where you are
It doesn’t matter, what you think
Or if you smoke or if you drink
You’re a thread upon the loom
When the spirit walks in the room

You could be naked, could be armed
Could be charming, could be charmed
You could be open, could be closed
Be one of us or one of those
You’re a thread upon the loom
When the spirit walks in the room

On the march or on the run
it matters not what you have done
Nor what you’ll do, nor what you’ll say
We play the role we’re made to play
We’re but threads upon the loom
When the spirit walks in the room

It can appear at any hour
When it comes, it comes in power
You may not walk, you may not see
But you’ll become what you can be
You’re a thread upon the loom
When the spirit walks in the room

We’re but threads upon the loom
When the spirit walks in the room

31 January 2022. San Francisco

QUAND L’ESPRIT VIENT DANS LA PIÈCE

Manhattan ou Dakar
Ne fait aucune différence où tu es
Ce que tu penses ne fait rien
Ou si tu fumes ou si tu bois
Tu es un fil sur le métier à tisser
Quand l’esprit vient dans la pièce

Tu peux être nu, peux être armé
Peux être charmant, peux être charmé
Peux être ouvert, peux être fermé
Être l’un de nous ou un de ceux-là
Tu es un fil sur le métier à tisser
Quand l’esprit vient dans la pièce

En marche ou en fuite
Ce que tu as fait ne fait rien
Ni ce que tu vas faire, ni ce que tu vas dire
Nous jouons le rôle pour lequel nous sommes faits
Nous ne sommes que des fils sur le métier à tisser
Quand l’esprit vient dans la pièce

Ça peut arriver à n’importe quelle heure
Quand il vient, il vient en puissance
Tu pourrais ne pas marcher, tu pourrais ne pas voir
Mais tu vas devenir ce que tu peux être
Tu es un fil sur le métier à tisser
Quand l’esprit vient dans la pièce

SF, 31 janvier 2022

Traduction français par Marcel Moussette et Jane Macaulay.

Musicians:
Bruce Cockburn / Vocal, Acoustic Guitar
Jenny Scheinman / Violin
Janice Powers / B3 Organ

Instrumental

3 April 2021 – San Francisco

Musicians:
Bruce Cockburn / Vocal, Acoustic Guitar
Gary Craig / Drums, Percussion
Viktor Krauss / Upright Bass
Ann & Regina McCrary / Vocals
Jim Hoke / Marimba, Clarinet, Saxophones

A dream — pregnant with portent
A wall with gates of bronze
A being standing sentry
Androgynous and strong

I ask if I may pass through
Having stumbled all this way
The angel steps aside
The mighty gate swings wide

A libation for the journey
Jar of blood poured on the soil
You don’t need it any more
Once you’ve slipped that mortal coil…

O sun by day o moon by night
Light my way so I get this right
And if that sun and moon don’t shine,
Heaven guide these feet of mine
To Glory

The road goes rolling onward
Over hills and over plains
Through the light and through the shadow
Through longing and through pain

Pain brings understanding
Your mistakes will set you free
To sink into the spirit
To clear your eyes to see

O sun by day o moon by night
Light my way so I get this right
And if that sun and moon don’t shine
Heaven guide these feet of mine
To Glory

3 April 2021 – San Francisco

O LE SOLEIL LE JOUR O LA LUNE LA NUIT

Un rêve – plein de présages
Un mur avec des portes de bronze
Un être faisant la garde debout
Androgyne et fort

Je demande si je peux passer
Ayant trébuché tout au long du chemin
L’ange se retire de côté
La puissante porte s’ouvre toute grande

Une libation pour le voyage
Cruche de sang versé sur le sol
Tu n’en as plus besoin
Une fois que tu as laissé aller cette enveloppe mortelle…

O le soleil le jour O la lune la nuit
Éclaire mon chemin pour que je fasse cela comme il faut
Et si ce soleil et cette lune ne brillent pas
Que le ciel guide ces pieds qui sont les miens
Vers la gloire

La route se fait tortueuse en avant
Par les collines et par les plaines
À travers la lumière et à travers la pénombre
À travers le désir et à travers la douleur

La douleur mène à la compréhension
Tes erreurs vont te libérer
Pour t’enfoncer dans l’esprit
Pour éclaircir tes yeux afin de voir

O le soleil le jour O la lune la nuit
Éclaire mon chemin pour que je fasse cela comme il faut
Et si ce soleil et cette lune ne brillent pas
Que le ciel guide ces pieds qui sont les miensv Vers la gloire

San Francisco, 3 avril 2021

Traduction français par Marcel Moussette et Jane Macaulay.

Musicians:
Bruce Cockburn / Vocal, Acoustic Guitar
Gary Craig / Drums, Percussion
Viktor Krauss / Upright Bass
Ann & Regina McCrary / Vocals
Jim Hoke / Marimba, Clarinet, Saxophones

Breakfast was Mahler and coffee
Dinner’s Lightnin’ Hopkins and rye
Everything you say comes back to bite you
These days only beauty makes you cry

The chapel is closed for the COVID
Black mold owns the city by the sea
Dew-beaded cobweb in the moonlight –
Halo for a saint who’s yet to be

And the dead shall sing
To the living and the semi-alive
Bells will ring
When you arrive

You’re limping like a three-legged canine
Backbone creaking like a cheap shoe
Dragging the accretions of a lifetime
But you oughta make another mile or two…

And the dead shall sing
To the living and the semi-alive
Bells will ring when you arrive

27 July 2020 – San Francisco

QUAND TU ARRIVERAS

Le déjeuner consistait en du Mahler et du café
Le diner en du Lightnin Hopkins et du rye
Tout ce que tu dis revient pour te mordre
Ces jours-ci, seulement la beauté te fait pleurer

La chapelle est fermée à cause de la Covid
Une moisissure noire conquiert la ville en bordure de la mer
Fils d’araignées perlés de rosée au clair de lune
Auréole pour un saint en devenir

Les morts chanteront
Pour les vivants et les demi-vivants
Les cloches sonneront
Quand tu arriveras

Tu boites comme un chien à-trois -pattes
L’épine dorsale qui craque comme un soulier bon marché
Trainant les dépôts de toute une vie
Mais tu devrais être capable de faire encore un mille ou deux

Les morts chanteront
Pour les vivants et les demi-vivants
Les cloches sonneront quand tu arriveras

SF, 27 juillet 2020

Traduction français par Marcel Moussette et Jane Macaulay.

Musicians:
Bruce Cockburn / Vocal, Resonator Guitar
Gary Craig / Drums, Percussion
Viktor Krauss / Upright Bass
Jim Hoke / Clarinet, Saxophones
Chris Brown / Drums
Shawn Colvin, Allison Russell, Buddy Miller,
Sarah Jarosz, Ann & Regina McCrary / Vocals

VINYL

Accept the gift of circumstance
No more careful stepping plans
Everything holds out its hand
Gonna hold you up and love you
Gonna hold you up and love you
Waterwalker

Water under, sky above
Creation as metaphor for love
Shed resistance like a worn out glove
Gonna hold you up and love you
Gonna hold you up and love you
Waterwalker

Got no power, got no fear
Anyone can do it can’t you hear
River crying loud and clear
Gonna hold you up and love you
Gonna hold you up and love you
Waterwalker

circa 1985

Musicians:
Hugh Marsh: Violin, Drum Programming
Bruce Cockburn: Guitar, Drum Programming, Vocal

Also on: Rumours Of Glory box set & Rarities

In the circle of your arms
I could have set the sun in silver
And made for you a ring so fine
If we had grown together, babe
We might have made it to the sea-shore
And left this muddy river far behind
Ah, but I couldn’t find the key
That would unlock these chains of mine
And my songs were not complete enough to sing
I could only feel your music one line at a time
And there’s no chance for a bird without wings

If only I had read
The meaning that your eyes held
As they shone like diamonds burning in the dawn
But the raindrops in my own
Changed the colour of the sky
And I just sat and helplessly looked on
So I’ll go on worshipping my world of faded dreams
Though the church bells are of lead and will not ring
And to those who try to tell themselves I’m more than what I seem
I say, What good is a bird without wings?

released 1968
“Christopher’s Movie Matinee” by 3’s A Crowd, released in 1968. Although Bruce Cockburn wrote this song he was not with the group at the time of its recording.

Musicians:
Guitar, Vocal: Bruce Cockburn

Also on: Rumours Of Glory box set & Rarities

Mmm
Mmm hmm
Mmm
La da da da
Da da da da

There was a grinning moon
There was the clash of blades
There was a chemical stench
Blowing up the hill

There was the ghost of a porch light
There was blood on the glass
There was a hole in the eye
Where the light was spilled

Mmm
Mmm hmm
Mmm
La da da da
Da da da da

There were hanging stars
There were dark shapes running
The ashes of the dead
Went floating past the mill

There was an empty road
There was a long chance
There was a far-off trumpet
When the wind was still

Mmm
Mmm hmm Mmm da da
La da da da
Da da da da

Halton Hills, ON – August 1995

Musicians:
Bruce Cockburn: Guitar, Vocal

Also on: Rumours Of Glory box set & Rarities

In the isle of Cape Breton my father did stay
And his father’s father before
Fishing the banks and digging for coal
From the mines that don’t give no more ore

And I’m goin’ down the road, boys
Seeking what I’m owed, boys
And I know it must get better
If far enough I go

I remember the fishing boats returning so gay
Their nets with the silver cod blessed
But they couldn’t compete with the company fleets
Now it’s welfare, relief, or go west

So I’m goin’ down the road, boys
Seeking what I’m owed, boys
And I know it must get better
If far enough I go

I came to the city with the sun in my eyes
My mouth full of laughter and dreams
But all that I found was concrete and dust
And hard times sold in vending machines

So I’m goin’ down the road, boys
Seeking what I’m owed, boys
And I know it must get better
If far enough I go

‘Cause I’m goin’ down the road, boys
Seeking what I’m owed, boys
And I know it must get better
If far enough I go

Musicians:
Bruce Cockburn: Guitar, Vocal

Demo recording by Bruce Cockburn, previously unreleased.
Originally appeared on the soundtrack of the 1970 film Goin’ Down The Road, directed by Donald Shebib.

Also on: Rumours Of Glory box set & Rarities



Liner Notes:
Produced by Colin Linden
Recorded by Mike Stankiewicz And Colin Linden
Mixed by Colin Linden
Recorded and mixed at Pinhead Recorders, Nashville, TN
Production Assistant Janice Powers
Susan Aglukark recorded at Inception Sound Studios Toronto, by Chad Irschick
Shawn Colvin recorded by Jacob Sciba at Arlyn Studios, Austin

All songs written by Bruce Cockburn published by Holy Drone LLC (SOCAN)
except To Keep The World We Know which was written by Bruce Cockburn and Susan Aglukark
and published by Holy Drone LLC and Nipi Music (SOCAN)
Album photography by Daniel Keebler
Graphic design by Antoine Moonen
Mastered by Greg Calbi, Sterling Sound, Edgewater, New Jersey

2023 Linus Entertainment Inc. Marketed by True North Records. Made In Canada.
All rights reserved. This project is funded in part by FACTOR, the Government of Canada
and Canada’s private radio broadcasters. Ce projet est financé en partie par FACTOR, le
gouvernement du Canada et les radiodiffuseurs privés du Canada.
truenorthrecords.com
brucecockburn.com

TND811

Vinyl: O Sun O Moon
(180 Gram Vinyl, Bonus Tracks, Black, Gatefold LP Jacket)
Artist: Bruce Cockburn
Format: LP Release Date: 5/12/2023
LABEL: True North
NUMBER OF DISCS: 2
UPC: 620638081174
GENRE: Folk
RELEASE DATE: 5/12/2023

Vous pouvez trouver les paroles français de ces chansons sur mon site-web brucecockburn.com
Direction: Bernie Finkelstein / bernie@finkelsteinmanagement.com
Sarah Jarosz appears courtesy of Rounder Records
Allison Russell appears courtesy of Fantasy Records

Thanks are due for inspiration, influence, support, etc. to:
God, MJ and Iona, Bernie, Jeff Garner and Deborah Azzolini,
Jenn Cockburn and Patrick Levenson, Mark Yahiro,
Marc Bregman, Colin L and Janice P, Gary C…
and John Dymond for the martinis

Traduction français par Marcel Moussette et Jane Macaulay.


Bruce Cockburn – Bio

O Sun O Moon

“Time takes its toll, but in my soul I’m on a roll,” Bruce Cockburn sings on his latest studio album, O Sun O Moon. Smart and catchy, it’s the kind of memorable line—like “gotta kick at the darkness ’til it bleeds daylight” from his classic song “Lovers in a Dangerous Time”—the world has become used to hearing from Cockburn.

An inspired poet and exceptional guitarist, the award-winning artist has spent his entire career kicking at the darkness with songs that tackle topics from politics and human rights to the environment and spirituality. And he’s not letting up. While other singer-songwriters his age are slowing down, Cockburn, on the eve of his 78 th birthday, has released a dozen new compositions as powerful as any he’s written. You could even say his songwriting is on a roll as well.

Exquisitely recorded in Nashville with his longtime producer, Colin Linden, O Sun O Moon exudes a newfound simplicity and clarity, as Cockburn focuses on more spiritual than topical concerns this time around, looking back and taking stock. “I think it’s a product of age to a certain extent,” he explains, “and seeing the approaching horizon.” Then, lightening the tone, he adds with a laugh: “I think these are exactly the kind of songs that an old guy writes.”

Old or not, Cockburn exhibits a palpable urgency on the opening “On a Roll,” playing a driving resonator guitar with all the vigor of his veteran blues heroes. Similarly “To Keep the World We Know,” one of the album’s few explicitly topical numbers, bristles with Cockburn’s buzzing dulcimer as he and Inuk music star Susan Aglukark, with whom he co-wrote the song, sing about the growing threat of global warming.

Still, most of the songs strike gentler tones, from the jazz sway of “Push Come to Shove” and the folky drone of “Into the Now” to the string-laden “Us All” and the hymn-like “Colin Went Down to the Water.” The latter, one of several songs Cockburn wrote while on a month-long holiday with family on the Hawaiian island of Maui, describes the drowning of a friend. “It’s not about Colin Linden,” Cockburn is quick to point out, “but someone I knew from San Francisco who’d
moved to Maui. It was tragic and quite surreal because I got a voicemail message from him when I was in Maui, saying ‘Welcome to paradise,’ and then found out afterward that he’d died.”

Speaking of surreal, another song written while in Maui, the whimsical “King of the Bolero,” is unlike anything else on the album. Over a woozy clarinet and drunken, New Orleans-style horns, Cockburn paints a cartoon portrait of an oversized barroom musician “with a double chin all the way round his neck and a pot belly in the back.” Is it a dream or a figment of his imagination? In a gravelly voice, Cockburn leaves us guessing as he sings “it’s moon high noon—I’m not in my
Bed.”

“The people I was with in Maui were quite perplexed when they heard that song,” muses Cockburn. “After hearing the other things I’d written there, they wondered ‘where did that come from?’ It really came from out of the blue. I remembered when I was in high school one of my friends made a crack about an old blues singer who used to come through who he said had a double chin in the back. It was a funny thing to hear at the time and it stayed with me. I didn’t want to make it specifically about a black blues guy, so I mention Minnesota Fats and Fatty
Arbuckle as well as Fats Domino and Fats Waller.”

As with so many Cockburn albums, the musicianship on O Sun O Moon is superb. Along with usual suspects Linden on guitar, Janice Powers on keyboards and Gary Craig on drums, the album features bassist Viktor Krauss, drummer Chris Brown, accordionist Jeff Taylor, violinist Jenny Scheinman and multi-instrumentalist Jim Hoke. And Cockburn’s guest vocalists include Shawn Colvin, Buddy Miller as well as mellifluous singers Allison Russell, Sarah Jarosz and Ann and Regina McCrary, daughters of gospel great Rev. Samuel McCrary, one of the founders of the Fairfield Four. The McCrary sisters shine brightest on the title track, whose full name is “O Sun By Day O Moon By Night.” They sing the euphoric chorus of the song which relates, during spoken verses, a dream Cockburn had in which he makes the journey to heaven. “In the dream, which was really powerful,” says Cockburn, “I see myself silhouetted on a ridge with this jar of blood pouring it on the soil. It wasn’t scary or disturbing at all.” Cockburn adds that he wrote the line “and if that sun and moon don’t shine” in the spirit of songs from the folk ballad “Mockingbird” to the blues number “Bo Diddley.”

The album’s jazzy closer, “When You Arrive,” finds Cockburn confessing to feeling his age when he sings “You’re limping like a three-legged canine, backbone creaking like a cheap shoe.” But it’s clearly a song of acceptance, about eventually slipping one’s mortal coil, as he’s joined on the chorus by all of his guest vocalists, singing “bells will ring when you arrive.”

O Sun O Moon includes just one song without vocals, “Haiku,” a four-minute showcase of Cockburn’s fleet-fingered guitar work, where his previous studio recording, 2019’s Crowing Ignites, was a collection of all instrumental numbers. In between those albums, Cockburn, the Order of Canada recipient, 13-time Juno Award winner and Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductee released a 50th anniversary box set, greatest hits package and rarities collection.

Never one to rest on his laurels—even when, as he notes, “time takes its toll,” Cockburn keeps finding and conquering new challenges, never repeating himself in the process. “I just don’t want to ever keep doing the same thing,” he says. “I’m grateful that I can keep on doing anything at this point,” he adds. “My body doesn’t hold up and perform the way it once did.”

That may be so. But the legendary musician has just made his 38 th studio album. And it may stand as one of his best of his long and storied career.

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