#81 – Pacing The Cage

#81 – Pacing The Cage

“Sunset is an angel weeping, Holding out a bloody sword…”

Besides the title words, this line has been an ear worm for me for quite a while, well back into last year when I was doing my initial song tribute after Jimmy’s death. The only reason this song did not make the initial posts was because I was trying to focus on songs that Jimmy wrote or had a part of writing, but I knew it would be an early song for me to focus on in this second year of sharing Jimmy’s music. This is a gorgeous song and Jimmy’s version is true to the original while feeling absolutely heartfelt.

Pacing The Cage was on JB’s 1999 album Beach House On The Moon. This is the third song we have visited from the album, and it is one of the songs that Jimmy did not write on that album.

Pacing The Cage is written by Canadian singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn (pronounced coh-burn), and the lyrics of this song are flat out amazing. Bruce Cockburn is known as an indie, folk and rock artist from Ottawa, Ontario. He was just about the same age as Jimmy, only one year older, so it feels like even though they were raised in different places, they were influenced by growing up in the same times and with similar societal influences.

Cockburn is quite a prolific artist, with a career spanning over fifty years, more than three hundred and fifty songs to his credit and has recorded thirty-five records. Heard of him? The music world is a funny place, and I admit that while I love music, without Jimmy covering several of Cockburn’s songs, I may never have heard of him either. Of course, the music industry is immense and radio play or genre can certainly make people aware of or equally unaware of thousands of worthy artists. And Bruce Cockburn is a very worthy artist!

Jimmy was certainly aware of the music around him, both past and present, and if the amount of Cockburn’s songs that he covered are any indication, then Jimmy was a big fan of the man. Pacing the Cage is the first song of Cockburn’s that Jimmy recorded but it was followed by more over the years. I think those choices say A LOT about how Jimmy must have felt about Bruce Cockburn’s music.

Bruce Cockburn started playing music on an old guitar that he found in his grandmother’s attic, and he played along with music he heard on the radio. He grew up a bit and his parents gifted him with a newer guitar and after high school, he traveled to Europe and spent time in Paris, busking on the street. Just for the art of clarification, busking is the art of street performances for whatever tips or gratuities that may be gifted by the passing crowd.

He eventually studied music at the College of Boston and attended for three years before dropping out to pursue the life of music as a member of a band. There were a few bands and a few name changes of the same bands in those early years, and one of those bands, called Olivus, actually opened for Jimi Hendrix in 1968.

Mostly, Bruce Cockburn is known as a solo artist, who has described his song writing as a compulsion, and is quite well known in Canada. Another one of his great songs is called Wondering Where The Lions Are, which happens to be another song that Jimmy covered. Cockburn considers himself spiritual, has a strong Christian faith, and has taken important roles in activism for human rights which has taken him all around the globe, along with his musical performances.

In total, Jimmy has covered five of Cockburn’s songs, which of course include Pacing The Cage, the aforementioned Wondering Where The Lions Are, as well as Anything Anytime Anywhere, All The Ways I Want You, and Life Short Call Now. I believe that Jimmy has only covered one artist more than Cockburn, and that is the great songwriter, Jesse Winchester.

“Sunset is an angel weeping, Holding out a bloody sword, No matter how I squint I cannot, Make out what it’s pointing toward…”

Of writing this song, Bruce Cockburn has said that it came quickly, unlike some, and that it was tied to the way he was living at that time, about things that were not working, about feelings that he thinks everyone feels at times. More of being in a trap than a rut, feeling “stuck” in the daily grind and habitual parts of life.

In a radio interview on The Paul Leslie Hour, Cockburn was asked about Jimmy covering so many of his songs, which he said is incredibly flattering when any artist covers more than even one song of yours, let alone the amount that Jimmy performed of his. He said of Jimmy’s version of Pacing The Cage, “it’s respectful” and “true to the lyrics”.

Until researching for this post, I admit to never having listened to Cockburn’s own version, which is quite lovely, although Jimmy’s is more comfortable for me, probably because it has been a familiar friend for years. The lyrics feel so visceral. To me, part of the message of the song is about getting stuck, about how not to let yourself get stuck, to get bogged down. It also feels like it describes restlessness and perhaps feeling a little empty, and maybe just the edge of hopelessness also.  Maybe it’s the Leo on me, but I almost always visualize a great lion pacing in its enclosure, looking out and wondering what life could be like outside the cage.

“Sometimes you feel like you’ve lived too long, The days drip slowly on the page, And you catch yourself, Pacing the cage…”

In that audio interview of Cockburn by Paul Leslie in 2017, Cockburn says that he has never met Jimmy, and “had no direct communication with him”, which I thought was interesting, considering their similar ages and backgrounds as singer-songwriters, and honestly because Jimmy must have been such a fan of Cockburn’s song writing, just based on him recording several of the Canadian writer’s songs. He went on to say he was “very happy” with Jimmy’s versions of his songs, and “it’s kind of amazing how many he’s done”, along with “it’s pretty great”, and actually mentions that the version has been “very true to the song”. If the two men went on to have a  personal meeting at some later point, I have not been able to find information on it.

In the album notes of Buffet Hotel, which included a cover of Cockburn’s song Life Short Call Now, Jimmy wrote, “To me, Bruce Cockburn can take the sideshows of life, give them meaning and movement and put them on center stage. Bruce writes songs I wish I had written, and I think the way to honor those kinds of songs is to sing them as honestly as you can”. That is a beautiful tribute to another songwriter and perhaps why Jimmy did honest and straightforward versions of Cockburn songs; it was his form of tribute, both to the artist and the songs themselves.

“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 in your friend…”

Cockburn wrote this song in 1995 and placed it on his 1997 album The Charity Of Night. Jimmy recorded this song in 1999, and that is the year I became familiar with it. I loved the album Beach House On The Moon, and at the time, I didn’t realize that Jimmy didn’t write the song. It was only later that I started paying attention to those details. Regardless of who wrote this song, it’s a beautiful song, and I am so thankful to both Bruce Cockburn for writing it and Jimmy covering it and putting it on an album, giving me a chance to connect to it. And this song has always connected with me.

Two nights ago, it was a gorgeous red and purple sunset that put this song back into my head and I knew it was time to share my thoughts on this beautiful song. I am as thankful for that sunset as I am for this song.

Stacy

Please enjoy Pacing The Cage. I have included the link below. Enjoy!

The link is from Jimmy’s official YouTube channel, which I have no personal affiliation with.

From The Paul Leslie Hour:

Episode #12 – Bruce Cockburn – THE PAUL LESLIE HOUR

Bruce Cockburn: Pacing the Cage

Pacing the Cage ~ Bruce Cockburn – Living The Present Moment