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Bruce Cockburn — Great Big Love
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msymmes
(Toronto, CA)
Posted: Jan 31, 2013 - 14:58
 
One of my favourite songs of all time.  All artists.   Definitely My favourite Bruce Cockburn tune.

 "I ride and a I shoot and I play guitar".     Boy, can he ever play guitar.

Priapus
(okeechobee,florida)
Posted: Dec 31, 2012 - 06:49
 
Ottawhere ???????????????? HEH ?

WonderLizard
(2,755.46 mi. due east of Paradise)
Posted: Aug 27, 2012 - 13:57
 
 jhead wrote:
Cockburn is a true uncommercialized original and an acoustic guitar impresario.
 
Also electric guitar—one of the unsung masters of the instrument.

WonderLizard
(2,755.46 mi. due east of Paradise)
Posted: Aug 27, 2012 - 13:56
 
 martinc wrote:

Come back again. We have a great Blue Festival in the summer. It always looks like Bill selected the artists. This time of year we also have the longest skating rink in the world to challenge you. (It 's been an unusually warm winter so far so it isn;t open yet. But it will) Winterlude is centered around the canal and lots of things to do around it. Make it in early Feb and you can see Kathleen Edwards at the Bronson Centre!
 
I'm from California. Ice skates are something Hans Brinker wore. But I'll travel leagues to see Kathleen Edwards. {#Lol}

jhead
Posted: Aug 27, 2012 - 13:50
 
Cockburn is a true uncommercialized original and an acoustic guitar impresario.

hschlossberg
(Los Angeles)
Posted: Jun 25, 2012 - 17:36
 
There might be only one or two songs each day that are worth interrupting what I'm doing to come here and rate them.  This is one of them, which I came to give a low score to.  But it appears that I've already been here on this song, which I gave a '2'.  Ugh.  Make it stop.

tuttle99
Posted: Mar 22, 2012 - 10:37
 
 Cynaera wrote:
I really love this song, as I do most of Cockburn's music.  I can't wait for him to write his biography - imagine his words, describing his childhood, his adulthood, his visions... Yep, I'd spend money for that one. And then I'd block a week to just sit in my garden and read until I felt like taking a nap...
 

That's so funny....came on here to comment as Bruce is one of my all-time favourite artists....when I was in music school 20 odd years ago, I found out that his birthday is the same day as my wife's...so I sent him a B-day card and offered to write his biography with him ;)  I would definitely like to read his biography.

martinc
(Ottawa Canada)
Posted: Dec 18, 2011 - 06:11
 
 WonderLizard wrote:

The first time we went to Ottawa, you couldn't get arrested. Utterly dead town after dark. Went to Hull for fun. This was 1982. Went back a couple of years ago. What a change! Walkable streets, great restaurants, fun.  We went to Hull for the Canadian Museum of Civilization—walked from the National Gallery—but went back to Ottawa for dinner.
 
Come back again. We have a great Blue Festival in the summer. It always looks like Bill selected the artists. This time of year we also have the longest skating rink in the world to challenge you. (It 's been an unusually warm winter so far so it isn;t open yet. But it will) Winterlude is centered around the canal and lots of things to do around it. Make it in early Feb and you can see Kathleen Edwards at the Bronson Centre!

WonderLizard
(2,755.46 mi. due east of Paradise)
Posted: Nov 16, 2011 - 13:04
 
 ThePoose wrote:
I'm wonderin' where the lions are. Don't bother: they're here. Sent from Bruce's hometown: Ottawa (capital of Canada for all you Americans who don't know any better.)
 
The first time we went to Ottawa, you couldn't get arrested. Utterly dead town after dark. Went to Hull for fun. This was 1982. Went back a couple of years ago. What a change! Walkable streets, great restaurants, fun.  We went to Hull for the Canadian Museum of Civilization—walked from the National Gallery—but went back to Ottawa for dinner.


Cynaera
(South of Neanderthal)
Posted: Jul 13, 2011 - 16:41
 
I really love this song, as I do most of Cockburn's music.  I can't wait for him to write his biography - imagine his words, describing his childhood, his adulthood, his visions... Yep, I'd spend money for that one. And then I'd block a week to just sit in my garden and read until I felt like taking a nap...

cohifi
(Denver)
Posted: Feb 05, 2011 - 06:31
 
 Yellowstone40 wrote:
Sweet - Two Bruce Cockburn songs in less than 4 hours .... Good job RP !
 
psychic even !


Yellowstone40
(Yellowstone National Park)
Posted: May 28, 2010 - 00:36
 
Sweet - Two Bruce Cockburn songs in less than 4 hours .... Good job RP !

Shaker
(Canada)
Posted: Apr 26, 2010 - 07:46
 
I really enjoy Bruce Cockburn lyrics.

{#Kiss}My heart is ready for more love!


plaice3
(Cape Cod)
Posted: Dec 21, 2009 - 07:18
 
This prompts me to think of Lindsey Buckingham's 'Big Love,' a song that, while a little self-indulgent, is pretty exciting, I think ... Not on the RP playlist, I see.

sharkey
(Toronto - Ontario - Canada)
Posted: Oct 19, 2009 - 10:55
 
 greyfin10 wrote:
Curious as to what this means... I get the reference to his infamous "anger at Yankee interference in Central America" song... but what's the rest of this about?  Not being sarcastic... I just don't get it and I'd like to know where this is coming from.

Edit:  Looking through the posts for this day, I see that this is most likely a stream of conciousness thing... nevermind, carry on (well, you did, regardless :))

 ndad47 wrote:
Bruce has got a great big love for us.  big enough to chase the remaining indigenous people swimming across the bering strait for safety as he goes after them with his great big rocket launcher.
 
 

Known comments by Bruce Cockburn about this song, by date:

 

  • Circa 1992 -

    Johnny Walker: The next song we're going to play, "Great Big Love", you sort of seem to say, "Well, I've got lots of things I should be pleased about. I guess I'm a happy man."

    BC: Well, basically, people used to ask me, when I was getting known for songs like "If I Had A Rocket Launcher", for the politically engaged kinds of songs, it seemed as though people, a certain type of person anyway, seemed to think that in order to write songs like that, you had to be depressed, or that you had to be a basically unhappy person looking for some sort of outlet for this, you know. People used to ask me, "Are you a happy man?" when I was writing those kinds of things. How can you answer that, you know? "I'm not happy you just asked me that question because I don't know how to answer it, but otherwise, I'm doing fine, thankyou."

    JW: Well, you and I were born in the same year, 1945, so we've had seven years of being in our forty's, and I think one of the things that bought me anyway is that you relax a bit more, and you're quite a bit more content with the way things are at.

    BC: Yeah, that certainly happens. Well, content? I think I would tend to describe that as a sense of perspective that kind of allows you to be..., to get worked up over the things you can actually do something about, and to not bother with the things you can't, you know. At least, not be so affected by them. Because I don't feel entirely content. I'm a restless person by nature and I've been involved, on and off, with things that don't go away, really.

    JW: There's lots of work ahead.

    BC: There's lots of work ahead and there's a lot of vivid images from the past that won't go away either. Some of them are not so nice, so that's kind of a good stimulus, a healthy stimulus, I think, in a way. It keeps you from getting complacent.

    JW: But there's been one or two happy moments too.

    BC: Oh yes.
    — from Radio Interview, BBC Radio 1, 1992, Interviewer is Johnny Walker. Transcribed and submitted by David Newton.

     


     

  • November/December 1999 -

    "...the ninties have had a lot less of that kind of travel and a lot more touring and work . And involvement in other things. I lived on a horse farm for seven years, and that was a different experience for me. Great Big Love, for instance, is a product of that atmosphere."
    — from "Fire in an Open Hand" by Susan Adams Kauffman, The Other Side magazine, November/December 1999. Submitted by Nigel Parry.


    • fimo
    (up in the Eifel hills, Germany)
    Posted: Sep 17, 2009 - 21:08
     
    ...this reminds me i absolutely HAVE to upload his acoustic version of
    "If I Had A Rocket Launcher" from Dutch radio's "2 meter sessies"!

    (in case anyone knows that cut, you'll know why...)

    Randomax
    (Wimberley, TX)
    Posted: Aug 17, 2009 - 09:17
     
    Hey it's one world dudes...and neither country has a corner on the ignorance market...as shows plainly in some of these posts.

    Hannio
    (Austin, TX)
    Posted: Aug 17, 2009 - 09:15
     
     ThePoose wrote:
    I'm wonderin' where the lions are. Don't bother: they're here.

    Sent from Bruce's hometown: Ottawa (capital of Canada for all you Americans who don't know any better.)
     

    As if it matters what the capital of Canada is.  Except when playing Trivial Pursuit, of course.


    bindi
    (North Carolina)
    Posted: Feb 08, 2009 - 12:23
     
     ThePoose wrote:
    I'm wonderin' where the lions are. Don't bother: they're here.

    Sent from Bruce's hometown: Ottawa (capital of Canada for all you Americans who don't know any better.)
     

    Ottawa - been there a dozen times, maybe more.  Gorgeous place - especially winter. Patina copper roofs on the Parlament building - people ice skating to work in the winter?  Love that place.   We are not all complete morons down here!

    Personally, I think Canada puts out more real musical Talent per capita than any other country on the planet.   Just saw one of your bands last night!

    greyfin10
    (Panama City, FL)
    Posted: Feb 08, 2009 - 12:10
     
    Curious as to what this means... I get the reference to his infamous "anger at Yankee interference in Central America" song... but what's the rest of this about?  Not being sarcastic... I just don't get it and I'd like to know where this is coming from.

    Edit:  Looking through the posts for this day, I see that this is most likely a stream of conciousness thing... nevermind, carry on (well, you did, regardless :))

     ndad47 wrote:
    Bruce has got a great big love for us.  big enough to chase the remaining indigenous people swimming across the bering strait for safety as he goes after them with his great big rocket launcher.
     

    ndad47
    (the great state of maine)
    Posted: Sep 06, 2008 - 15:31
     
    Bruce has got a great big love for us.  big enough to chase the remaining indigenous people swimming across the bering strait for safety as he goes after them with his great big rocket launcher.

    Tagish_girl
    (happily seeking hammock)
    Posted: Apr 30, 2008 - 10:09
     
    ThePoose wrote:
    I'm wonderin' where the lions are. Don't bother: they're here.

    Sent from Bruce's hometown: Ottawa (capital of Canada for all you Americans who don't know any better.)


    Hey, I was thinking of a blanket on Parliament Hill. Funny, eh? Poose, I didn't know you were a Canuck.
    Churs, mate.
    Tagish_girl
    (happily seeking hammock)
    Posted: Apr 30, 2008 - 10:06
     
    Perfect music for a hot summer day on a blanket in a public park. Now only if it was summer....
    ThePoose
    Posted: Apr 30, 2008 - 10:04
     
    I'm wonderin' where the lions are. Don't bother: they're here.

    Sent from Bruce's hometown: Ottawa (capital of Canada for all you Americans who don't know any better.)
    lily34
    (derby, ny)
    Posted: Dec 26, 2007 - 12:29
     
    superfido wrote:
    AAAARGHHHH! The Cover!!! Bruce Willis gone bad.


    as if that's possible...
    a_genuine_find
    (somewhere past the midpoint, watching, wandering, wondering)
    Posted: Dec 26, 2007 - 12:27
     

    mutepoint
    Posted: Dec 26, 2007 - 12:25
     
    Stewed_Mulligan wrote:
    .....yeah, but his early stuff is GREAT!...."Arrows of Light", "Joy will find a way", "Blues Got The World By The Balls", and so many others....Bruce has been a treasure for decades


    Bruce is terrific. Especially his earlier albums.
    HazzeSwede
    (Vinyl Land)
    Posted: Nov 25, 2007 - 02:52
     
    Surely there´s a cowbell in there somewhere?
    Stewed_Mulligan
    (West Virginia, USA)
    Posted: Nov 09, 2007 - 13:08
     
    .....yeah, but his early stuff is GREAT!...."Arrows of Light", "Joy will find a way", "Blues Got The World By The Balls", and so many others....Bruce has been a treasure for decades
    pushkinjim
    (Sweden)
    Posted: Oct 09, 2007 - 02:12
     
    Pretty much anything from Bruce works well most any day
    pabloking
    (Vancouver BC)
    Posted: Jul 06, 2007 - 17:44
     
    Sweet
    On_The_Beach
    (Vancouver, Canada)
    Posted: Jun 05, 2007 - 09:32
     

    nance
    Posted: Apr 03, 2007 - 09:56
     
    more Bruce...his Stealing Fire album is my fav....
    wally42
    (Between a Rock and a Hard Place)
    Posted: Apr 03, 2007 - 09:54
     
    meydele wrote:
    Yet another Cockburn song I have never heard before, but really like. I'm gonna have to catch up.


    Check out Breakfast in New Orleans, Dinner in Timbucktu, one of my faves
    meydele
    (By the sea)
    Posted: Apr 03, 2007 - 09:48
     
    Yet another Cockburn song I have never heard before, but really like. I'm gonna have to catch up.
    celadonstone
    (Southeast of the USA)
    Posted: Feb 15, 2007 - 12:29
     
    So its Co-burn. It is duly noted.
    Nice catchy tune.
    superfido
    Posted: Feb 15, 2007 - 12:27
     
    AAAARGHHHH! The Cover!!! Bruce Willis gone bad.
    Dharmabum
    (Placerville, CA)
    Posted: Jul 21, 2002 - 12:30
     
    GBL is a great song - but there are SOOOO many others in his catalog. The more BC you play, the better I'lll like it :D ... especially from his "Dancing.." and "Humans.." phase.

    Namaste!
    Johray63
    (Meppel)
    Posted: Apr 10, 2002 - 03:42
     
    Popmusic at its best.
    rmurray248
    (EAST Paradise, MA)
    Posted: Feb 17, 2002 - 01:21
     
    Terrific song!
    Leslie
    (Antioch, CA)
    Posted: Dec 26, 2001 - 23:35
     
    There are quite a few really good songs on this album. Anyone who likes this song may want to check it out.