Bruce Cockburn

Item: You've Never Seen Everything
Author: Brendan Boughen

You've Never Seen Everything

(2003)

Reviewed by Brendan Boughen

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Label Rounder RecordsThe Phantom Tollbooth2003

folk rock roots rock singer-songwriter

The songwriter often described as "the social-conscience of Canada" should have the range of his influence extended. With this latest album - chock-full of poignant poetry, satire, spirituality and maybe his best music to date - Bruce Cockburn should be renamed the social conscience of the world.

I've enjoyed Cockburn's style since first hearing "If a Tree Falls" back in 1989, but to be honest, I haven't kept pace with his abundance of releases throughout the 90's. However, a guitarist friend of mine has told me that he thought Bruce Cockburn was tending to "under-write" his recent songs; meaning they were overly simple and more could be done with them. A fair comment I thought, particularly after hearing his 1994 album Dart to the Heart.

However, from the Edge-like guitar and electronic loops of "Tried and Tested," the dazzling opening track of You've Never Seen Everything, it seems clear to me that Bruce is not sitting back on the laurels of a 30 year career anymore and is pushing himself ever onwards.

With the usual impressive list of collaborators, including Jackson Browne, Sarah Harmer, Emmylou Harris, and Sam Phillips, I'm finding this latest selection of original tunes from Cockburn to be addictive listening, with a blend of the straight-forward and the complex. To begin with, two thirds of the songs on this album clock in at over five-minutes each, demonstrating a respect for the creative spirit to go where the song leads.

Following the strong beginning and the more relaxed acoustic gentility of "Open," track three, "All Our Dark Tomorrows," is where this album's power is unleashed; a grimy, pulsing guitar riff echoes around an anti-corporate lyric that slights a world leader (guess who) with traditional Cockburn ire. "Trickle Down" picks up a jazzy, Latin vibe - with a fantastic guitar solo from Bruce - to similarly lambaste economics that benefit the rich while fleecing the poor ("Brand new century, private penitentiary /Bank vault utopia padded for the few").

After the brief, tender "Everywhere Dance", the darkly emotional "Put It in Your Heart" is a lament for the tragedy of 9/11 that struggles for some meaning amidst the pain. Similarly, "Postcards from Cambodia" acknowledges the horror of the inhumanity of war and concludes with the wisdom of a prophet;

This is too big for anger, too big for blame
We stumble through history so humanly lame
So I bow down my head, say a prayer for us all
That we don't fear the spirit when it comes to call

The stirring Middle-Eastern thrum of "Wait No More" and the sweet "Celestial Horses" give way to the dreamy, abstract nine-minute monologue of the title track, which never labors in spite of its length and again puts the boot into corrupt businessmen, resolving in a truly beautiful chorus. Finally, after looking the evil of the world in the face for so long, Cockburn concludes the album with another prophetic reminder, "Don't Forget About Delight" to a great, laid-back, countrified groove.

If my friend is right and Cockburn's songs throughout the 90's were "underwritten", then the album's acoustic post-script, "Messenger Wind" puts to rout any idea of that trend continuing. With a heart-rending chorus that is sung just once, it is the perfect closer to an extraordinary album that captures one faithful man's reflections on the birthing pains of a new century;

Messenger wind swooping out of the sky
Lights each tiny speck of the human kaleidoscope with hope

I have never enjoyed a Bruce Cockburn album like I have this one. Perhaps the tragedies and wars that have marked the beginning of the new millennium have focused Cockburn's talents as a songwriter, demanding truth be told with good melody, celebratory beauty and passion. This, he has achieved. I'm sure he would give it all up for a world that lives in peace, justice and equality, but in the meantime, this album should inspire the rest of us to get on with the job of creating that world which he so powerfully envisions.

5 tocks