His latest, You’ve Never Seen Everything, is the latest in a wonderful spread of albums dating back to the late 60s. It is 12 songs of unmistakable Cockburn with every song a disparaged look at the state of the world today. To say a rage exists within the mind and heart of Bruce Cockburn is to discount his carefully chosen words. His delivery is that of sad acceptance as if the singing is cathartic to the noise of disruption within his soul. You don’t just listen to Cockburn.. you experience him. By experiencing Cockburn you experience yourself.

In “Open”, with familiar Cockburn style, the song sets the tone for the album and, therefore Cockburn’s state of mind. His ‘ I’ve never lived with balance, I always wake up nervous, Life comes at me sideways, I hold my breath forever’ is a clear indication of our world today. Bruce is voicing his resigned caution. As our societies and their respective governments parry for their positions in this converging world of control, our resignation to the perceived order rips the soul out of a time where peace should be the prevailing flag. With a mournful violin underscoring an upbeat tempo, the song musically communicates its accepted but depressed feeling of anxieties.

The music of You’ve Never Seen Everything is an evolution for Cockburn as it employs the use of loops and lots of percussion. The album also uses a liberal spread of violin to colour the mood while creating a dark environment for Cockburn’s chaotic recitations.

In his “Everywhere Dance”, the tone takes on a bare acoustical style with only piano, harmonica, and guitar making a stripped down realization of truth and its pervading presence.

Musically, Cockburn has creatively crafted a style that is uniquely his own. By the first strum of his guitar, by the first sung note, by the first line, if you aren’t aware that you’re listening to a Bruce Cockburn tune, well, you haven’t heard Bruce Cockburn. With the blend of his insightful, if not stinging, lyrics and his continually updated sound, a Cockburn album is a treat to enjoy. While the subjects are reflective of an age of turmoil, they are musically and lyrically expressive enough for appreciation as an art form. We may be just as angry at our state of the world as Cockburn is but, like Cockburn, we have no choice but to exist within it. As Dylan’s output was the voice of the generation in which it existed for, so is Cockburn for the politically distraught, the religiously disenfranchised, and the love deprived.

Bruce Cockburn’s You’ve Never Seen Everything is a great album for the devoted fan and for the person who quests for the voice crying in the wildnerness.

Track Listing: Tried and Tested; Open; All Our Dark Tomorrows; Trickle Down; Everywhere Dance; Put It In Your Heart; Postcards From Cambodia; Wait No More; Celestial Horses; You've Never Seen Everything; Don't Forget About Delight; Messenger Wind.

Bruce Cockburn: Bruce Cockburn - Vocals/Guitar; Various - Other Instuments.