Bruce Cockburn was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and spent some of his early years on a farm outside Pembroke, Ontario.
Through the 1980s Cockburn's songwriting became first more urban, later more global, and then, ultimately and most famously, more politicized: he became heavily involved with progressive causes. His growing political concerns were first hinted at in two astonishing but little-known discs, Humans and The Trouble with Normal. As far as casual radio listeners were concerned, however, these concerns only became evident in 1984, with Cockburn's second radio hit, "If I Had a Rocket Launcher" from the Stealing Fire album. He had written the song a year earlier, after visiting Guatemalan refugee camps in Mexico that were attacked before and after his visit by Guatemalan military helicopters.
In 1991, Intrepid Records released Kick at the Darkness, a tribute album to Cockburn whose title comes from a phrase in his song "Lovers in a Dangerous Time". It features the Barenaked Ladies cover of that song, which proved to be an important element in their early success. This lyric was also referenced by U2 in their song "God Part II" from their album Rattle and Hum.
Bruce Cockburn - If I Had A Rocket Launcher
My Trusted MOGs
Interesting read, little stories like this are ones that I love to hear. A little note, my wife had the Barenaked Ladies play in her home town of kapuskasing, ontario before they got big and they played that cover. Where is Kapuskasing...........