The Humans internet group sent Bruce a series of questions. Bruce answered many of our questions and they are presented here.

This document was transcribed by Eileen Noel.

Question 1 (submitted by Lloyd Pallesen)
When are you likely to visit New Zealand again, to play that is?

Bruce replies:
No idea, but I'd welcome the opportunity.

Question 2 (submitted by Barry Wright...fan since 1969)
 As the token Buddhist monk on Humans, I wonder sometimes about influences in your early work. For example, I can hear definite Eastern themes on the first three albums, especially in songs like "Life Will Open. "Are they really there (i.e., were you doing some philosophical exploration in eastern realms during that period) or am I just projecting?

Bruce replies:
 I think the influences were there. Actually, I think they are still are. Somebody referred to Buddhists as "great technicians of the sacred" which I think is true as it goes. I wasn't a Christian yet when I made those records although I was heading (being dragged by the nose might be better) that way. And I have been exposed to various aspects of Buddhist teaching, first through the Beat writers, then Merton, Chogyam Trungpa, the Sutras themselves, etc.

Question 3 (submitted by Greg Johnson)
When you last played in Montreal (at the Spectrum, Tuesday, 20 September) you sang a new song with a line "the tatters of my faith". In an immediate sense I understood that, because my faith is sometimes strewn about me like old rags, but I would like you to tell us some more about where you are going spiritually. TIA.

Bruce replies:
 A lot of you are curious along the same lines! I think I've covered this in other answers, at least as much as I can articulate it. Your "old rags" comparison is about right in the context of the song [Whole Night Sky]... "Derailed and desperate, how did I get here; hanging from this high wire by the tatters of my faith?"... apparently a temporary condition.

Question 4 (submitted by Mark E. Kehren)
 Have you ever considered recording an album in say Africa, Asia, or Latin America?

Bruce replies:
 Not particularly. I'd record anywhere that made sense. If you're thinking of the Paul Simon sort of thing - using musicians of a particular culture, in their own setting, to give an album direction, it's not how I'm inclined to operate. To do that, I think you have to start with the writing itself, composing songs that suit whatever treatment you have in mind. I tend to let the songs determine their own treatment. I also haven't had, nor am likely to have, a recording budget that would encourage that way of making an album.

Question 5 (submitted by Steve Gardner)
 What do you think about some of your fans (true fans by the way...who know every lyric, note and own every album) who are constantly trying to peg you as a Christian Artist (tm). I'm not talking about an artist who is a Christian, but an artist that is marketed as a Christian Artist (hence the trademark and caps). Does this bother you at all? What about this do you like or dislike? i.e. When you read a newspaper article that says "Bruce Cockburn - Christian Singer" are you comfortable with it?

Bruce replies:
 I'm not interested in being pegged as anything but a human. I have a somewhat pragmatic attitude about marketing, but I don't like the exclusivity implied in being sold as the voice of anybody's dogma.

Question 6 (submitted by ?)
 In the song "Wondering Where the Lions Are," what are the lions?

Bruce replies:
 Threatening things...

Question 7 (submitted by Mike Grace)
 I read in an interview that you rarely felt the presence of God in your life, and that you felt this was the choice of God, for reasons only He knows. Some Christians would counsel you that such a lack is attributable to 'unconfessed sin' or some comparable malady. How would you respond to this allegation?

Bruce replies:
 Unless it was someone who knew me very well, I'd say they were presuming rather a lot.

Question 8 (submitted by Leslie Ashfield)
 With regard to your poetry (song lyrics), how do you feel about being asked to explicitly specify what your intended meaning was/is?

Bruce replies:
 I always know what I mean by what I write, so theoretically it shouldn't be a problem explaining it. However, there are times when suggestions or ambiguity are sought-after effects. There are times when I've put words together and not noticed a legitimate meaning, other than the intended one, which might be there. (It also happens that with the passage of time I might forget what I meant).

For these reasons I'm more comfortable leaving myself out of the question once the song is done.

Question 9 (submitted by John Riley)
 I look forward to each of your albums not only for the great songs on them but to hear what sort of band and sound you have put together. In general, what is your thought process with regard to instrumentation and band selection? Do you usually have an arrangement in mind ("Gee, I'd like horns in here.")? Or do you go at it more with players in mind: ("I'll bet Booker T. would sound good on my album.")? Or something in between...?

Bruce replies:
 Most of the time the songs are written around relatively complex guitar parts. The amount of space those parts fill determines what's left for the other instruments. What gets added depends on what the song calls for (eg. are bass and drums right or do we go strictly acoustic), and on what I or the producer, or sometimes the players, might hear. We usually start an album with a kind of general sound in mind, and that will suggest what type of players we want. Once we have a band for the basic tracks, each member will likely come up with his / her own part, with me and / or the producer acting as editor, steering them this way and that. It all starts with the songs. The decisions are nearly always collaborative ... then we hope we know when to stop!

Question 10 (submitted by Todd Frimoth)
 I was introduced to your music in the late 70's in college (Whitworth College, in Spokane, Washington). The first song I ever sat down and listened to with any seriousness was "Gavin's Woodpile". From then on I was hooked and consumed every album you had out. But "Gavin's Woodpile" stung my soul more than anything else; and still does. I was wondering if you could explain its genesis; who "Gavin" is, what the song meant to you when you wrote it, and perhaps what it means to you now.

Bruce replies:
 Gavin used to be my father-in-law. He and his wife (who used to be my mother-in-law) lived in a 2 storey log house which he had built himself near Ottawa. That
house, and my parents', were the main bases from which we travelled during the 1st half of the '70's. The song was a gathering of images and emotions focussed around what might be called "transcendental wood chopping". The themes are common ones in my stuff, because they are the dominant ones in what I see around me - the failure of human responsibility, our destruction of our natural habitat, a sort of claustrophobia resulting from expanding population, encroachment on the natural world, ever more regulation of one's personal space - the hope offered by faith.

Question 11 (submitted by Blair Frodelius)
 What event in your life changed your outlook from a purely joyful Christian to a cynical and liberal Christian?" There is a very apparent progression in your songs.

Bruce replies:
 I'm afraid I must vehemently deny ever having been purely anything! Interesting that you equate liberalism with an absence of joy! I've been a Christian since '74. Before hat time I had many joyful experiences, or let's say responses to experience, and many unhappy ones. Recognizing Christ hasn't changed the ratio all that much. What it's done is provide a greater understanding of what there is to have those feelings about. I don't think I'm a cynic, unless trying to tell the truth is written of as cynicism these days. Also, sometimes it seems appropriate to write one kind of song, sometimes another. Although the writing is always affected by one's state of mind, it very often does not mirror it. Songs are songs. People are people.

Question 12 (submitted by Chris Sullivan)
 Would you please talk about Bill Mason, how you got involved in [the film] Waterwalker, any canoeing stories, and do you have any more plans for soundtrack work?

Bruce replies:
 This is a long story. Mason and I had several friends in common, one in particular named Alan Whatmough, a paddler/piano tech/lover of wilderness/student of Spirit. "Waterwalker" was Mason's expression of his own contact with spiritual nature, nudged and nurtured over a long time before it was ready for music. I think Whatmough was responsible for steering Bill to Hugh Marsh and me. Alan and I joined Mason and three others on a northern canoe trip of close to 300 miles one summer, during which we saw wolf and bear sign, a wolverine, many muskoxen, thousands of caribou and a magnificent waterfall. Downstream from that, Mason came close to drowning and then nearly fell off a cliff after climbing out of the river. It wasn't his time, though. He was waiting for liver cancer. One of my best memories of Bill features him standing on the top of an arctic esker in the 2 AM twilight, head back, howling at the wolves.

Question 13 (submitted by Rob Szarka)
 I'm not sure how to phrase my question, but it would go something like this: What Christian writers do you find most inspirational? We know about your debt to Charles Williams, but have you read G.K. Chesterton, C.S. Lewis, or Malcom Mudgeridge? Have they influenced your songwriting directly?

Bruce replies:
 I certainly owe something to C. S. Lewis, both for his own insights and his interpretation of Williams poetry. I think the Narnia books were instrumental in prodding me toward Christianity. George MacDonald, the old English mystics (Julian of Norwich; the author of "the Cloud of Unknowing"; Richard Rolle), Jacob Boehme, and other, modern, writers as well - Brennan Manning, Frederick Baucher, for example. Jungian psychologist Marion Woodman has profound things to say from a different but valuable angle.

Question 14 (submitted by Deb Messling)
 The explicit Christian content of your work seems to wax and wane. Have there ever been times when you have consciously sought to "minister" with your music? Contrarily, have there been times when you've edited out Christian contact for the sake of being universalist?

Bruce replies:
Strictly speaking the answer to both "halves" of your question is "no". The content fluctuates according to what's loudest in my life at the time of writing, which is not always the spiritual. I also make a conscious effort to avoid repeating myself (this I seem to have slipped up a bit in the music of Love Loves You Too, as several of you pointed out). There's only room for one Lord of the Starfields or Dweller by a Dark Stream. I will confess to a certain intent to minister, kind of. I choose to think of it as sharing whatever I've been permitted to see that seems worthwhile. Having grown up in an agnostic household, and having been repelled by what always seemed like cornball media evangelizing from an early age, I feel a certain desire to show others of like background that the Christian faith is an option... that it's not about particular clothes, language, or lifestyle. Even to get some people to recognize the centrality of the Spirit in life seems like a worthwhile endeavour. I don't believe I've ever deliberately left out a Christian reference for any reason. Looking over this it occurs to me that another reason for the waxing and waning, or another aspect of it is that I feel like I want to tell the whole story - everything I can grasp of the human experience. Obviously some parts are darker than others, but if we're to have a sense of what we add up to, we have to consider everything.

Question 15 (submitted by Rick Evans)
 You and Bernie Finklestein seem to hold an incredible loyalty to each other, even when most of your past distribution deals (which I assume he negotiated) in the US seemed to not really work out as well for you as they should have! How have you managed to stay with him so long? General comments on your relationship? Has he been the subject of any of your songs?

Bruce replies:
 There's loyalty on both sides. Whether or not a particular deal worked out isn't grounds for parting company, in my opinion. Bernie is a gifted strategist, believes in what he does, loves, and understands (mostly, anyway) the music he is involved with, and has a complete grasp of how the business works. What else does an artist need? In a manager, that is.

He is the Bernie whose dream is referred to in the last verse of "How I Spent My Fall Vacation."

Question 16 (submitted by Douglas Cripe)
 It is indeed a privilege to be able to communicate directly with you - someone whose thought-provoking lyrics and fresh expressions of Christianity (not to mention terrific guitar playing!) have made such a positive impact on my life, and the lives of several of my friends. A while ago, in our discussion group, it was pointed out that you had participated in a "Voters for Choice" benefit concert held in January of this year. Attached below is a quotation attributed to you as justification, followed by some comments I made at the time.

From Bruce:

"God has given us life, and has permitted death in the world. The "sanctity of life" therefore must refer not to whether we die, but to the quality of what our lives contain. The state has no more right to say people must be born than it does to say they must be put to death."
What?? This from the man who penned: "If you're like me you'd like to think we've learned from our mistakes, enough to know we can't play God with other's lives at stake..." God indeed has given us life - who are we (state or otherwise) to extinguish it? This "quality of life" argument is a slippery one. With over 30 million abortions under our belt in the USA alone since 1973, following this line of reasoning, you'd think child abuse would have all but disappeared...and has it? Moreover, why then should we worry about "How many kids they've murdered - only God can say," since those kids probably did not have a suitable "quality of life" anyway, and hence were simply being put out of their misery?

I'm sorry, but I don't buy this argument. I have to speak up and say I'm very disappointed with Bruce over this. One of the many qualities of his songwriting that initially attracted me to his music - his references to the oppressed, underprivileged and defenseless - now ring quite hollow in light of his evidently pro-choice stance.

So, sorry to be long-winded, but I was hoping you might care to expand, as a Christian, on your position regarding abortion, and provide any reactions to the comments I made - as we pay attention to the poet...

Bruce replies:
 After prayer and pondering, and after numerous encounters with women who have had abortions and those who have chosen not to, I have this in my heart: abortion is a terrible thing, and is felt to be that by most who choose it. It may be that it is totally wrong, but because it involves the body and soul of the mother as well as the potential child, it must be up to the mother to decide what to do about it. As a culture, we have given ourselves demigod powers and saddled ourselves with the need and the ability to make such choices (in other areas of life, too). This is the world we are in and not of. If you really believe all abortions should be illegal, then you should be out there stopping them by any means necessary, like the other smug and heartless Randall Terrys of the world. Anything less is hypocrisy. I'll be doing my best to get in your way, though. I can see no line of reasoning that says that abortions will stop child abuse. I didn't say it would - that's you trying to shift the debate around. The attempt to equate the death of foetuses by medical means, with the torture and murder by soldiers of Guatemalan children, who in most cases are loved and cherished by their families, is thoroughly specious. Are you saying that they don't deserve to live because they are poor? Of course you aren't - but let's not cheapen the issue with that kind of shot.

Question 17 (submitted by Audrey Pearson)
 This question has three parts, and is the essence of one of our "humans" debates. According to traditional Christian theology, one can only know God through Jesus (John 14:6). Do you believe this? If so, what about the Jews, Moslems, Hindus, Haida, Lakota etc. etc. ie those that do not accept Jesus; do they know God too? And are their Gods and yours the same?

Bruce replies:
Personally, I don't believe that the only approach to God is through the historical/traditional image of Jesus. As a product of WASP culture, this route was most accessible to me, and the one most free from affectation and other distractions. C.S. Lewis theorizes that whatever your faith, you will come to God through the person of Christ in one guise or another, which sounds a little bit shaky, but makes convenient rationale for our acceptance of other people's faiths. I think all cultures have their insights, and I think we're all hungry for the same God, regardless of what face we try to paint on Him.

Question 18 (submitted by Rob Caldwell)
One of my favorite album covers is the one for High Winds White Sky. I was wondering where the picture was taken and if you had perhaps lived in one of the houses that are tucked in the trees? Any other interesting stories about the album cover?

Bruce replies:
The picture was taken on Ward Island, part of the tiny archipelago which shelters Toronto Harbour. I never lived there. The houses were mostly built as veterans' housing after I forget which war, though some, most have been cottages at one time. The city of Toronto, at the prodding of developers is always trying to get the residents out so they can put up a golf course or something. These attempts have been met with stiff legal resistance by the islanders, who are very attached to their pretty community just a 10 minute ferry ride from downtown.

Question 19 (submitted by Don Woodward)
Like me, many of my Christian friends draw great inspiration from your more spiritually oriented lyrics. I also have friends that aren't interested in anything related to Christianity, but will pay close attention when Bruce Cockburn sings about God. I have read some interviews regarding your early Christian life, but nothing recently. Can you give us any insights into your life these days as a Christ follower? Have you found any other writers like Charles Williams that you are excited about? Do you worship or fellowship with other Christians or is your faith expression more solitary than that?

Bruce replies:
Its a day to day thing. There's not a lot to talk about. I talk to God; try to listen... Go where I'm sent; try not to resist or interfere... Don't ask "why" very often... keep my eyes and heart open (or try to) ... Am mainly interested in essentials, not so much in imagery and theory right now. The phrase "total trust" has become a kind of mantra. The closest thing to a Christian community I'm consciously part of is the group of friends I know in association with the Greenbelt Festival in UK... but of course there's a much larger body that I don't see.

Question 20 (submitted by William Kaufman)
If you look at all the examples of human hatred over time, like European anti-Semitism, it's easy to get discouraged. How do you put a perspective on your membership in the human race? Do you emphasize the positive, get your mind off it, become mystical?

Bruce replies:
There are some comments on hate in the response to another question concerning same. In the end, the best thing is probably to give it to God, shrug, and just get on with things. Some problems can only be addressed effectively at the personal level.

Question 21 (submitted by Peter Klauser)
Bruce, how can one stand up against hatred without becoming hateful oneself? It's getting harder.

Bruce replies:
Yes it is. The times make it that way, but I suspect that even more it's a function of age and experience. The more human bullshit we witness, and the more we perpetrate, the harder it is to avoid despair, which either leads to self-hate or some kind of misanthropy. The challenge is to maintain a sense of ourselves in grand scheme of things. Stick to what's useful. Most of the time, hate is useless. It represents an attachment to the object of our feelings, but is focussed entirely inward to the point where a public expression of it is likely to be dangerous to all. If we're going to be attached to things, they better be things we can love, or else we'd best opt for detachment. It seems to me hate is usually the product of fear. So we have to root that out, to the best of our ability.

Question 22 (submitted by Gail Defendorf)
How do you choose members of the band when you tour? Are you looking for a comfort level? Are you looking for those that can challenge you musically? Thanks!

Bruce replies:
Musicianship - suitability (a style and / or instrument that fits with the musical requirements of the moment) - compatibility with one another (which is to say the ability to share a space without taking up much of it) - professionalism (being where you're supposed to be, when) - availability - affordability - luck (who I happen to be made aware of at the right time) - these are the criteria, pretty much in that order.

Question 23 (submitted by David Cox)
Have you read any books by Farley Mowat, and if so, what did you think of them? I was curious because he is a fellow Canadian and some of his books, such as "A Whale for the Killing," express ideas about environmental abused and government malfeasance in general that seem to jibe with yours.

Bruce replies:
Mowat can be a bit of a blowhard, but he does tell a story well, and he does have a sensitivity to the natural world I wish more of us had. I've read several of his books, including the one you mention, and found them very affecting. In Canada, where there has been a traditional absense of colour, Mowat has stood out, mostly in a good way. He got in trouble some years back for firing his .22 rifle at a SAC bomber which overflew his farm. This we don't have enough of!

Question 24 (submitted by Margaret King)
In "Mighty Trucks of Midnight" and "Call it Democracy" you talk about economic issues. Do you have any suggestions for what people can do at the individual level, such as putting money in a credit union or buying from small local businesses or whatever?

Bruce replies:
I'm afraid I don't have a good answer for this. At the local level, it should be possible to research who is worth supporting and who no. Who is a front for what products/ corporate interests? Otherwise, I can only suggest you try and stay abreast of what's going on through the literature of organizations such as the Rainforest Action Network, Greenpeace, various agencies (e.g. Mennonite Central Committee) and human rights groups. All this will at least give you an idea who to avoid dealing with, Mitsuibishi and ?????? for example. There are ways to invest money in responsible ventures, which this approach might also uncover ... also some of the whistleblowers like Covert Action Quarterly. It's vastly easier to learn what to avoid than it is to get a fix on whom you should support. By the way, those state militia folks look to me like they're responding in a misguided fashion, to the same transition to a global transnational corporate economy (which appears to be promoting authoritarian control of local populations) that we should all be nervous about.

Question 25 (submitted by Kevin Price)
Bruce, while many of your fans find something to appreciate in both your political and your religious leanings, there are others like me who are at least somewhat partial to one or the other. Now, if you're willing to squint just right, maybe you can be convinced that this is one question instead of two. What is there about your Christianity that you'd like your political fans to understand, and what is there about your political views that you'd like your Christian fans to understand?"

Bruce replies:
I'd like my listeners to be open, as I hope I am. Those who don't place much importance on the spiritual side of things will, ideally, at least come to reckognize Christianity as a viable option for them ... that the caricature of the faith which they see on TV is not the true picture. Those who are more spiritually inclined will hopefully see that they can translate that spiritual involvement into action on the physical plane - a kind of action, though, which starts with respect for others' traditions and insights, which seeks to understand rather than to force it's own understanding on the world.

Question 26 (submitted by Noel Carlson)
I really do not have a question for you Bruce, but I would like to take the opportunity to thank you for your life, your music, your wisdom, and the profession of your faith. In your music I have found a kindred spirit, and although you do not know me, I consider you a friend and more importantly, a brother. I have been a Christian for many years, but not one of "those kinds", and once introduced to your music, I found an expression of my beliefs, convictions, and faith through your words. Thank you Bruce.

Bruce replies:
Thanks for the feedback. I'm not sure about the wisdom part, but it's good to know you're getting something from the songs. You're welcome to whatever you find there!

Question 29 (submitted by anonymous)
As you can imagine there are a lot of people who take your music very seriously. Many of us listen to your music everyday, year after year, as we enjoy the songs from a musical standpoint and others appear to do it in part from the religious context that some of your songs appear to be based. Many of these "religious folks" appear to find a religious context in almost all your songs including some of the more recent ones which you have publicly stated are about your girlfriend (I believe). Although, I am not in the "religious camp" I respect your personal beliefs and still enjoy your music tremendously. I guess my question is are your trying to send out religious thought and influence in your music, and how do you feel about those fans who do not want to take with them the religious aspect of your music? Do you still consider these folks as true fans? This question has been bugging me a lot lately.

Bruce replies:
Yup.

[editor's note: In the mix of files and questions I received, this was an answer without any question, and vice versa. It appears to me to be the most likely choice for an answer, by a process of elimination - evn]

Question 30 (submitted by Matt Jewell)
Is there anyone in the music business who you'd like to work with that you haven't had an opportunity to work with yet? Thank you

Bruce replies:
I don't really think that way. There are lots of great artists around from whom I could learn something and with whom I'd enjoy working, but I don't go around harbouring the intent except when there's a specific role to be filled that cries out for a particular filler. I've been privileged to work with a bunch of excellent players in the past, and recently got to sing on albums by Patty Larkin and Jonatha Brooke (the Story) both of whom I admire. I generally feel that these connections are best left to Circumstance (like most things I suppose).

Question 31 (submitted by Dave Cawley)
Are there any songs, that you've recorded and that you've *NEVER* played live and if so why?

Bruce replies:
There are a few I think. You Get Bigger As You Go never seemed to fit in the context of a show, for example.

Question 32 (submitted by George Innes)
How would you describe your desire to be remember once they "Drop the big curtain"? (ie., a singer who was the voice for the common man?)

Bruce replies:
[editor's note: I could not find an answer to this question. - evn]

Question 33 (submitted by George's wife)
What is your favorite song that you wrote and what is your favorite album?

Bruce replies:
[editor's note: I could not find an answer to this question. - evn]

Response to Logan Shaw:

The major effect of jazz on me came in the 60's, and there were many influential players: Coltrane, Dolphy, Miles, Roland Kirk, The Modern Jazz Quartet, Mingus - these were attitude shapers. Chico Hamilton had a band then, with Charles Lloyd and a Hungarian guitarist named Gabor Szabo, which made three incredible albums, featuring Lloyd's tunes (mainly) and Szabo's eastern European - influenced soloing. This was powerful stuff to me. Currently, I've been impressed by Joe Lovano ... Charlie Haden keeps turning out excellent work ... There are lots of young guys on the college stations whose names I don't know.

Response to Graham Knight

I don't own a computer so I'm not likely to be caught eavesdropping on you Humans. I think you're aware, tho, that every so often I'm given printouts of the goings on. These I find informative and amusing, sometimes disturbing - all in all a worthwhile kind of feed back. It would be too bad if, instead of being the forum for discussion that it is, the Humans list got used as a means of addressing things to me. I don't get the sense that that's likely to happen, though.

Response to Ken Robinson:

Everybody's welcome. The content of my songs is determined by what I encounter in life, filtered through my imagination, and through my own framework by which I judge and assess experience. That framework includes an involvement with the Spiritual. If you find something to like in the songs without bothering with that, then that's great. (Although personally I think you're missing a central issue of life by not acknowledging its spiritual components ... maybe I'm presuming too much ... you use the word "religious" rather than "spiritual", so maybe you're talking about my specifically Christian approach). Sometimes people read too much into the songs. Sometimes I wrote more into them than I knew. As far as "influencing" people goes, I just want to share what I think I know. If you can use it, fine.

Response to Joe Kirk:

The fact that the songs I put out become the focus of so much caring attention is very exciting. Sometimes people get the point exactly, and that's exciting, too. Sometimes people discover things I didn't know were there. Sometimes people don't get it all (tho not often). The important thing to me is that the stuff is being heard.

Response to TR Gregg:

I feel a certain disinclination to say much about those occasions when I have felt acutely the presence of the divine. There have been others than the one you mention, though usually less dramatic, or maybe "surprising" is the word. Perhaps it's true that life is, or should be, an ongoing conversation with God, from which we get distracted frequently but which is always there to come back to. I'm reminded of a book by Edward Whittemore called "Jerusalem Poker" in which the story centres around characters who are regular players in a poker game. At the point the book starts, the game has been in progress for 12 years in the back room of a dingy hovel in the oldest part of the Holy City.

Response to Philipe Labelle:

There are lots of groups doing good work. I became honourary chair of FOE Canada because they asked, and it was something I could do. Around the same time there was discussion of my joining the board of Greenpeace but that role needed someone who could be physically present more often than I could.

Response to Dan (morok@aol.com):

One would like to think one could just keep building to a stunning climax and then explode - leaving the seeds of a great myth. Most likely though, I'll just keep on slogging away till alzheimers, arthritis, or some mugger puts an end to it.