Cockburn's early albums were fairly straight ahead folk music spotlighting his brilliant guitar playing. In fact, there were a good number of instrumental guitar numbers on those early recordings. A Christian element came into his music around the time of the album Salt, Sun and Time, and over time his writing has taken on a stronger and stronger political orientation.
Perhaps the most consistent element of Cockburn's music has been his willingness to change and evolve over time. In this way, he is similar to fellow Canadians Joni Mitchell and Neil Young.
He has had a couple of radio hits in the United States, including (Wondering Where the Lions Are and If I Had a Rocket Launcher).
His albums in the 80s are considered some of his strongest, including Humans, Inner City Front, Stealing Fire, and Big Circumstance. After Big Circumstance he struggled with writer's block, and his output began to slow down; but he recovered with the formidable Nothing But a Burning Light, which led the way back to a sparer, more folk-oriented form of music. His later album The Charity of Night contains one of his most thoughtful songs, Pacing the Cage.
His 2006 album Life Short Call Now was preceded by Speechless, a collection of instrumentals, many of them from earlier albums. The album highlights Cockburn's prodigious abilities as a guitarist.
Cockburn's 31st studio album,Small Source of Comfort was released in March, 2011. BruceCockburn.com called the album "an adventurous collection of songs of romance, protest and spiritual discovery. The album, primarily acoustic yet rhythmically savvy, is rich in Cockburn’s characteristic blend of folk, blues, jazz and rock."
The Charity Of Night
Bruce Cockburn Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Weather blowing bitter off the Baltic.
Car slows beside him as he walks
Hubcaps slow revolution
Jaundiced-looking pockmarked face, round in window
Short greasy black beard
"It's cold - I give you ride.
Don't you want to kiss me?"
This goes on halfway across the cobbled bridge
Driver pulls ahead - gets out by the construction fence
Ambles towards him rubbing the bulge in his pants
In his jacket is the revolver
The hand is already in the pocket for warmth and fingers slide easily around wood grips
Slow as that predator's footsteps the gun comes out
Arm straightens, sight blade bisecting yellow forehead
Wind - blue metal streetlight - Faint twilight shining on the corners of stones.
Wave on wave of life
Like the great wide ocean's roll
Haunting hands of memory
Pluck silver strands of soul
The damage and the dying done
The clarity of light
Gentle bows and glasses raised
To the charity of night
Slow revolution - 1985 - crosswise in a hammock in the hot volcanic hills
Its 3AM the night after the air raid
From the ridge she watched A37s, like ugly gulls,
Make a dozen swooping passes over some luckless town
Maybe ten kliks beyond the border
In the distance the Pacific glimmered silver
Now lascivious laughter floats on the darkness from the police post next door-
Male voices - and a woman's -
Little clouds of desire painted around the edges with rum
In the muddy street a pig suddenly screams
Wave on wave of life
Like the great wide ocean's roll
Haunting hands of memory
Pluck silver strands of soul
The damage and the dying done
The clarity of light
Gentle bows and glasses raised
To the charity of night
Pacific glimmers silver
Moon full over shadow mansion
West coast - Can't say when
There is incense and the heat-driven scent of flowers
Tongue slides over soft skin
Love pounds in veins brains buzzing balls of lust
Fingers twine in wet hair
Limbs twist and roll
On the dresser wax drips in slow motion down the long side of
A black candle
Ecstatic halo of flame and pheromone-
Wave on wave of life
Like the great wide ocean's roll
Haunting hands of memory
Pluck silver strands of soul
The damage and the dying done
The clarity of light
Gentle bows and glasses raised
To the charity of night
The song "The Charity of Night" by Bruce Cockburn begins with the tale of a man in Big City Europa in July of 1964. It's 5 AM and the weather is bitterly cold from the Baltic. As the man walks down the street, a car slows beside him and the driver offers him a ride. They exchange a few words, and the driver asks the man if he wants to kiss him. The driver then pulls over and gets out of the car towards the man while rubbing a bulge in his pants. The man reveals he has a revolver in his jacket, and in one swift motion, he pulls it out and points it at the driver's head. The song then transitions into two more stories, all connected by the notion that the night can be both charitable and cruel.
The second story takes place slow revolution-wise in 1985, crosswise in a hammock in the hot volcanic hills on the night after an air raid. From the ridge, the singer watched as planes made a dozen swooping passes over a town. Lascivious laughter floats in the darkness from the neighboring police post. The third and final story is more sensual with the singer describing a sexual experience. Each story is tied together with the theme of the lyric's refrain - the "charity of night" - referring to both the kindness that the night can bring to some and its cruelty to others.
Line by Line Meaning
Big city Europa - July of 64 - It's 5AM
In a big city in Europe, in July of 1964, it's 5AM.
Weather blowing bitter off the Baltic.
It's very cold, and the bitter wind is blowing off the Baltic Sea.
Car slows beside him as he walks
A car slows down near him as he's walking.
Hubcaps slow revolution
The hubcaps are moving slowly.
Jaundiced-looking pockmarked face, round in window
The driver has a yellow face with marks on it, and his face is round in the window.
Short greasy black beard
The driver has a short, greasy, black beard.
Couple of language stabs, settle on English
After a few attempts, they settle on speaking English.
"It's cold - I give you ride.
The driver offers him a ride because it's cold outside.
Don't you want to kiss me?"
The driver asks him if he wants to kiss him.
This goes on halfway across the cobbled bridge
This conversation continues for half the length of the cobbled bridge.
Driver pulls ahead - gets out by the construction fence
The driver pulls ahead and gets out of the car near a construction fence.
Ambles towards him rubbing the bulge in his pants
The driver walks towards him, rubbing the bulge in his pants.
In his jacket is the revolver
He has a revolver in his jacket.
The hand is already in the pocket for warmth and fingers slide easily around wood grips
His hand is already in his pocket for warmth, and his fingers easily grip the wooden handle of the revolver.
Slow as that predator's footsteps the gun comes out
As slow as a predator stalks its prey, he takes out the gun.
Arm straightens, sight blade bisecting yellow forehead
He extends his arm and aims the gun, and the sight is aimed at the middle of the driver's yellow forehead.
Wind - blue metal streetlight - Faint twilight shining on the corners of stones.
The wind is blowing, and there's a blue metal streetlight. There's a faint sign of twilight shining on the corners of the stones.
Slow revolution - 1985 - crosswise in a hammock in the hot volcanic hills
It's the year 1985, and he's lying crosswise in a hammock in the hot volcanic hills.
Its 3AM the night after the air raid
It's 3AM, and it's the night after an air raid.
From the ridge she watched A37s, like ugly gulls,
From the ridge, he watched A37 airplanes, which looked like ugly gulls.
Make a dozen swooping passes over some luckless town
The planes make a dozen swooping passes over a town that has had bad luck.
Maybe ten kliks beyond the border
The town is possibly ten kilometers beyond the border.
In the distance the Pacific glimmered silver
The Pacific Ocean is visible in the distance, shimmering silver.
Now lascivious laughter floats on the darkness from the police post next door- Male voices - and a woman's -
He hears lascivious laughter coming from the police post next door. It's from male voices and a woman's voice.
Little clouds of desire painted around the edges with rum
There's a smell of rum, and around the edges of the laughter, there are little clouds of desire.
In the muddy street a pig suddenly screams
There's a pig in the muddy street, and it screams suddenly.
Pacific glimmers silver
The Pacific Ocean is still shimmering silver in the distance.
Moon full over shadow mansion
There's a full moon shining over a large, shadowy mansion.
West coast - Can't say when
He doesn't know when it is, but he's on the west coast.
There is incense and the heat-driven scent of flowers
A fragrance of incense and the scent of flowers are in the air.
Tongue slides over soft skin
He slides his tongue over soft skin.
Love pounds in veins brains buzzing balls of lust
He feels the intense pounding of love and lust in his veins and his brain.
Fingers twine in wet hair
His fingers are tangled in wet hair.
Limbs twist and roll
Their limbs twist and roll in pleasure.
On the dresser wax drips in slow motion down the long side of
A black candle
On a dresser nearby, the wax from a black candle drips in slow motion down the side of the candle.
Ecstatic halo of flame and pheromone-
Surrounded by a halo of flame and pheromones, they are ecstatic together.
Wave on wave of life
Like the great wide ocean's roll
Haunting hands of memory
Pluck silver strands of soul
The damage and the dying done
The clarity of light
Gentle bows and glasses raised
To the charity of night
The song reflects on the waves of life and the sadness of death. Memories haunt the soul, and the clarity of light prevails. They raise a glass to the beauty and mystery of the night.
Contributed by Annabelle L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
B. Bailey
my favorite Bruce Cockburn album - so far. Thankfully he still writes his exquisite poetry and and plays his guitar just as poetically.
aliasdyln33
Some songs we hear in life are stone-cold brilliant. Thanks Professor Cockburn. This one is even better than that.
Charity Grant
I love that you pronounce my name like my father did. I love your whole album---it's a 10. - Cheech
Philosophical Fragments Gathered (for the Journey)
Written in the city closest to where I live, Schenectady NY.
Scott Long
By the way Bruce I seen you at Kate Wolf you were good
Scott Long
You don't get it I just played it at gacek genius