Bruce Cockburn
Dancing in the Dragon's Jaws

Bruce Douglas Cockburn's musical journey can be easily divided into three parts. The first could be described as more mystical and Franciscan, where his naturally spiritual soul and Christian faith incline him towards contemplation of nature. This initial phase consists of long and poetic introspections, delicate watercolors played strictly acoustically with a highly personal guitar technique with few equals (Leo Kottke comes to mind, but not many others). It is ethereal, subtle music, often cerebral, certainly for a select elite.

At the start of the '80s, partly due to a serious romantic disappointment, "Inner City Front" already marks an abrupt change in its title: his music becomes electric, more urban and nervous, and delicate meditations transform into passionate pacifist and environmentalist tirades, the mystic gives way to the political.

And finally, in '91, with "Nothing but a Northern Light" and "Dart to the Heart," he achieves serenity and balance between the different parts of his soul.

Each of these three parts, however, has its gems, in a style that has always been of the highest level, both poetically and musically.

I believe this "Dancing in the Dragon's Jaws" is the high point of the first period. The explicitly Christian themes are never treated in the manner of preachers, but always with great expressive delicacy, and the use of refined metaphors ensures that, although faith is at the center of his inspiration, his poetics are never flattened by it.

It is an unusually happy album, full of cheer and joy of living. An album with more polished and varied arrangements, introducing the use of particular instruments (the unforgettable marimba and guitar duets, as in "Creation Dream"). It is a summer album, even if always a Canadian summer, not a Caribbean one, which is particularly surprising after the many anguished nocturnal and winter albums that preceded it. It is also the album that, for the first time, takes him out of the Canadian niche, arriving on the American market. The hit "Wondering Where the Lions Are" was for several weeks at the 40th position on the Billboard chart.

The album opens with "Creation Dream" and a sparkling duet of marimba and guitar that compete to invent complicated rhythms and twisted melodies. The song seems to describe a kind of mystical vision, and Bruce himself describes it in an interview eight years later as: "A vision of Christ bringing the world into existence by singing."

The meter is sophisticated, the exotic dance rhythm imposed by guitar and marimba marries perfectly with the text: "Centred on silence/ Counting on nothing/ I saw you standing on the sea," and his mysticism is unusual, full of joy; it is the Creator God who creates the world dancing: "You were dancing/ I saw you dancing/ Throwing your arms toward the sky."

Next is "Hills of Morning," a delicate prayer inspired by Charles Williams' novels, with a syncopated, almost reggae rhythm, which keeps the song extraordinarily joyful. Even when he explicitly sings about his faith, as here, his relationship with God is never banal or predictable; indeed, Bruce has always had harsh words for that evangelism that talks about Jesus as if they had coffee together ten minutes before. Thus, his invocation is to merge with the cosmos and nature, in a breath that is Christian but could also be New Age: "Let me be a little of your breath/ Moving over the face of the deep/ I want to be a particle of your light/ Flowing over the hills of morning."

The following "Badlands Flashbacks" is perhaps musically the highest point of an excellent album: a delicate sonic watercolor that describes a landscape partly real and partly imaginary (I don't think antelopes abound in Canada!) on a woven carpet of guitars and piano. It brings to mind the more delicate works of Genesis or Pink Floyd, but obviously with a more American tone. If you let yourself be taken by the hand, it lifts you high and makes you dream, just close your eyes and you'll find yourself flying!

More conventional is the ballad "Northern Lights," which describes the illogical joy, as Gaber calls it, that sometimes grabs you when traveling at night on the highway. But let's be clear, conventional does not mean ugly, quite the opposite, the guitar score is one of those that torments the fingers, and the class is always crystal clear.

"After the Rain" was described by Bruce as an attempt to compose a disco/non-disco piece, with a different bass line and without the thump of the drums. And indeed, if you listen closely, you find inside certain atmospheres and harmonies that evoke the best of the Bee Gees. The lyrics are strange, obscure, Cockburn introduced the song live describing it like this: "What it's about to me is sort of the destruction of the personality by love; personality and ego and all the things involved in that. It's also about driving through the city streets on a rainy night."

"Wondering Where the Lions Are," partially inspired by Charles Williams' novel "The Place of the Lion," is certainly the easiest track on the album and its greatest success. Suddenly, the introverted Canadian singer-songwriter finds himself catapulted into a world he doesn't understand and that frightens him: "Suddenly I found myself in the public relations machine of the record industry. Suddenly I had to go play in strange places I'd never heard of, I had to appear on 'Saturday Night Live'... it was terrifying, I was not ready for all this at all."

Easy, however, is not synonymous with poor quality, quite the opposite. The track flows very pleasantly in a perfect almost-reggae balance with harmonious and fun backing vocals and the usual breathtaking six-string virtuosity. The basic idea is that if you have the courage to face your fears, you'll realize they're not so frightening after all, and you end up asking yourself "where are the lions" that scared you. Ironic that this very track would confront Bruce with his worst fears.

"Incandescent Blue" is another sonic watercolor, dominated by a very jazzy bass, with the guitar almost hiding. Years later, describing this song, Bruce said it was inspired by listening to a beggar playing the violin among skyscrapers; the combination of the blue sky and the sad, solitary music of that violin touched his heart, exactly as described in the song: "Hear that lonesome violin play/ See the notes float up into the overcast/ and change to white birds as they sail on through/ and soar away free into incandescent blue."

And finally, we come to the beautiful concluding "No Footprints Where We Go," for me one of the most beautiful love songs ever: "Through these channels-words/ I want to touch you/ Touch you deep down/ Where you live/ Not for power but/ Because I love you/ So Love the Lord/ And in Him love me too/ And in Him go your way/ And I'll be right there with you/ Leaving no footprints when we go."

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