All The Diamonds - Bruce Cockburn

My brother Timothy has his 40th birthday tomorrow. I still remember my dad holding me in his arms as he steadied my mother down the stairs out into the fall night air, into the car and on to the hospital.

Love you, Tim.

All The Diamonds -- Bruce Cockburn

All the diamonds in this world
That mean anything to me
Are conjured up by wind and sunlight
Sparkling on the sea

I ran aground in a harbour town
Lost the taste for being free
Thank God He sent some gull-chased ship
To carry me to sea

Two thousand years and half a world away
Dying trees still grow greener when you pray
Silver scales flash bright and fade
In reeds along the shore
Like a pearl in sea of liquid jade
His ship comes shining
Like a crystal swan in a sky of suns
His ship comes shining

Party Line

I'll preface this by saying that the rough draft was written approx. two weeks before the 9/11 attacks. I had just come back from New York. Took me awhile to finish it. The famous "Bottom Line" is closed. There are several musical references throughout, notably to JG's "Land of the Bottom Line" and the song/magazine, "No Depression".

Party Line

Took some time last week, got up to The Apple
Land of the Bottom Line, then I grabbed me a Snapple
Headed out route 22
Got to New Jersey, turned and looked back
Like Lot’s wife ummmmm….
I jus’ had to
Didn’t turn to salt, jus’ felt the need for a shower
Headed south, down thru the mornin’ hours
Drivin' fast - amazed I’d got on past

(chorus)
And I’ve heard them all, almost
And almost all their songs are good, 
Almost all the time 
They toe that party line
And you can can tell just where they're goin'
All the trials and tribulations
They have made it through
They are alllllll, just soooo misunderstood



I turn on NPR to catch the BBC
No Depression, I jus’ feel the need
To know things - still don’t agree
You get used to it, and you pick on thru
And in between you catch a bit of news
You take it anyway, ‘cause you know that play
Huge island in between the coasts
Don’t count much ‘less they’re countin’ votes
And only sometimes
And it’s all jus’ one big reservation
It’s a wonder how they’ve caaaged a nation
District at a time, inside them party lines

I pull off the road, surprise, surprise
It’s a two lane truck stop diner-dive
‘jus too close to real for some
Make a great short-short to marvel on
Oh notice how the colors run together
…. No matching federal funds
If I don’t pay the tax, I must not love my neighbor
“Government is good!”, and I can buy its favor
And the party line mmmm….
And it’s back to one big reservation
Amazing how they’ve caaaged a nation
District at a time, to save that party line

(Chorus)
Got to New Jersey, turned and looked back
Like Lot’s wife ummmmm….
I jus’ had to
Didn’t turn to salt, jus’ felt the need for a shower
Headed south, down thru the mornin’ hours
Drivin' fast


Ó 2003, D. Dain

9 Marbles

As far as I can recall, this was the first song I ever finished and put to music.

9 Marbles

There has got to be something more
Outside this rough and wild and ruthless world
Full of Your sick and tired and wretched ones
Mostly Harmless, mostly poor

How can we find Someone out there
When we can’t see outside our own disease
A life of peace is a guarantee
That we will hunt You down and nail You to a tree

Nine marbles in a silver circle
Maybe ten or maybe more
With a silver shooter in the middle
Who knows how well She’s worn?

Well, if you and I could live forever
Do anything we wanted to
Fly deep into the heavens
Vacation on the moon

But you and I don’t have forever
We’ve only got this little tune
It’s short and really not that sweet
But this life will have to do

Nine marbles in a silver circle
Maybe ten or maybe more
With a silver shooter in the middle
Who knows how well She’s worn?
Who knows how well She’s worn?
Oh, God knows how well She’s worn


© D. Dain, 1992.

Wolfe County

I lived in Wolfe County, Kentucky. This is an accurate description.


Wolfe County

It’s a muddy road
That rides rougher than the run-off ditch beside it
Back up the ridge
A little farm lies hidden behind the trees
And if you look real hard
And it you know jus’ where yer goin’ ya jus’ might find it
Used to be a Federal subsidy
Now it’s a monument to a real growth industry

‘cause, ya see, nothin’ ever changes
Down there in Wolfe County
Where cancer was the cash crop
And things always stay the same
If you can smoke it, they can grow it
Down there in Wolfe County
They’ve always been in tune with Nature’s ways

Down by the creek
Lays the town of Campton, it’s the county seat
Back in them hills
Where young boys learn the skills of basketball
And high school history
Provides the rules of white supremacy
And any fool can see
There’s two things that really go together

‘cause, you see, nothin’ ever changes
Down there in Wolfe County
Where cancer was the cash crop
And now it’s methamphetamine
If you can smoke it, they can grow it
Down there in Wolfe County
They’ve always been in tune with Nature’s ways
Ah, they’ve always been in tune with Nature’s ways


© Daniel Dain, 1997.