Stealing Fire (Bruce Cockburn album)

Last updated
Stealing Fire
Stealing Fire album cover.jpg
Studio album by
Bruce Cockburn
Released1984
RecordedMarch–April, 1984
StudioManta Sound, Toronto, Ontario
Genre Pop rock, folk rock
Length41:56
Label True North, Gold Mountain, A&M
Producer Jon Goldsmith
Kerry Crawford
Bruce Cockburn chronology
The Trouble with Normal
(1983)		Stealing Fire
(1984)		 World of Wonders
(1986)

Stealing Fire is an album by Bruce Cockburn released in 1984. It featured the hit singles "If I Had a Rocket Launcher", an angry political commentary on refugees under fire, and "Lovers in a Dangerous Time". John Naslen received a Juno Award for "Recording Engineer of the Year" for his work on this album, and producers Goldsmith and Crawford received a nomination for "Producer of the Year".

Contents

Background and writing

After a trip to Central America on behalf of the Canadian arm of the charity Oxfam, Cockburn crafted an album featuring world-music influences and lyrics concerning life in the third world. He was moved by the plight of Guatemalan refugees in southern Mexico ("On the Rio Lancantún one hundred thousand wait"), and wrote the song "If I Had a Rocket Launcher" which reached a high of #88 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts with an associated music video regularly played on MTV. Despite the apparent threat of violence in the lyrics, Cockburn would later state, "this is not a call to arms; this is a cry."

The single "Lovers in a Dangerous Time" contains some of Cockburn's most recognizable lyric writing form, with the picturesque line "got to kick at the darkness till it bleeds daylight". This line would be picked up by U2's lead singer and lyricist Bono who would use it in the U2 song "God Part II" (from their 1988 Rattle and Hum album) with his own line "I heard a singer on the radio late last night / Says he's gonna kick the darkness till it bleeds daylight". For this reason, Cockburn is credited in the liner notes to Rattle and Hum. U2 would also later attempt a cover of Cockburn's hit song "If I Had a Rocket Launcher" in rehearsal, but did not formally record the results.

"Lovers in a Dangerous Time" and "If I Had a Rocket Launcher" were covered by the Canadian bands Barenaked Ladies and Cottage Industry, respectively, on the 1991 Cockburn tribute album Kick at the Darkness . The Barenaked Ladies cover was released as a single.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [1]

In a retrospective review, AllMusic critic Brett Hartenbach wrote the album "passionately and eloquently details what [Cockburn] had seen while in Nicaragua and Guatemala... despite a few less than compelling tracks, is the work of an artist at his peak. It also contains some of the most intensely significant material by a singer/songwriter in the 1980s." [1]

In 2018, the album won the Polaris Heritage Prize Jury Award in the 1976–1985 category. [2]

Track listing

All songs written by Bruce Cockburn except as noted.

  1. "Lovers in a Dangerous Time" – 4:06
  2. "Maybe the Poet" (Cockburn, Jon Goldsmith, Fergus Marsh) – 4:51
  3. "Sahara Gold" – 4:30
  4. "Making Contact" – 4:47
  5. "Peggy's Kitchen Wall" – 4:46
  6. "To Raise the Morning Star" (Cockburn, Marsh) – 5:51
  7. "Nicaragua" – 4:44
  8. "If I Had a Rocket Launcher" – 4:58
  9. "Dust and Diesel" – 5:24

Two songs recorded during the Stealing Fire sessions, "Yanqui Go Home" and "Call It the Sundance", did not make the final album cut due to the length of the album. They would later be released in 2003 on the remastered CD edition of the album.

Album credits

Personnel

Production

Related Research Articles

Barenaked Ladies Canadian band

Barenaked Ladies is a Canadian rock band formed in 1988 in Scarborough, Ontario. The band developed a cult following in Canada, with their self-titled 1991 cassette becoming the first independent release to be certified gold in Canada. They reached mainstream success in Canada when their debut with Reprise Records, Gordon, featuring the singles "If I Had $1000000" and "Brian Wilson", was released in 1992. The band's popularity subsequently spread into the US, beginning with versions of "Brian Wilson" and "The Old Apartment" off their 1996 live album Rock Spectacle, followed by their fourth studio album Stunt, their breakout success in 1998. The album featured their highest-charting hit, "One Week", as well as "It's All Been Done". Their fifth album, Maroon, featuring the lead single "Pinch Me", also charted highly. In the 2010s the band became well-known for creating the theme song for the sitcom The Big Bang Theory.

Bruce Cockburn Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist

Bruce Douglas Cockburn is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist. His song styles range from folk to jazz-influenced rock and his lyrics cover a broad range of topics including human rights, environmental issues, politics, and Christianity.

<i>Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits (1991–2001)</i> 2001 greatest hits album by Barenaked Ladies

Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits (1991–2001) is a greatest hits compilation album by Barenaked Ladies which spans their first decade as a band. It contains released singles, plus new songs "It's Only Me " and "Thanks That Was Fun", the latter which was released as a single. Disc One was released in November 2001 to a warm commercial reaction and was certified gold in the United States. The title itself is a tongue-in-cheek reference to a line from the "Box Set" off the album Gordon, which is about a box set release from a has-been band: "Disc One – it's where we've begun/It's all my greatest hits/And if you are a fan then you know that you've already got 'em." The album was released two months after the September 11 attacks, and is dedicated to the victims. The album was among the top 50 best-selling albums of 2001 in Canada and the fourth best-selling album of the year in Canada by a Canadian artist.

<i>Kick at the Darkness</i> 1991 compilation album by Various artists

Kick at the Darkness is a tribute album to Canadian singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn, released in 1991. The title comes from a line in the song "Lovers in a Dangerous Time": "gotta kick at the darkness 'til it bleeds daylight". The album was released on Intrepid Records.

Hugh Marsh is a violinist from Toronto, known for his electric violin sound. Marsh was nominated for a 2007 Juno Award in the best contemporary jazz album category.

<i>Barenaked Ladies Are Me</i> 2006 studio album by Barenaked Ladies

Barenaked Ladies Are Me is the seventh full-length original-material studio album by Barenaked Ladies. It was their first original-material album since Everything to Everyone in 2003. It was released in September 2006 internationally. The album was also the first full-length original-material album from the band following their decision to become independent rather than re-sign with Reprise. The cover art was created by a group of artists called Team Macho. The name has been cited by the band as a double entendre for "Barenaked Ladies Army".

The Juno Awards of 1984, representing Canadian music industry achievements of the previous year, were awarded on 5 December 1984 in Toronto at a ceremony hosted by Joe Flaherty and Andrea Martin of SCTV at Exhibition Place Automotive Building. The ceremonies were broadcast on CBC Television from 8pm Eastern Time.

Another Postcard 2003 single by Barenaked Ladies

"Another Postcard" is a 2003-released song by the Canadian rock band Barenaked Ladies. It was the band's first single from the album Everything to Everyone which was released after the band took a nearly two-year hiatus from performing. The song is notable for its reggae-rap verses. The verses are rapped by Ed Robertson while the chorus and bridge are led by Steven Page. The two co-wrote the track. The song was used and featured in the end credits and on the soundtrack of the 2008 American computer-animated science-fiction adventure family comedy film Space Chimps.

<i>Youve Never Seen Everything</i> 2003 studio album by Bruce Cockburn

You've Never Seen Everything is the 21st studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn, released on July 10, 2003.

"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.

If I Had a Rocket Launcher

"If I Had a Rocket Launcher" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn, from his 1984 album Stealing Fire.

Barenaked Ladies discography

The discography of Canadian alternative rock band Barenaked Ladies consists of 13 primary studio albums, three themed studio albums, 41 singles, three live albums, two greatest hits compilations, and three video releases. This list does not include material recorded by band members individually or with other side projects.

<i>Inner City Front</i> 1981 studio album by Bruce Cockburn

Inner City Front is the eleventh full-length album by Canadian singer/songwriter Bruce Cockburn, released in 1981 by True North Records.

<i>World of Wonders</i> (album) 1986 studio album by Bruce Cockburn

World of Wonders is the fifteenth full-length album by Canadian singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn. The album was released in 1986 by True North Records. A video for "Call it Democracy" was produced, and received a moderate amount of airplay on MTV.

<i>Dancing in the Dragons Jaws</i> 1979 studio album by Bruce Cockburn

Dancing in the Dragon's Jaws is the ninth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn. The album has eight songs written around the acoustic guitar and "particularly showcased Cockburn's sparkling guitar work". Up to that time Cockburn's records had been influenced by his Christianity; Third Way magazine wrote in 1987 that "in 1979 the simple Christian faith [Cockburn] had been celebrating was transformed with the release of his most popular ever album Dancing in the Dragon's Jaws, where, with the help of Charles Williams, his pre-Christian mysticism resurfaced after the baptism of faith as mature Christian mysticism. The poetry was astonishing, like no Christian musician had then, or would since, come even close to."

<i>The Trouble with Normal</i> (album) 1983 studio album by Bruce Cockburn

The Trouble with Normal is a 1983 studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn. The album contains nine songs. It marks a continuing shift from Cockburn's early folk-influenced and "mystic" acoustic works, featuring electric guitar and synthesizers, but the lyrical themes build on earlier albums.

Jonathan (Jon) Goldsmith is a Canadian musician, arranger, producer and composer. Best known as a composer of film and television scores, he has also been associated with various projects as a musician, including Nick Buzz and the Art of Time Ensemble, and production of albums by artists including Bruce Cockburn, Jane Siberry, Martin Tielli, Hugh Marsh, Bourbon Tabernacle Choir and Sarah Slean.

<i>Big Circumstance</i> 1988 studio album by Bruce Cockburn

Big Circumstance is the sixteenth full-length album by Canadian singer/songwriter Bruce Cockburn. The album was released in 1988 by True North Records. Rounder Records issued a remastered CD of the album in 2005 with a new acoustic version of "If a Tree Falls" as a bonus track.

Bruce Cockburn discography

This is the discography for Canadian rock singer Bruce Cockburn.

Nothing but a Burning Light is an album by Canadian singer/songwriter Bruce Cockburn. It was released in 1991 by Columbia Records.

References

  1. 1 2 Hartenbach, Brett. "Stealing Fire > Review". Allmusic . Retrieved December 15, 2011.
  2. ↑ "Rush, Alanis Morissette, Kid Koala Among Polaris Heritage Prize Winners". Exclaim! , October 23, 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.