This veteran, Canadian singer-songwriter has been active since at least the early 70s (probably earlier), since his debut eponymous album came out in 1970. I first became acquainted with his music in the 1990s, reading an album review in CCM Magazine, but also hearing equally about his accolades from the secular press. I took a chance on buying a live album, when I found a copy of his 1990 live album (he’s done at least 5 live albums), Bruce Cockburn Live on cassette.
I’d heard he was a folk artist, and a songwriter, so I was prepared for the mostly acoustic sounds on the tape. But when some hear the word “folk” it can often be closely aligned with country. But Bruce’s music wasn’t country, not in the least. While firmly planted in folk rock territory, it had more in common with jazz than with country. What completely surprised me was how well Bruce knows his way around a guitar. I dare say he’s one of the most underrated guitarists in all of popular music. Perhaps his playing gets undersold, simply because of how well known he is as a songwriter.
He has this way of weaving in faith, politics, love, life, and a whole bunch of other things in ways that are simultaneously subtle, and yet punch you in the gut. He’s no stranger to controversy either, frequently looking at politics through angles not normally considered for North Americans.
One of the songs that speaks to me the most is probably his most well-known, “Wondering Where the Lions Are.” The song tells a first-person tale of someone coming to grips with courage, due to ruminating thoughts about eternity, and some sort of ecstatic religious experience.
Sun’s up, uuh huh, looks okay
The world survives into another day
And I’m thinking about eternity
Some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me
I had another dream about lions at the door
They weren’t half as frightening as they were before
But I’m thinking about eternity
Some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me
Walls windows trees, waves coming through
You be in me and I’ll be in you
Together in eternity
Some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me
Up among the firs where it smells so sweet
Or down in the valley where the river used to be
I got my mind on eternity
Some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me
And I’m wondering where the lions are
I’m wondering where the lions are
Huge orange flying boat rises off a lake,
Thousand-year-old petroglyphs doing a double take,
Pointing a finger at eternity
I’m sitting in the middle of this ecstasy
Young men marching, helmets shining in the sun,
Polished as precise like the brain behind the gun
(should be!) they got me thinking about eternity
Some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me
And I’m wondering where the lions are
I’m wondering where the lions are
Freighters on the nod on the surface of the bay
One of these days we’re going to sail away,
Going to sail into eternity
Some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me
And I’m wondering where the lions are
I’m wondering where the lions are
The track has been covered by artists as diverse as Jimmy Buffett and Leo Sayer. Check out the album version first, and then I’ve also included the live version from the aforementioned 1990 album.
*PS: I know what you’re thinking. And it’s pronounced COE-burn.