Bruce Cockburn: Live (1990)

And this is the double LP Canadian version, released on 2 LPs in Canada-only. It has 14 tracks, as opposed to the 11 found on the single LP, which is the same as the CD version, which I also have.

Bruce Cockburn: Bone on Bone (2017)

After 50 years in the business and now at the age of 72, Cockburn released his 33rd record, Bone on Bone. Evidently, the reference to bone refers to arthritis, though it's difficult to tell because his guitar playing seems fine to me, though I gather his hands hurt. I have read that there are a few tunes in his back catalogue that he can no longer play. His voice still sounds great too.

But, let's not fail to discuss Jesus Train:

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

Just when I thought that he might have finally cast off the shackles of faith, realized that there are no  imaginary beings in the sky, it comes flaring back like a bad infection. Maybe he senses his mortality and he wants to embrace Pascal's Wager which would be a fool's gambit. Oh, and then there's 40 Years in the Wilderness. Sweet fancy Moses!

Bruce Cockburn: Nothing But a Burning Light (1991)

The only country in the world that pressed copies of this record was The Netherlands. Consequently, this is a difficult record to get a hold of, and it is certainly often not cheap. This happens to be the last album from Cockburn that was released on vinyl. Maybe his later few records will be re-released on vinyl.

It's a pretty good record, and far better that this mediocre record that followed. (Dart to the Heart was a weird record that seemed to try a more mainstream path. It failed, though there are a couple of good tracks). Dream Like Mine is a great single, and they are some really good album tracks. But, I will have to state my objection to Cry of a Tiny Babe, which is a ridiculous song that is lyrically unimpressive:

"Mary grows a child without the help of a man
Joseph get upset because he doesn't understand
Angel comes to Joseph in a powerful dream
Says "God did this and you're part of his scheme"
Joseph comes to Mary with his hat in his hand
Says "forgive me I thought you'd been with some other man"
She says "what if I had been - but I wasn't anyway and guess what
I felt the baby kick today""

The last two lines are probably the clunkiest Cockburn has ever penned. The track goes on to discuss the three wise men, Herod, etc. Just when I thought that Bruce was shedding the shackles of faith, he records that stinker of a song.

Bruce Cockburn: Live (1990)

This is a difficult record to find, as it dates to 1990, when vinyl was in its death throes. I have a pressing from Germany. The vinyl has fewer tracks than the CD version, which I also have. This album was recorded at Ontario Place over two nights, and I was in the crowd on one of those nights. So, if you listen carefully, you can probably hear me :)

Bruce Cockburn: Big Circumstance (1989)

I saw Bruce in concert at Ontario Place more than once, but I can't remember how many times. It was a great venue for concerts and it was cheap too. Concerts were free with a $5 admission after some point in the evening, like 8:00. And, the stage rotated, which was cool. Sadly, that stage was demolished years ago and I have never been back.

During one Cockburn concert, on the Big Circumstance tour, a Chinese family got up and marched out when Bruce was part way through The Tibetan Side of Town. I think it was the line: "With their clinging memories of a culture crushed by Chinese greed." Clearly, they were not familiar with his music, and the free price tag wasn't enough to hold them.

The best thing about this record is the return to the guitar. I like his previous efforts with world music, but the sound was sometimes too big. The guitar is back where it belongs on this record.

I suppose from a religious point of view, Gospel of Bondage should be considered something of a brave statement from the once very Christian Cockburn.

Sometimes you can hear the Spirit whispering to you,
But if God stays silent, what else can you do
Except listen to the silence? if you ever did you'd surely see
That God won't be reduced to an ideology 

I guess it's a movement away from structured religion.

By this album, Bruce included a few more environmental songs into his repertoire, like Radium Rain and If a Tree Fall.

Bruce Cockburn: Waiting for a Miracle: Singles 1970-1987 (1987)

The CD release of this double LP contains some extra songs. I suppose that's one advantage of CDs. But, the vinyl collection is great. Two new songs appear here: Stolen Land and the much better title track, which was later covered by Jerry Garcia. Since this is a singles collection, it misses what I feel are some much stronger tunes, but it is a good retrospective of his career to 1987.

Bruce Cockburn: The World Of Bruce Cockburn, His Words and Music (1986)

This is a double promotional LP, with the first disc being the entire World of Wonders LP and the second disc being split between the Half-hour Special on side 3 and brief segments of an interview with Bruce on various topics on side 4:

Bruce On His 16th Album World Of Wonders
Bruce On Song World Of Wonders
Bruce On The Song People See Through You
Bruce On The Song Call It Democracy
Bruce On The Song Lily Of The Midnight Sky
Bruce On The Song Where The Lions Are
Bruce On The Song If I Had A Rocket Launcher
Bruce On The Song Lovers In A Dangerous Time
Bruce Offers A Career Overview
Bruce On Starting His Solo Recording Career
Bruce On The Salt, Sun And Time Album & His Christianity
A Summary On Bruce's Involvement With Central America
Bruce Looks Back At His Experience At The Berklee School Of Music In The Mid 60's
Bruce On His Guitar Playing In 1986
Bruce's Touring Band For The World Of Wonders Tour And His Attitude To Musicians
Bruce On Touring
Bruce On His Writing Style These Days
Bruce On Canada
Bruce On The Question Of His Image
Bruce Comments On His Involvement With The Haida Indian Nation Cause

Sadly, my copy has a slight warp on disc two though it plays fine.

Bruce Cockburn: World of Wonders (1986)

I guess it had to happen. After putting out an album each year since 1970 (though the 1982 release was a compilation), Bruce missed 1985. That was a good run. My first copy of this record was on cassette. What a stupid medium for music. I really can't believe that digital audio tape was a thing for a while. I once had a copy of an album by Seal on DAT. I'm glad that format went nowhere.

World of Wonders contains the only Cockburn song that I dislike. Although the sentiment of People See Through You is okay, the delivery and lyrics seem weak to me. The rest of the album is very good and there are even steel drums on See How I Miss You.

I watch this woman in a tight sequined lizard dress --
Tosses her scarlet hair like a sly caress
She got midnight voice like some beckoning saint
She got something special but you she ain't
See how I miss you 

I really like what the Allmusic Guide wrote about this record:

"Still, how many artists could write a song decrying the evils of the International Monetary Fund ("Call It Democracy"), complete with expletive, and make it spirited enough to be released as a single, or pen a love song ("See How I Miss You") that contains references to "secret police" and reading a "psychopath's" magazine? Bruce Cockburn is a complex artist writing about complex times, and World of Wonders does a good job of capturing that." [source]

Bruce Cockburn: Stealing Fire (1984)

 Stealing Fire would make it into my top five Cockburn records. It contains Lovers in a Dangerous Time, which is perhaps his most well-known song. The other big track from this record is If I Had a Rocket Launcher. This is the album that probably brought him the most attention. There is not a bad song on the record.  It's a truly fabulous blend of folk, rock, and some world rhythms.

By the last album, Cockburn dumped pretty much all of the overt Christianity, and moved more fully into politics, with the usual slate of love songs. The political songs are decidedly left-wing:

You're the best of what we are -- 
Don't let them stop you now 
Nicaragua

I imagine that those lyrics didn't go over too well south of the border.

Weirdly, my copy is a promo from the US and it has a horrible gold stamp as well as a hype sticker on the front. Oh well, the vinyl is in great shape. I have no memory of when of where I bought this record.

By the way, to all of you new to records, the plural of vinyl is vinyl. I hate how I keep hearing vinyls. That is wrong.

The video for Lovers in a Dangerous Time is weak, in my humble opinion.


My favourite track from the record is Dust and Diesel.

Bruce Cockburn: The Trouble with Normal (1983)

 
The Trouble with Normal is one of my favourite Cockburn political tunes. When I saw him in concert in 1985, Cockburn dedicated the song to the Mulroneys. That seemed appropriate, especially in front of a university crowd. I think I saw him twice on that tour. Cockburn dropped the pure folky sound and moved on to more elaborate productions, which work, I think, for the most part.

Bruce Cockburn: Mummy Dust (1982)

This compilation contains four previously unreleased tracks. For me, the price if this record is justified by the new song, The Coldest Night of the Year. It has some Toronto references and in winter, some days feel like the coldest day ever. I don't like the cover.

Bruce Cockburn: Inner City Front (1981)

In contrast to Humans, I like the photo on the jacket of Inner City Front. It gives Cockburn a tough guy look, surrounded with military men. He's smoking a cigarette and one wonders if he is a mercenary rather than a missionary. Despite the positive reviews, this album is one that did very little for me. I like it, but I think that there are far better Cockburn records.

Bruce Cockburn: Humans (1980)

 
Humans stands as one of Cockburn's most well-regarded records. What strikes me most about reading the review on Allmusic.com is this sentence: "Cockburn's marriage had fallen apart, he'd moved from the country to a gritty inner-city section of Toronto called Cabbagetown..." Perhaps "gritty" was once the proper adjective, but, like most areas of Toronto, things have changed. According to the latest Toronto Life Real Estate guide, the average house prices in Cabbagetown are:

- detached houses: $1,300,000
- semi-detached houses: $719,750

The area is not gritty. In fact, this area is one of the most desirable locations in downtown Toronto. I did not live in Tdot in 1980, so I have no way of knowing if Cabbagetown was once gritty. The area I currently live in was not so long ago inhabited by drug dealers and street prostitutes. Much has changed. But, back to Humans.

The record is really fabulous, but I spend most of my time wondering why on earth they chose that photo for the cover. Was that the best they had? It's not quite as bad as the recent Tony Blair Christmas card, but it is close.

It was around the time that this record was released that I consciously became aware of Cockburn. I knew who he was before then, of course, and had surely heard some songs. But, I remember watching the New Music and there was a clip of him signing Tokyo. Bruce was wearing army fatigues and maybe a beret.

Bruce Cockburn: Dancing in the Dragon's Jaws (1979)

Just when I thought that Bruce had really dumped the religion, out he comes with Dancing in the Dragon's Jaws. The truth is that this album is my favourite Cockburn record, by far. I think it is extraordinarily good, even if I have to ignore nonsense lyrics like:

Love the Lord
And in Him love me too
And in Him go your way
And I'll be right there with you

Of course, the song that everyone knows is Wondering Where the Lions Are. That's a great song, but there are other equally awesome songs on this record. Here's a live version of Lions.

Bruce Cockburn: Resume (1981)

The title of this record should really be Résumé. In any case, Resume is a collection of tracks that would probably only appeal to Cockburn completionists. If you have the other records, you don't need this one, becuase you already have all of the tracks. But, I am more than happy to have it in my collection.

The album cover is pretty good.

Bruce Cockburn: Further Adventures of (1978)

I like this record, but I would consider it to be less interesting than the records that precede and follow it. But, I still like it very much. Highlights for me are A Montreal Song, Rainfall, Laughter, and Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in my Hand. I bought this record some place, though I forget where.

Bruce Cockburn: Circles in the Stream (1977)

 
Circles in the Stream is a live double album. Speaking of live music and concerts, I should say that I have seen Bruce in concert several times. I can't remember how many times, but it includes shows with a full band and some solo shows. Once, I went with two friends, one of whom fell asleep at the show, I think during Peggy's Kitchen Wall. That was a very strange thing to see. There are some clips --of varying quality--of Bruce performing on Youtube. You should have a look. Here's an audio only version of Free to Be from this record.

Bruce Cockburn: In the Falling Dark (1976)

 
In the Falling Dark is probably Cockburn's best album up to 1976. It is more sophisticated and satisfying. Also, he seemed to have made some effort to curb the overt Christianity of earlier songs. Well, that's apart from the rather peaceful opening number, Lord of the Starfields, which is an obvious prayer to a fictitious supreme being.

Lord of the starfields
Ancient of Days
Universe Maker
Here's a song in your praise

For me, the best song on this piece of vinyl is Silver Wheels. Here are the first two verses:

High speed drift on a prairie road
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

By the way, if you like Cockburn, you should really check out the Cockburn Project, where you can find all of the lyrics and some notes about the songs.

Bruce Cockburn: Joy Will Find a Way (1975)

My favourite Bruce Cockburn song is probably Arrows of Light, with Joy Will Find a Way finding its way into the top ten, or so. It's odd, because both are overtly religious and decidedly spiritual. The music appeals to me very much, even though the lyrical content of both songs is kind of stupid. Burn, an early political song, appears here, in the midst of songs of praise and a couple of songs that might better appeal to the non-converted. As time passed, Cockburn shed some of the religious sentiments and started to make some more obvious political statements. Still, that the two could live in harmony in his brain is surely a sign of cognitive dissonance. I think this album cover is a bit weird.

Bruce Cockburn: Salt, Sun and Time (1974)

Of course, the title should really be Salt, Sun, and Time. The Oxford comma is a good thing. I say, use it. In 1974, Cockburn evidently discovered or "found" Jesus. Despite the creeping Christian sentiment, I still think these are fantastic songs. All the Diamonds in the World is one of my favourite Cockburn songs, despite the line: "Dying trees still grow greener when you pray." That's simply delusional thinking. In fact, there have been peer-reviewed studies that analyzed the efficacy of praying for the sick, and there was zero effect, because god does not exist.