What do you suppose a left-leaning singer-songwriter like Bruce Cockburn dreams about? Bruce Cockburn returns to the Calvin Theatre in Northampton on Friday, May 13th at 8PM.

Bruce Cockburn and his band make a long-overdue return to the Calvin Theatre in Northampton on Friday, May 13th at 8PM with violinist extraordinaire Jenny Scheinman opening the show and joining the band. Tickets are available at the Northampton Box Office, 76 Main Street, 413-586-8686 and online at IHEG.com.

Interview by Adrian Chamberlain, Postmedia News March 25, 2011 

What do you suppose a left-leaning singer-songwriter like Bruce Cockburn dreams about?
Did you say Richard Nixon? Absolutely correct.

Cockburn, 65, says a dream about Tricky Dicky inspired the composition of Call Me Rose, one of the best offerings from his new album, Small Source of Comfort. In the song, the late American president is reincarnated as Rose, a woman who's ``living in the project with two little kids.'' It goes:


My name is Richard Nixon only now I'm a girl
You know it because I used to be the king of the world.
I'm back here learning what it is to be poor
To have no power but the strength to endure.

Set to a loping bass line, Call Me Rose is funny in a tongue-in-cheek way. At the same time, its intent is socially conscious and, at heart, serious - this is Bruce Cockburn, after all. The song suggests the mindset of Nixon, and those of his ilk, would be radically altered if they walked a mile in a poor woman's shoes.

Phoning from a pit stop in Salt Lake City, Utah (his Dodge Sprinter had broken down en route from San Francisco to his Ontario home) Cockburn recalled arising one morning with Call Me Rose buzzing in his brain.

"When I wrote this song, I had nothing at all on my mind. I just woke up with it,'' he said. "I really don't know where it came from. But there's redemption there for everybody. Even him.''

Cockburn suspects the song's seeds lie in the attempt of Republican pundits to rehabilitate Nixon's tarnished image during George W. Bush's presidency. This campaign ultimately fizzled out.

"It was like, oh, Richard Nixon was so misunderstood, he was the greatest president ever in the whole 20th century. All this crap.''

Small Source of Comfort is Cockburn's first studio album in six years and, by some estimates, his 31st overall (various live releases and compilations make a definitive tally difficult). It's a strong recording. As ever, Cockburn's acoustic guitar work is highly accomplished. The songs are about womanhood, alienation, nature, fallen Canadian soldiers. As ever, his singing conveys a sense of wonder, wistfulness and world weariness.

Driving and the highway are a strong theme. The Iris of the World was inspired by road trips between Kingston and Brooklyn. Lois on the Autobahn, one of several instrumentals, is named after Cockburn's late mother. And Driving Away is about, well ... driving away.
The automotive motif wasn't intentional, Cockburn said. It just happened.

"I do love long-distance driving ... I like being behind the wheel, especially in the West, were the spaces are huge and there's so much sky. It's a good feeling.''

Cockburn made his first solo appearance in 1967 at the Mariposa Folk Festival. Perennially popular in Canada, he finally broke through in the U.S. in 1979 with the single Wondering Where the Lions Are. As his career progressed, Cockburn's lyrics - early on reflecting an interest in Christian mysticism - became more politicized. This is exemplified by his 1984 hit, If I Had a Rocket Launcher, inspired by a visit to Guatemalan refugee camps.

Today, he said, his primary aim in songwriting is to share strong emotions and experiences. Something will touch him; Cockburn, in turn, attempts to recreate this in his music.

"I pass that touch on to the listener. If I write that song right, then the person that listens to it will feel that touch, also. Whatever that was, whether it's pain or joy or the beauty of physical surroundings. That will hopefully get through the song to the listener.''

Jenny Scheinman (below)

His career spans four decades; he has sold more than two million albums. He's an Officer of the Order of Canada; he's in the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. His songs have been covered by k.d. lang, Judy Collins, the Barenaked Ladies, Jimmy Buffett, Jerry Garcia. At age 65, with 30-plus albums to his credit, one might wonder what ambitions someone like Bruce Cockburn has left.

"I don't really have ambitions,'' he said. ``I mean, it's survival and continuing to feel like I'm going somewhere.''

Does Cockburn regard himself as someone who has achieved more than his share of milestones?

"The only milestone that I notice in my life that felt like a milestone was turning 50. That felt like, OK, half a century. That kinda means something,'' he said with a laugh.

"Once I reached that age, I felt like I'd wasted a lot of energy caring about stuff I didn't have to care about. About myself and my own behaviour. I felt, for the first time, I was allowed to have some fun.''

Tickets for Bruce Cockburn With Band plus Jenny Scheinman at the Calvin Theatre in Northampton on Friday, May 13th at 8PM are available at the Northampton Box Office, 76 Main Street, 413-586-8686 and online at IHEG.com.

Interview by Adrian Chamberlain, Postmedia News March 25, 2011

achamberlain@timescolonist.com - Victoria Times Colonist