RELEASE DATE: September 20, 2019
PURCHASE: True North |
itunes | Amazon
Instrumental
Musicians:
Bruce Cockburn – guitar
Bo Carper – shakers
Janice Powers – keyboards
Instrumental
Composed: Easter Sunday 2018 (22 April 2018)
Musicians:
Bruce Cockburn – guitar
Composed: MLK Day 2019 (January 21, 2019)
Instrumental
Musicians:
Bruce Cockburn – guitar, chimes
Review:
Bruce Cockburn, a Canadian treasure, writes such thoughtful, pointed songs that it’s easy to overlook what a guitar virtuoso he is until he releases an instrumental album like “Crowing Ignites,” arriving on Friday. He wrote “April in Memphis” on Martin Luther King Day and it’s mostly solo except for the appearance of tolling chimes. The video sometimes displays King’s writings, while the music is a folky, elegiac rumination: fingerpicking, meditating, letting quiet chords resonate, drifting in and out of the blues, letting lone melodies keen in a private memorial. ~ from the The New York Times – Jon Pareles
Instrumental
Musicians:
Bruce Cockburn – guitar
Colin Linden – dobro
Bo Carper – shakers
Constructed at the Firehouse – San Francisco – March 17 through 23, 2019
Instrumental
Musicians:
Bruce Cockburn – 12-string guitar, kalimba, sansula, charango, dulcimer, chimes, little-ass bells
Colin Linden – baritone guitar
composed circa 2016
Instrumental
Musicians:
Bruce Cockburn – guitar
Ron Miles – cornet
Roberto Occhipinti – bass
Gary Craig – drums
Instrumental
Musicians:
Bruce Cockburn – guitar
Instrumental
Musicians:
Bruce Cockburn – guitar
circa July 2018
Instrumental
Musicians:
Bruce Cockburn – guitar, drum
Colin Linden – mandolin
Bruce Cockburn, Colin Linden, Janice Powers, Daniel Keebler, Celia Shacklett, Iona Cockburn – handclaps
Instrumental
Musicians:
Bruce Cockburn – guitar, dulcimer
Janice Powers – keyboards
Born in the Firehouse – San Francisco – March 17 through 23, 2019
Instrumental
Musicians:
Bruce Cockburn – baritone guitar, singing bowls, Tibetan cymbals, gong, chimes
Liner Notes:
Produced, recorded and mixed by Colin Linden
Production assistance: Janice Powers
All compositions by Bruce Cockburn and Published by Holy Drone Corp. (SOCAN) © Holy Drone Corp.
Bardo Rush: bc guitar; Bo Carper shakers; Janice Powers keyboards
Easter: bc guitar. Conceived Easter Sunday 2018
April In Memphis: bc guitar, chimes. Composed MLK Day 2019
Blind Willie: bc guitar; Colin Linden dobro; Bo Carper shakers. Named for Blind Willie Johnson
Seven Daggers: bc 12-string, kalimba, sansula, charango, dulcimer, chimes, little-ass bells; Colin Linden baritone guitar. Constructed at the Firehouse. Nearby is a chapel maintained by the Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, in which there is a statue of Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows, which gave the piece its title
The Mt Lefroy Waltz: bc guitar; Ron Miles cornet; Roberto Occhipinti bass; Gary Craig drums. Linda Manzer requested that I write something to go with the “Lawren Harris” guitar she built for her Group of Seven guitar project. This is it.
Sweetness And Light: bc guitar. A gift…there was nothing else to call this
Angels In The Half Light: bc guitar. In a dream, angels were girding me for battle against some sweeping darkness. They wanted to be honoured.
The Groan: bc guitar, drum; Colin Linden mandolin; bc, Colin, Janice Powers, Daniel Keebler, Celia Shacklett, Iona Cockburn handclaps. Les Stroud asked me to compose a score for his documentary La Loche. The first idea that came was this. We didn’t use it in the film, but it seemed to have its own life.
Pibroch: The Wind In The Valley: bc guitar, dulcimer; Janice Powers keyboards. Pibroch is the trance-inducing classical bagpipe music of Scotland. Whenever I hear it, somewhere deep in my being I’m on some rocky, windswept headland, sipping whisky from a scallop shell
Bells Of Gethsemane: bc baritone guitar, singing bowls, Tibetan cymbals, gong, chimes. Born in the Firehouse. Dark anticipation in a dark garden. Dawn looms, humming with trauma, pain and ecstasy
Recorded at the Firehouse, San Francisco, March 17 through 23, 2019.
Mixed at Pinhead Recorders, Nashville, April 14 through 18, 2019.
Mastered by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound, Nashville, April 19, 2019
Album photography by Daniel Keebler
Art Direction design & layout by A Man Called Wrycraft www.wrycraft.com
Direction: Bernie Finkelstein bernie@finkelsteinmanagement.com
Thanks go out to Anne Germanacos, Colin and Janice, Boucher guitars, Linda Manzer, Les Stroud, Geoff Kulawick, Bernie Finkelstein, Daniel Keebler, Michael Wrycraft, Mike Stankiewicz, Celia Shacklett,
MJ and Iona,
and, above all, the Boundless
Bruce on the web: www.brucecockburn.com
Released 20 September 2019.
Album Note:
In the murky depths of time gone by, back when the Cockburn clan had chiefs, a chief of the Cockburn clan came up with the motto which adorns the family crest: Accendit Cantu. It’s Latin, and has been rendered in English as “Music excites” and “He arouses us by crowing”, among other variations. Having a hazy recollection of high school Latin classes, those seemed to me to be worthy approximations, but not exactly translations. When I looked up the original words, the phrase came out “Crowing Ignites”. Energetic. Blunt. Scottish as can be…
The catalogue #TND737
Bruce Cockburn – Crowing Ignites
Already, The New York Times had credited Cockburn with having “the hardest-working right thumb in show business,” adding that he “materializes chords and modal filigrees while his thumb provides the music’s pulse and its foundation—at once a deep Celtic drone and the throb of a vigilant conscience.” Acoustic Guitar magazine was similarly laudatory in citing Cockburn’s guitar prowess, placing him in the prestigious company of legends like Andrés Segovia. Bill Frisell, Django Reinhardt and Mississippi John Hurt.
Now, with the intriguingly titled Crowing Ignites, Cockburn has released another dazzling instrumental album that will further cement his reputation as both an exceptional composer and a picker with few peers. Unlike Speechless, which included mostly previously recorded tracks, the latest album—Cockburn’s 34th—features 11 brand new compositions. Although there’s not a single word spoken or sung, it’s as eloquent and expressive as any of the Canadian Hall of Famer’s lyric-laden albums. As his long-time producer, Colin Linden, puts it: “It’s amazing how much Bruce can say without saying anything.”
The album’s title is a literal translation of the Latin motto “Accendit Cantu” featured on the Cockburn family crest. Although a little puzzling, Cockburn liked the feeling it conveyed: “Energetic, blunt, Scottish as can be.” The album’s other nod to Cockburn’s Scottish heritage is heard on “Pibroch: The Wind in the Valley,” in which his guitar’s droning bass strings and melodic grace notes sound eerily like a Highland bagpipe. “I’ve always loved pibroch, or classic bagpipe music,” says Cockburn. “It seems to be in my blood. Makes me want to sip whisky out of a sea shell on some rocky headland!”
While Cockburn reconnecting with his Gaelic roots is one of Crowing Ignites’ more surprising elements, there’s plenty else that will delight followers of his adventurous pursuits. Says Linden, who’s been a fan of Cockburn’s for 49 years, has produced 10 of his albums and played on the two before that: “Bruce is always trying new things, and I continue to be fascinated by where he goes musically.”
The album is rich in styles from folk and blues to jazz, all genres Cockburn has previously explored. But there are also deepening excursions into what might be called free-form world music. The hypnotic, kalimba-laden “Seven Daggers” and the trance-inducing “Bells of Gethsemane,” full of Tibetan cymbals, chimes and singing bowls, are highly atmospheric dreamscapes that showcase Cockburn’s world of wonders—and his improvisational gifts on both 12-string and baritone guitars. Each track was wholly created in the makeshift studio he and Linden put together in a converted fire station in Cockburn’s San Francisco neighbourhood.
Singing bowls, Cockburn explains, are an endless source of fascination to him, dating back to a trip he took to Kathmandu, as seen in the documentary Return to Nepal. There, Cockburn stumbled on a man selling the small inverted bells sometimes used in Buddhist religious practices and became instantly captivated by their vibrational power. “I had no particular attraction to them as meditation tools or anything,” says Cockburn. “I just thought they had a beautiful sound.” After buying half a dozen in Kathmandu and more since, he now has a sizeable collection.
Two tracks on Crowing Ignites had their origins elsewhere. “The Groan,” a bluesy piece with guitar, mandolin and some collective handclapping from a group that includes Cockburn’s seven-year-old daughter, Iona, was something Cockburn composed for a Les Stroud documentary about the aftermath of a school shooting and the healing power of nature. And Cockburn wrote the jazz-tinged “The Mt. Lefroy Waltz” for the Group of Seven Guitar Project on an instrument inspired by artist Lawren Harris and custom-made by luthier Linda Manzer. It was originally recorded, with cornet player Ron Miles, bassist Roberto Occhipinti and drummer Gary Craig, for Cockburn’s 2017 album Bone on Bone, but not released until now.
Cockburn doesn’t set out with any particular agenda when composing an instrumental. “It’s more about coming up with an interesting piece,” he says. “Who knows what triggers it—the mood of the day or a dream from the night before. Often the pieces are the result of sitting practicing or fooling around on the guitar. When I find something I like, I work it into a full piece.”
“Bardo Rush,” with its urgent, driving rhythm, came after one such dream, while the contemplative “Easter” and the mournful “April in Memphis” were composed on Easter Sunday and Martin Luther Day respectively. “Blind Willie,” named for one of Cockburn’s blues heroes, Blind Willie Johnson, features a fiery guitar and dobro exchange with Linden (Cockburn has previously recorded Johnson’s “Soul of a Man” on Nothing But a Burning Light). And the idea for the sprightly “Sweetness and Light,” featuring some of Cockburn’s best fingerpicking, developed quickly and its title, he says, became immediately obvious.
Meanwhile, “Angels in the Half Light” is steeped in dark and light colors and conveys ominous shades as well as feelings of hopefulness, seemingly touching on both spiritual and political concerns—hallmarks of Cockburn from day one. “It’s hard for me to imagine what people’s response is going to be to these pieces,” he says. “It’s different from songs with lyrics, where you hope listeners will understand, intellectually and emotionally, what you’re trying to convey. With instrumental stuff, that specificity isn’t there and the meaning is up for grabs. But I’m glad if people find a message in the music.”
More than 40 years since he embarked on his singer-songwriter career, Cockburn continues pushing himself to create—and winning accolades in the process. Most recently, the Order of Canada recipient earned a 2018 Juno Award for Contemporary Roots Album of the Year, for Bone on Bone, received a Lifetime Achievement Award from SOCAN, the Peoples’ Voice Award from Folk Alliance International and was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2017. Cockburn, who released his memoir, Rumours of Glory, and its similarly titled companion box set the same year, shows no sign of stopping. As his producer-friend Linden says: “Like the great blues players he admires, Bruce just gets better with age.”
~ True North Records
For further information, contact: publicity@truenorthrecords.com
Bone On Bone
RELEASE DATE: September 15, 2017
PURCHASE: True North Records | itunes |Amazon
ragged-winged hawk swooping down on prey
curtain going up on the night time shadow play.
seen sun going down set the sea on fire
black smoke boiling from burning tires
and bones in the mud — was the blood sacrifice required?
Oo-ee all the sights I’ve seen
in the depth of the world and the heart of a dream
Oo-ee all the places I’ve been
each one reflected in the states I’m in, uh huh
states I’m in
one day fit and one day fat
one day flush and one day flat
reality distorted like a sat-on hat.
one day I feel like I’m in control
the next I’m suspended in a bottomless hole
a drunk trying to shinny up a greased pole
Oo-ee all the sights I’ve seen
in the depth of the world and the heart of a dream
Oo-ee all the places I’ve been
each one reflected in the states I’m in, uh huh
states I’m in
I’m slick as a dealer in a green eyeshade
aces up his sleeve and he’s not afraid
the mayor and his uniformed monkeys have been well paid.
climbing up the ivy to the balcony above
where pines the heart of my one true love
obsession, delusion — all that waits is the fateful shove
Oo-ee all the sights I’ve seen
in the depth of the world and the heart of a dream
Oo-ee all the places I’ve been
each one reflected in the states I’m in, uh huh
states I’m in
crows in the treetops motors in the road
structures of darkness that the dawn corrodes
into the title montage of a new episode.
whisper wells up from the deeps untrod
overflows its channel and spreads abroad
gathers in power like a lightning rod
Oo-ee all the sights I’ve seen
in the depth of the world and the heart of a dream
Oo-ee all the places I’ve been
each one reflected in the states I’m in, uh huh
states I’m in
May 21, 2016 – San Francisco
Musicians:
Bruce Cockburn – Guitars, Percussion and Vocal
John Dymond – Bass
Gary Craig – Drums & Percussion
Colin Linden – Guitars, Mandotar and Harmony
John Whynot – Organ
Brandon Robert Young – Harmony
Also On:
Greatest Hits (1970-2020)
you got dislocation
sirens wailing and the walls come down
you got revelation
you got felt relation
door creaks open and the trumpet sounds
we’re taking a stab at matter
taking a stab at matter
taking a stab at matter
set the spirit free
we’re taking a stab at matter
taking a stab at matter
taking a stab at matter
set the spirit free
you got incantation
you got quantum vibration
temple trembles as the Lord draws nigh
you got transformation
thunder shaking
seal is broken and the spirit flies
we’re taking a stab at matter
taking a stab at matter
taking a stab at matter
set the spirit free
we’re taking a stab at matter
taking a stab at matter
taking a stab at matter
set the spirit free
January 11, 2016 – San Francisco
Musicians:
Bruce Cockburn – Guitar and Vocal
John Dymond – Bass
Gary Craig – Drums & Percussion
John Aaron Cockburn – Accordian
Colin Linden – Slide Guitar
Ruby Amanfu & The San Francisco Lighthouse Chorus – Vocals
projected and reflected on the greatest and the least
forty years of days and nights — angels hovering near
kept me moving forward though the way was far from clear
and they said
take up your load
run south to the road
turn to the setting sun
sun going down
got to cover some ground
before everything comes undone
comes undone
forty years in the wilderness dancing with the flies
dazzled by the visions rolling out before my eyes
angel-made graffiti, demons in disguise
you could trade away your birthright for another day’s supplies
or you could
take up your load
run south to the road
turn to the setting sun
sun going down
got to cover some ground
before everything comes undone
comes undone
rising with the height of land, falling with the crowd
spirits in the scouring wind called my name out loud
said you could go to heaven, you could go to hell
you could hang out in between in the place you know so well
or you could
take up your load
run south to the road
turn to the setting sun
sun going down
got to cover some ground
before everything comes undone
comes undone
June 19, 2016 – Saratoga Springs, CA
Musicians:
Bruce Cockburn – Guitars and Vocal
John Dymond – Bass
Gary Craig – Drums & Percussion
John Aaron Cockburn – Accordian
Mary Gauthier & The San Francisco Lighthouse Chorus – Vocals
goes on about the goings on up and down the street
talk about evictions, talk about the dogs
the drunkards in the dog park and once and future fog
the caliphate of perverts and the flight of refugees
the growing ranks of homeless and the disappearing bees
cafe society — a sip of community
cafe society — misery loves company
hey — it’s a way
to start the day
cafe society talking up a storm
talk about the Nasdaq and the Racing Form
talk about the opera, talk about cars
talk about the desert and the colonies on Mars
talk about tsunamis and the crazies with their guns
and the crazy-ass policemen shooting everything that runs
cafe society — a sip of community
cafe society — misery loves company
hey — it’s a way
to start the day
talk about beauty, talk about disease
the supersize container ships that ply the swelling seas
somebody went to heaven. left some parts in the bay
But he’s a friending of a friending — I don’t know him anyway
flapping lips of flatulence bellow “vote for ME”
everything is spinning in the looming entropy
cafe society — a sip of community
cafe society — misery loves company
hey — it’s a way
to start the day
December 29, 2015 – San Francisco
Musicians:
Bruce Cockburn – Guitar, Harmonica and Vocals
John Dymond – Bass
Gary Craig – Drums
Colin Linden- Vocals
Ron Miles – Coronet
Stand in the swaying boxcar doorway
moving east away from the sunset and
after a while the eyes digest a country and
the belly perceives a mapmaker’s vision
in dust and dirt on the face and hands here
its smell drawn deep through the nostrils down
to the lungs and spurts through the bloodstream
campaigns in the lower intestine and
chants love songs to the kidneys
After a while there is no arrival and
no departure possible any more
you are where you were always going
and the shape of home is under your fingernails..
I’m a product of some parents of the sort that shouldn’t breed
didn’t get much of schooling past learning how to read
got the poetry bug in some forgotten institution
when first I did embark on my career of destitution
the beauty of language set a hook in my soul
me like a breadcrust soaking soup from a bowl
You can call this a rant but I declare I declaim
Al Purdy’s poems are the name of the game
the winds of fate blow where they will
I’ll give you 3 Al Purdy’s for a twenty dollar bill
Pokers in the counting house counting out the bacon
matter’s getting darker in the universe they’re making
they love the little guy until they get a better offer
with the dollar getting smaller they can fit more in their coffers
and the doings on the corner neither sung nor seen
they’re circling the shopping carts at Sherbourne and Queen
I resemble that assembly but I’m not the same
Al Purdy’s poems are the name of my game
the winds of fate blow where they will
I’ll give you 3 Al Purdy’s for a twenty dollar bill
You can spit on the prophet but respect the word
I’ve got some lines I want to spin you that you ought to have heard
the winds of fate blow where they will
I’ll give you 3 Al Purdy’s for a twenty dollar bill
the winds of fate blow where they will
I’ll give you 3 Al Purdy’s for a twenty dollar bill
And after the essence of everything
had exchanged itself for words and became
another being and could even be summoned
from the far distance we chanted a spell of names
and we said “mountain be our friend”
and we said “River guard us from enemies”
And we said what it seemed the gods themselves
might say if we had dreamed them and they
had dreamed us from their high places
and they spoke to us in the forest
from the river and the mountain
and the mouths of the ochre-painted dead
had speech again and the waters
spoke and the speech had words
and our children remembered
December 29, 2015 – San Francisco
Musicians:
Bruce Cockburn – Guitars and Vocal
Scott Amendola – Drums
John Shifflett – Upright bass
Julie Wolf – Accordian
Gary Craig – Fan and Other Percussion
John Dymond – Electric Bass
Ron Miles – Coronet
Produced by Julie Wolf – with additional production by Colin Linden
scanning the skies for a beacon from you
shapes on the curtain, but no clear view
of you
you’re a warm bright window lighting up the rain
I catch a glimpse of the glow but I still remain
outside where the shadows pool and bleed
chimney silhouettes semaphore in a code I cannot read
looking and waiting — it’s what I do
scanning the skies for a beacon from you
shapes on the curtain, but no clear view
of you
you’re like the leaves that come down from the trees
a suggestion of a springtime to be
crunching underfoot outlined in frost
full of promise for the return of something lost
looking and waiting — it’s what I do
scanning the skies for a beacon from you
shapes on the curtain, but no clear viewv of you
looking and waiting — it’s what I do
January 23, 2016 – Toronto
Musicians:
Bruce Cockburn – 12 String Guitar, Mbira and Vocal
John Dymond – Bass
Gary Craig – Drums and Percussion
John Aaron Cockburn – Accordian and Sansula
Colin Linden – Slide Guitar
Brandon Robert Young & The San Francisco Lighthouse Chorus – Vocals
Instrumental
Musicians:
Bruce Cockburn – Guitar and Bones
Mon chemin
Qui sait
ou serait
mon chemin
sinon ici?
chemin de fer
chemin de l’air
chemin de lumière
parfois d’éclairs
de nuit, de jour
toujours ces carrefours
putain de détours
encore je cours
je cours toujours.
Qui sait
ou serait
mon chemin
sinon ici?
de jour, de nuit
le chemin fleuri
fleurs d’esprit
fleurs de folie
on pleure, on rit
on pleure, on rit
le chaos s’élargit
il y a peu d’abri
c’est pas le paradis
ce chemin de ma vie
mais qui sait
ou serait
mon chemin
sinon ici?
(English)
who knows
where my
road would be,
if not here
iron road
road of earth
road of the air
road of light
sometimes lightning
by night by day
always these crossroads
fucking detours
still I’m running
always running
who knows
where my
road would be,
if not here
by day by night
the road blooms
flowers of spirit
flowers of madness
you cry, you laugh
you cry. you laugh
chaos expands
not much shelter…
it’s no paradise
this road of my life
who knows
where my
road would be,
if not here
September 9, 2015 – San Francisco
Musicians:
Bruce Cockburn – Charango, Dulcimer and Vocal
John Dymond – Bass
Gary Craig – Drums and Percussion
John Aaron Cockburn – Accordian and Harmony
Ron Miles – Coronet
where the trees shine
in the unexpected rain
there’s the carcass
of a tanker
in the centre of a stain
and the waves of
dead sea things
slide slick on to the stones
and the flux
thicker than water
from the planet’s pierced bones
in a jeweler’s
armoured window
you can just cast your eyes on
a diamond-crusted
pendant
in the shape of Bart Simpson
through mirrored
cops in armour
and the drift of gas clouds
drones the
size of horseflies
scrutinizing the crowds
and the horsemen
on a high ridge
they wheel and they ride
their work all
done for them
by the turgid black tide
false river, dark flow
how far do we have to go?
torrent tumbles to the sea
this ain’t the way it’s supposed to be
false river
life blood
of the land
consort of our earth
pulse to the
pull of moonrise
can you tally what it’s worth?
we can spend it
till we end it
while the heat climbs up the graph
till we’re panting
like a salmon
with its gill hooked on a gaff
and the dark blood
keeps flowing
like a hemorrhage from the womb
that birthed us
gave us substance
on our own heads be our doom
false river, dark flow
how far do we have to go?
torrent tumbles to the sea
this ain’t the way it’s supposed to be
false river
August 24, 2016 – San Francisco
Musicians:
Bruce Cockburn – Guitar, Harmonica and Vocal
Roberto Occhipinti – Upright Bass
Gary Craig – Drums & Percussion
John Aaron Cockburn – Accordian
Colin Linden – Electric Guitar
Brandon Robert Young & The San Francisco Lighthouse Chorus – Vocals
This song is included in the book Refugium Poems for the Pacific which was compiled by Yvonne Bloomer.
I’m on a Jesus train
I’m on a Jesus train
headed for
headed for
headed for the City of God
standing on the platform
awed by the power
I feel the fire of love
feel the hand upon my shoulder saying “brother climb aboard”
I’m on a Jesus train
I’m on a Jesus train
I’m on a Jesus train
headed for
headed for
headed for the City of God
standing on the platform
locomotive throbbing
I’m drawn to that open door
in the wonder of a child’s heart I’m stepping up the stair
I’m on a Jesus train
I’m on a Jesus train
I’m on a Jesus train
headed for
headed for
headed for the City of God
February 13, 2015 – San Francisco
Musicians:
Bruce Cockburn – 12 String Guitar, Mbira and Vocal
John Dymond – Bass
Gary Craig – Drums and Percussion
John Aaron Cockburn – Accordian and Sansula
Colin Linden – Slide Guitar
Brandon Robert Young & The San Francisco Lighthouse Chorus – Vocals
O — what a beautiful city
O — what a beautiful city God knows
what a beautiful city
twelve gates to the city, hallelu
three gates in the east, three gates in the west
three gates in the north, three gates in the south
which should make twelve gates to the city, hallelu
(Chorus)
city on the hilltop — I’m gonna make it mine
gonna be a citizen of a world of love divine
twelve gates to the city, hallelu
(Chorus)
no matter which tribe you’re born to there’s a way in for you
come from any quarter — you can be a citizen too
’cause there’s twelve gates to the city, hallelu
(Chorus)
June 19, 2016 – Saratoga Springs, CA
Musicians:
Bruce Cockburn – 12 String Guitar and Vocals
John Dymond – Bass
Gary Craig – Drums & Percussion
Ron Miles – Coronet
Ruby Amanfu & The San Francisco Lighthouse Chours – Vocals
Traditional Song with new arrangment and added verses
Liner Notes:
Produced by Colin Linden
* Produced by Julie Wolf – with additional production by Colin Linden
Mixed by John Whynot at Fantasy Studio D, Berkeley, CA – assisted by Robert Kirby & Aiden Nelson
except “3 Al Purdys”, “Looking And Waiting” & “Stab At Matter” mixed by COLIN LINDEN at Pinhead Recorders
Recorded At Prairie Sun Recording Studio, Cotati, CA by Matthew Wright, assisted by Jaycob Bellochio, Ben Bacey and Nate Nauseda
except “3 Al Purdys” recorded at Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, CA by Adam Munoz with additional recording by Julie Wolf,
and ‘False River” & “Jesus Train” recorded at Union Street Studios, Toronto, Canada by Chris Stringer, assisted by Alex Gamble
and ‘Bone On Bone” recorded at Pinhead Recorders, Nashville, TN by Colin Linden
Additional recording at Pinhead Recorders by Colin Linden
Mastered by Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound New York
All Songs are written by Bruce Cockburn and Published by Holy Drone Corp (SOCAN) except:
3 Al Purdys which is written by Bruce Cockburn and Al Purdy and published by Holy Drone Corp and The Al Purdy Estate and
“Twelve Gates To The City” which is traditional with additional verses written by Bruce Cockburn and published by Holy Drone Corp.
Album photography by Daniel Keebler
Cover photo by Bruce Cockburn
Art Direction design & layout by A Man Called Wrycraft www.wrycraft.com
Translation by Marcel Moussette & Jane Macaulay
Direction:
Bernie Finkelstein
The Finkelstein Management Company
bernie@finkelsteinmanagement.com
We acknowledge the financial support of the government of Canada through the Canada Music Fund
The San Francisco Lighthouse “Chorus” is:
Kate Lamont
Amanda Perez
Tamara Silvera
Julie Suan
Jonathon Travis
Juliana Travis
Shanna Travis
Julie Wolf
Andi Woodward
Album Note:
Thanks are due, whether they like it or not, to: Jeff Garner, the Gospel of Mark (Forty Years in the Wilderness); Charlie, Craig, Pam and Pam, Amanda, Philip, Belinda, Fiona, Carl, Sheila and the rest of the morning gang at Peet’s (Cafe Society); Brian Johnson, Julie Wolf, Al Purdy RIP (3 Al Purdys); les Guillaumes…Appollinaire et Chattier (Mon Chemin); Yvonne Blomer, Enbridge et al (False River); SF Lighthouse, Marc Bregman (Jesus Train); Brownie McGee and Sonny Terry, Rev Gary Davis (Twelve Gates to the City); God, MJ, Iona, Bernie Finkelstein, Daniel Keebler, and the United States of America, for welcoming me into its tender embrace.
The catalogue # is TND678 and the UPC is: 620638067826
Bruce Cockburn – Bone on Bone
Few recording artists are as creative and prolific as Bruce Cockburn. Since his self-titled debut in 1970, the Canadian singer-songwriter has issued a steady stream of acclaimed albums every couple of years. But that output suddenly ran dry in 2011 following the release of Small Source of Comfort. There were good reasons for the drought. For one thing, Cockburn became a father again with the birth of his daughter Iona. Then there was the publication of his 2014 memoir Rumours of Glory.
“I didn’t write any songs until after the book was published because all my creative energy had gone into three years of writing it,” Cockburn explains, from his home in San Francisco. “There was simply nothing left to write songs with. As soon as the book was put to bed, I started asking myself whether I was ever going to be a songwriter again.”
Such doubt was new to the man who’s rarely been at a loss for words as he’s distilled political views, spiritual revelations and personal experiences into some of popular music’s most compelling songs. What spurred Cockburn back into songwriting was an invitation to contribute a song to a documentary film about the late, seminal Canadian poet Al Purdy and he was off to the races.
Bone On Bone, Cockburn’s 33rd album, arrives with 11 new songs, including “3 Al Purdys,” a brilliant, six-minute epic that pays tribute to Purdy’s poetry. Cockburn explains its genesis: “I went out and got Purdy’s collected works, which is an incredible book. Then I had this vision of a homeless guy who is obsessed with Purdy’s poetry, and he’s ranting it on the street. The song is written in the voice of that character. The chorus goes, ‘I’ll give you three Al Purdys for a twenty dollar bill.’ Here’s this grey-haired dude, coat tails flapping in the wind, being mistaken for the sort of addled ranters you run into on the street—except he’s not really ranting, he’s reciting Al Purdy. The spoken word parts of the track are excerpts from Purdy’s poems. After that, once the ice was broken, the songs just started coming.”
Cockburn’s rugged fingerpicking style on the Dobro perfectly matches Purdy’s plainspoken words and the grizzled voice of his street character. A similar guitar style can be heard on two of the next songs Cockburn wrote, the gospel-like “Jesus Train,” and “Café Society,” a bluesy number about people who gather at his local coffee shop to sip their java and talk about the state of the world.
There’s a prevalent urgency and anxious tone to much of the album, which Cockburn attributes to living in America during the Trump era. But, more than anything, Bone on Bone amounts to the deepest expression of Cockburn’s spiritual concerns to date. The 12-time Juno winner and Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductee turned away from traditional Christianity in the mid-1970s toward a quest for the more all-inclusive mysticism he documents in his memoir. And it’s that kind of spirituality that figures prominently in “Jesus Train” and “Twelve Gates to the City.” In “Looking and Waiting,” Cockburn sings of “scanning the skies for a beacon” from the divine.
“It’s a song of faith and frustration,” says Cockburn of the latter. “…Tired of looking in from the outside. My MO has always been to be aware of the divine…that dimension…always dealing with being stuck in a kind of observer’s position with respect to all that. I know it’s there. I don’t really see as faith so much as knowledge. Others may have different ideas about those things, but for me, I don’t have to struggle to believe in God, or the notion that God cares what happens to me. But I do have to struggle with being in a conscious, intentional relationship. That underlies a lot of these songs.”
“Forty Years in the Wilderness” ranks alongside “Pacing the Cage” or “All the Diamonds” as one of Cockburn’s most starkly beautiful folk songs. “There have been so many times in my life when an invitation has come from somewhere…the cosmos…the divine…to step out of the familiar into something new. I’ve found it’s best to listen for, and follow these promptings. The song is really about that. You can stay with what you know or you can pack your bag and go where you’re called, even if it seems weird…even if you can’t see why or where you’ll end up.”
“Forty Years in the Wilderness” is one of several songs that feature a number of singers from the church Cockburn frequents, for the sake of convenience referred to in the album credits as the San Francisco Lighthouse “Chorus.” “The music was one of the enticements that drew me to SF Lighthouse. As I found myself becoming one of the regulars there, and got to know the people, I felt that I really wanted all these great singers, who were now becoming friends, to be on the album. They were kind enough to say yes!” Among other songs, they contribute call-and-response vocals to the stirring “Stab at Matter.” Other guests on the album include singer-songwriters Ruby Amanfu, Mary Gauthier, and Brandon Robert Young, along with bassist Roberto Occhipinti, and Julie Wolf, who plays accordion on “3 Al Purdys” and sings with the folks from Lighthouse, together with LA songwriter Tamara Silvera.
Produced by Colin Linden, Cockburn’s longtime collaborator, the album is built around the musicianship of Cockburn on guitar and the core accompaniment of bassist John Dymond and drummer Gary Craig. Also very much part of the sound is the accordion playing of Cockburn’s nephew John Aaron Cockburn and the solos of noted fluegelhorn player Ron Miles (check out his stunning work on the cascading “Mon Chemin,” for example).
Two other songs should be noted. The environmental warning “False River” came about at the invitation of Yvonne Bloomer, the poet laureate of Victoria, British Columbia. Bloomer was seeking a poem about the controversial Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline. “Pipelines have their own perils that we’re all aware of,” says Cockburn, “so I started writing what was meant to be a spoken-word piece with a rhythm to it. But it evolved very quickly into a song.”
“States I’m In,” which opens the album, conjures up feelings of mystery and dread. “It’s literally a ‘dark night of the soul’ kind of song,” Cockburn explains, “as it starts with sunset and ends with dawn. It passes through the night. The song is about illusion and self-delusion, looking at the tricks you play on yourself.” He adds: “Maybe it’s also a play on words about me living in the States.”
Cockburn, who won the inaugural People’s Voice Award at the Folk Alliance International conference in February and will be inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in September, continues to find inspiration in the world around him and channel those ideas into songs. “My job is to try and trap the spirits of things in the scratches of pen on paper and the pulling of notes out of metal,” he once noted. More than forty years after embarking on his singer-songwriting career, Cockburn keeps kicking at the darkness so that it might bleed daylight. ~ Nicholas Jennings, Bernie Finkelstein & Bruce Cockburn
For further information, contact: publicity@truenorthrecords.com
Bruce Cockburn
RELEASE DATE: 1970
PURCHASE: iTunes | True North
RE-ISSUE: November 24, 2022
PURCHASE: the 180g black vinyl from True North
1. Going To The Country (3:15)
Cows hangin’ out under spreading trees.
Zoom! They’re gone behind the sign
White letters pointing to the long white line
and I’m going to the country
O, la la la la la
I’m going to the country
Sunshine smile on me
I can smell the grass growing in the field
Wind in my hair tells me how it feels
Farm house, silver roof flashing by
Tractor-trailer truck says goodbye with a sigh
And I’m going to the country
O, la la la la la
I’m going to the country
Sunshine smile on me
Birds singing, I’m singing in my bones
Doesn’t much matter now where I’m going
Get it when I get there is what I’ll do
If I get enough I’ll give some to you
And I’m going to the country
O, happy as can be
I’m going to the country
Sunshine smile on me
released 1970
Also On:
Waiting For A Miracle – 1987
Rumours Of Glory box set – disc 1 – 2014
Greatest Hits (1970-2020)
And what do you know
My alley becomes a cathedral
Eyes can be archways
To enter or leave by
Vacuums replaced by a crystal
Jesus don’t let Toronto take my song away
It’s easy to love if
You let yourself love it
But like a moth’s wing it’s easily crushed
Jesus don’t let tomorrow take my love away
released 1970
Also On:
Mummy Dust – 1981
Rumours Of Glory box set – disc 1 – 2014
3. Together Alone (2:50)
But all I can see is you
In a crowded subway train
Or walking in the country rain
You’re there with me too
Of all the songs sung in any day
Your voice is all I hear
For though each song has its own place
And, finished, quickly fades away
I hear you everywhere
And though I know you won’t be pleased
By all that I do
Surely we can find a way
To overlook what you don’t like
It’s been said many times that we’re all by ourselves
And each man is on his own
I don’t care, that may be true
I just want to be with you
Together alone
released 1970
4. The Bicycle Trip (4:11)
Hear the gravel crackle
Butterflies
Shades of the eternal dancer
God has buttered the land with sunlight
Sunlight
Corn grows high
Like a tall watusi
Katydid
Hums a monotonous tune
Rather hypnotically
Hmmmmmm
Overhead there’s a parrot with boxing gloves
Singing like me
What a clever bird
Even knows the words
But he doesn’t seem to see
Me
Making my great escape
You can just take so much of your own advice
Who needs a king
Sitting in a tree
So loquaciously
Pigeonholing everything
Pigeons have a way of taking wing
Back again
Purple thistles bristle
All around
Bane of the Eternal Dancer
Hmmmmmm
Home is just around the bend…
The end
released 1970
5. The Thirteenth Mountain (4:48)
Wide-eyed, white-plumed owl plays upon his magic flute
Silver-circled moonlight cresting waves of shadow blue
And the river is secretly flowing
Shining stars dance high above the cobweb treelimbs’ grace
Fairy castles crowned with light fly banners of white lace
Tangled boughs of holly watch with eyes of scarlet hue
And the wind is silently blowing
Are no men is only Man seeking one love
Searching vainly for excuse among the stars above
Eyes too tired to see the river flowing ‘neath the ice
And too numb to see the purpose behind knowing
released 1970
6. Musicial Friends (2:58)
They know what I need
Now I can sleep on anyone’s floor without
Feeling cold
Inside or outside me
The closer we get the easier life be –
Comes for each of us
We can sing songs and play at each other
Over wine
In bottles or in pipes
And we can pass
On endings till the end
We can laugh
Me and my musical friends
Nobody’s quite sure just where they’re going
They’ll find out soon enough
When they get there some sunny morning or
Windy night
If they can just keep moving
And we can pass
On endings till the end
We can laugh
Me and my musical friends
Musical friends are keeping me happy
They know what to do
Musical friends have many things to
Offer you
And you can be one too
(Who ever heard of drinking wine from a pipe anyway?)
released 1970
Also On:
Waiting For A Miracle – 1987
Rumours Of Glory box set – disc 1 – 2014
Greatest Hits (1970-2020)
7. Change Your Mind (2:26)
Is not living at all
The old fear going fast
Everybody’s scared to fall
Turn with the times
Change your mind
Sullen and profane
The ancient temple stands
Dissolving in the rain
Its gods long turned to sand
Forgotten childhood rhyme
Change your mind
Listen for the ring
Of tomorrow’s bell
Be the first to sing
From beyond the wishing well
Know what’s behind
But change your mind
released 1970
8. Man Of A Thousand Faces (5:42)
That looks out on the sea
Anybody here know
Where such a place is?
Surf of golden sunlight
Breaking over me
Man of a thousand faces
In the Garden paths take form
But the hailstorm guards its own
Things forbidden, things unknown
You must travel on alone
In memorium friends come round
But the hard ground holds its own
Time for pulling, time to ride
It’s my turn but where’s the guide?
On the jetty shadows lie
And the gulls cry once or twice
Swelling thunder, truth is hid
Behind the glass eye of the idol…
Anybody here know
Where such a place is?
You know, these city towers,
Jewels on the Serpent’s crown,
Twist the space between them
Till every eye is blinded
Lord will you trade your sunlit ocean
With its writhing filigree
For any one of my thousand faces?
released 1970
9. Spring Song (5:02)
When we come again
To celebrate renewal
At the heart
At the heart of us
Our eyes will touch life
Though we may be hard to find
Where we stand in time
The mirrors of the past shine
With the light of unborn days
We wander in the flames
With nothing but our names
And no-one for the blame
We love so well to focus on
When we come
When we come again
To search beside the Fool
For the heart
For the heart of us
Our eyes will touch Life
By ornaments entranced
We trace in frenzied dance
The patterns carved by chance
On the pavement of memory
Seasons turning yet again
The Mother’s breast is full again
As in heaven, so with men
Is now and ever shall be
Till we come
Till we come again
To recognize renewal
At the heart
At the heart of us
Our eyes will touch life
released 1970
10. Keep It Open (1:51)
And your signals seem to fly
Keep it open
Keep it open
And help me keep mine open too
Some will lie behind
But we needn’t be unkind
Keep it open
Keep it open
And help me keep mine open too
Sun stoned in the east
In our eyes let there be peace
Keep it open
Keep it open
And help me keep mine open too
released 1970
“First Bruce Cockburn album that launched True North Records; includes the track ‘Going To The Country’ ”
Album Info:
Production notes:
Released April 1970. All songs written by Bruce Cockburn
Produced by Eugene Martynec for True North Productions
Musicians:
Bruce Cockburn: 6 and 12 string guitar, piano, bass drum
Michael Ferry: Tongue
Dennis Pendrith: Bass
Production and Electronics: Eugene Martynec
Engineer: Bill Seddon
Cover Design and Illustration: Meek-Cairo-Brown
Photography: Tim Saunders
Special thanks to Toronto Folklore Centre
Recorded at Eastern Sound, Toronto, Canada-December 1969
High Winds White Sky
RELEASE DATE: 1971
REISSUE: 2003
PURCHASE: iTunes | True North
* Bonus tracks on the remastered CD version released by Rounder Records in 2003.
1. Happy Good Morning Blues (2:39)
Fat balloon man
May you always have air
You sing a song everybody can believe
Good day to you
Uncle tom cat
Out to trick the whole world
You carry a tune for nobody but yourself
Bonjour a toi
Herr policeman
May your boots always fit
Someday you’ll find a song you can believe
Good morning good people
The sun is long sailing
The only clouds you see
Are carried within
Soon they’ll be blown all away
Wind’s gonna rise and blow those clouds away
Wind’s gonna rise and blow your blues away
Your sun’s gonna shine in my back door some day …
September 28, 1969 – Montreal, Canada
2. Let Us Go Laughing (5:20)
Evening holds the bones of day
The sun like gold dust slips away
One by one antique stars
Herald the arrival of
Their pale protectress moon
Ragged branches vibrate
Strummed by winds from o’er the hill
Singing tales of ancient days
Far and silent lightning
Stirs the cauldron of the sky
I turn my bow towards the shore
As we grow out of stones
On and on and on
So we’ll all go to bones
On and on for many a year
But let us go laughing — O
Let us go
And may the holy hermit’s staff
On and on and on
Guide you to the shortest path
On and on for many a year
And let us go laughing — O
Let us go
Let us go laughing — O
Let us go
July 1969 – Toronto, Canada
3. Love Song (2:26)
There I find you
Your face shines in my sky
In your heart where the world comes from
There you will find me
Your eyes dance in my mind
Come with me
We will sail on the wind
We will sway among the yellow grass
When you be beside me
I am real
Though my eyes be closed forever
Still I would find you
You shine across my time
Come with me
We will sail on the wind
We will sway among the yellow grass
When you be beside me
I am real
In the place my wonder comes from
There I find you
released 1971
Also On:
Circles In The Stream – 1977
4. One Day I Walk (3:06)
And shall be one again
And few the ones with help to lend
Within the world of men
One day I walk in flowers
one day I walk on stones
Today I walk in hours
One day I shall be home
I have sat on the street corner
And watched the bootheels shine
And cried out glad and cried out sad
With every voice but mine
One day I walk in flowers
one day I walk on stones
Today I walk in hours
One day I shall be home
One day I shall be home
June 1970 – Burritt’s Rapids, Ontario, Canada
Also On:
Circles In The Stream – 1977
Waiting For A Miracle – 1987
Rumours Of Glory box set – disc 1 – 2014
Greatest Hits (1970-2020)
5. Golden Serpent Blues (3:33)
Moves like a golden serpent all day long
She lights the candle when the day is gone
She likes to give me honey when I’m down
She likes to give me honey when I’m down
If I ever was a king y’know she was the crown
She carries all the lines down in her palms
She carries all the lines down in her palms
She can drive away the devil with a song
May 27, 1970 – Ottawa, Canada
6. High Winds White Sky (3:01)
White sky
Wild birds do glide
Tattered smoke fades
Embers in the pipe
Move like
Life beginning
High winds
Pyramids
Glittering ring
Blood of the king
Daughter of the stars
You are
Life beginning
The wind’s travellers’ tales tease the tops of the trees
the ships have all sailed to the mouth of the sea…
High winds
Wheel turns
The spider spins
Hands draw us in
River-scented skin
Moves in
Life beginning
Falsehood lies panting like a fish in the palm…
June 1970 – Ottawa, Canada
7. You Point To The Sky (2:56)
The sky
Is reflected in your eyes
And I
Want to fly
On a carpet of brown leaves
We retrace the steps of change
Construct a tapestry of what will come
You point to the sea
I see
What seems to be so free
Bound by
Empty sky
On a tower of gray earth
Far above the spray-struck stone
We climb toward the melting point of time
Here we tumble down the path
Comic beggars trading laughs
For scraps from the tables of the wise
November 18, 1970 – Toronto, Canada
8. Life’s Mistress (3:24)
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
Winter 1969 – Cumberland, Ontario, Canada
9. Ting/The Cauldron (6:30)
released 1971
10. Shining Mountain (5:14)
To see what I could see
To see what I could be
On the shining mountain
I watched the day go down in fire
And sink in the valley
And sink into the sea
Drown in golden fire
Fireflies danced in the forest night
The trees began to sing
The crags began to sing
Above the black forest
I went up on the mountain side
To know what I did know
To know whence I did know
On the crowning mountain
August 15, 1970 – Chilliwack, British Colombia, Canada
11. Totem Pole *[Live] (3:26)
I’m tired of the cold
Crows are flying baby and
I’m tired of the cold
So honey come and help me build this totem pole
The lantern in the window
beamed me right to you
The lantern in the window
beamed me right to you
So honey come and help me
And I’ll try and help you too
My hearts been hanging up too long
My soul is wearing thin
My hearts been hanging up so long
My soul is wearing thin
So honey come and help me build a house
to put it in
So honey come and help me build this totem pole.
released 2003
12. It’s An Elephant’s World * [Live] (2:39)
That I bought with my government grant
The world situation seems to be taking
A definite turn for the worse
Somebody put me in reverse
What fence would hold my pride and joy
Unless he was a man-eating plant
That mother is asking to wind up basking
In fame in the back of a hearse
Somebody made my bubble burst
Call in the guard, he’s out in the yard
been lax in his duties for real
Take him to task for being so crass
As to let someone in who would steal
Great thrills are in store for us all
While the world is on such a slant
Though he’s a bit funky
The girls love his trunk
He’s a hit without deodorant
But somebody stole my elephant
If you should meet him please give me a call
The number is inscribed on the bathroom wall
You’re bound to see him
At the beach or the be-in
Even though some people can’t
Get used to believing in elephants
Call in the guard
He’s out in the yard
He bungled this job up for sure
He blew it in style
But he’s just a child
We’ll send him away for the cure
And we’ll all go away for a cure
released in 2003
“Images and references to rivers, birds, mountains, and especially, sunlight abound on 1971’s High Winds White Sky as they do on Cockburn’s previous self-titled debut album and the subsequent Sunwheel Dance. The three albums formed a powerful acoustic trilology that established Cockburn as one of Canada’s most important performers of introspective, literate songs.
High Winds White Sky remains a landmark recording as fresh and adventurous sounding as the day it was released.”
Album Info:
Production notes:
Recorded between November 1970 and April 1971 (Source: vinyl album notes)
Produced by Eugene Martynec
Musicians:
Bruce Cockburn-Lead Guitar, Dulcimer
Eugene Martynec-Second Guitar
Eric Nagler-Mandoline Banjo, Mandolin
Michael Craydon-Marimba, Tables, Tree Bell, Boobams, Pygmy Rhythm Log
John Wyre-Cymbals, Gongs, Salad Bowls
Recorded by Henry Saskowski at Thunder Sound Studios, Toronto, except “Happy Good Morning Blues” and “Shining Mountain”, Recorded and Mixed by Chris Skene at Eastern Sound, Toronto
Sunwheel Dance
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
Greatest Hits 1970-2020
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
Greatest Hits (1970-2020)
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
