Mix Tape: Bruce Cockburn, Speechless

In 2005, Bruce Cockburn released a CD consisting entirely of instrumental tracks. He titled it, Speechless.

Cockburn is a Canadian artist — the best we've ever produced, in my opinion. He refined his guitar technique at the Berklee College of Music. Here's a brief explanation of his extraordinary technique, with some praise from Colin Linden and Jackson Browne:



I am a huge Bruce Cockburn fan. He is in the top five of my favourite songwriters, which puts him in the company of such luminaries as John Lennon and Pete Townshend. (I would probably throw Miles Davis in there, too. Davis often allowed his bandmates (Sonny Rollins, Wayne Shorter) to write the songs, but he was such a profound interpreter that it's tantamount to him being a co-songwriter.)

Unfortunately, I was disappointed in Speechless. Cockburn's greatest weakness as a songwriter is his tendency to spiral into a depressive mood. Cockburn campaigns for human rights around the globe and, clearly, the burden of his empathy for the world's oppressed peoples weights heavily upon him.

World-weariness sometimes is effective for him:  e.g., in "Pacing The Cage":

Sometimes the best map will not guide you
You can't see what's round the bend
Sometimes the road leads through dark places
Sometimes the darkness is your friend
Today these eyes scan bleached-out land
For the coming of the outbound stage
Pacing the cage
Pacing the cage

But on other occasions, Cockburn establishes a mood that is downright oppressive. And so it is with too many of the tracks on Speechless, in my opinion:  in particular because all of the new recordings ("Elegy", "Rise And Fall" "King Kong Goes To Tallahassee", and "The End of All Rivers") are melancholy in mood.

Cockburn compounds the problem by some of his selections from his back catalogue. From Nothing But A Burning Light, Cockburn could have chosen "Actions Speak Louder"; instead, he included "When It's Gone, It's Gone". From Breakfast In New Orleans, Dinner In Timbuktu, Cockburn could have chosen "Down To The Delta"; instead, he included "Deep Lake". From Inner City Front, Cockburn could have included "Radio Shoes", but Speechless doesn't include anything from that album.

In each case, I believe the principle was to go with acoustic rather than electric guitar; but the electric guitar songs are "speechless", too, and they would have added some much-needed variety to the mix.

No matter:  using my NAD C660 CD recorder, I assembled my own (almost-entirely) speechless Bruce Cockburn CD. 18 tracks, 78:30 total playing time:

1. Foxglove (from Night Vision)
2. Water Into Wine (from In The Falling Dark)
3. Rouler Sa Bosse (from Salt, Sun and Time)
4. Salt, Sun and Time (ditto)
5. Deer Dancing 'round A Broken Mirror (from Circles In The Stream)
6. Badlands Flashback (from Dancing In The Dragon's Jaws)
7. Bye Bye Idi (bonus track from Dancing …)
8. Radio Shoes (from Inner City Front)
9. Cala Luna (bonus track from The Trouble With Normal)
10. Mama Just Wants To Barrelhouse All Night Long (from Circles In The Stream)
11. Cader Idris (ditto)
12. Actions Speak Louder (from Nothing But A Burning Light)
13. Sunrise On The Mississippi (from Dart To The Heart)
14. Mistress of Storms (from The Charity of Night)
15. Down To The Delta (from Breakfast In New Orleans, Dinner In Timbuktu)
16. The End of All Rivers (from Speechless)
17. Sunwheel Dance (from Sunwheel Dance)
18. Peace March (from Time Short Call Now)

Eight of those songs are included on Speechless. Mostly, I have arranged the tracks in chronological order, but I haven't hesitated to deviate from strict chronology where I thought it would improve the flow of the tracks.

Two of my choices ("Badlands Flashback" and "Mama Just Wants To Barrelhouse …") have vocals, but both tracks also feature some stellar guitar work. And the vocals add some additional variety to the package, even if they violate the "speechless" rule.

The mix starts out simple and contemplative — five tracks of Cockburn's solo acoustic guitar — and builds to the most explosive track, "Down To The Delta", before being stripped down again ("The End Of All Rivers"). "Peace March" is chronologically the latest track, but it also happens to be an optimistic, mid-tempo number:  I think it concludes the musical journey on just the right note.

Here's a terrific live performance of one of my selections, "Down To The Delta":



Cockburn's instrumental work is suitable background music while you're reading a textbook or sharing a convivial glass of wine with a few friends. On the other hand, these instrumental tracks are sufficiently interesting to warrant your undivided attention when you just want to bask in some tunes.

Bask away:  your day will be greatly enriched for it.