January/February 1985 - "...the phrase, 'to raise the morning star' comes from the Australian aborigines. They sing to raise the morning star, literally. And of course, it's a beautiful image. That image went with the rest of the song, which was a kind of imaginary vision I had. The place I used to live in downtown Toronto had a roof where I could stand. One night when I was looking at the lights of the city, I began thinking about all the people who were sleeping. All of them were dreaming, wishing things were better. And in their dreams, they were trying to make things better. Their dreams and wishes were trying to light the skies. And those sleepers were sending up the light that was being reflected off the clouds. To me, that's something God put there. And that's a God song of mine." - from "Singing in a Dangerous Time" by Eunice Amarantides, TheOtherSide, January/February 1985. Submitted by Nigel Parry.
1990 - "Other songs that are not so specifically travel related come, come by different route in a way. 'To Raise the Morning Star', for instance, is a different kind of song entirely. That also came from notes, but those notes were accumulated over a longer period and came mostly from Toronto but the image of raising the morning star came from Australia where I was reading something about Aboriginal people there, and there was some reference to them having a ceremony about which they raised the morning star. They would sing and the morning star would come up. And if they didn't do that, they were afraid it wouldn't, you know. And maybe they were right. I don't know. But I liked the image a lot and it seemed to fit with the general vision that the lyrics were trying to get across of, of all the hope of people, of the city full of people dreaming and, and trying to, through all their aspirations and the good side of what we are as human beings, you know, trying to, kind of, make things better, or at least keep them going. And that seemed to be an image that captured it well, so fortunately I discovered that and it became the hook on which to hang the rest of the song." - from "Interview and Segments" a CD released in 1990 by True North/Epic. Anonymous submission.
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This page is part of The Cockburn Project, a unique website that exists to document the work of Canadian singer-songwriter and musician Bruce Cockburn. The Project archives self-commentary by Cockburn on his songs and music, and supplements this core part of the website with news, tour dates, and other current information.
