Lovers in a Dangerous Time

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"Lovers in a Dangerous Time"
Single by Bruce Cockburn
from the album Stealing Fire
Released1984
Recorded1984
Genre
Length4:06
Label True North
Songwriter(s) Bruce Cockburn
Producer(s)

"Lovers in a Dangerous Time" is a song by Bruce Cockburn, originally released on his 1984 album Stealing Fire . The song was a top 40 hit for Cockburn, peaking at No. 25 on the Canadian charts the week of August 18, 1984. [1]

Contents

Background

According to Cockburn, the song was inspired by seeing teenagers expressing romantic love in a schoolyard. [2] In the song, he contrasts the hopefulness and joy of new love with the despair of a wider Cold War world where notions of the future often carried a sense of foreboding and doom. However, especially in light of Cockburn's next single "If I Had a Rocket Launcher", the song has also been interpreted by listeners and critics as referring to the same Guatemalan refugee crisis that inspired the later song, or to the then-emerging HIV/AIDS crisis. Cockburn stated in later interviews that he was pleased by both of these alternate interpretations. [2]

In 2005, "Lovers" was named the 11th greatest Canadian song of all time on the CBC Radio One series 50 Tracks: The Canadian Version .

U2 alluded to "Lovers" in their 1988 single "God Part II", with the lyric "Heard a singer on the radio late last night/He says he's gonna kick the darkness 'til it bleeds daylight."

Propagandhi used his lyrics in the final verse of their 2025 song "At Peace": [3] I try to keep these words in mind "Nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight Gotta kick at the darkness 'til it bleeds daylight".

Covers

"Lovers in a Dangerous Time" was covered by Dan Fogelberg on his album The Wild Places , which was released in August 1990 by Epic Records. [4]

The song was subsequently covered by Barenaked Ladies on the 1991 Cockburn tribute album Kick at the Darkness . Released as their debut single, it became their first top 40 hit on the Canadian charts, reaching No. 16 the week of February 15, 1992. [5] It also appeared on their greatest hits compilation Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits (1991–2001) .

Additional covers have been recorded by Canadian singer Frazey Ford, Canadian duo the Royal Oui,[ citation needed ] and Oysterband. [6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.ca. Retrieved January 23, 2016.[ dead link ]
  2. 1 2 "Bruce Cockburn - Songs - Lovers In A Dangerous Time". Cockburnproject.net. Retrieved January 23, 2016.
  3. ↑ lyrics propagandhi at peace
  4. ↑ ""The Wild Places" Info". Danfogelberg.com. Archived from the original on November 30, 2011. Retrieved September 23, 2011.
  5. ↑ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.ca. Archived from the original on August 10, 2011. Retrieved January 23, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Original versions of Lovers in a Dangerous Time by Oysterband". secondhandsongs.com. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
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