1990 - "An attempt to capture the flavour of Kathmandu. China has been bulldozing Tibet and its culture since the 50's. This has produced a lot of refugees, many of whom live in Nepal. One of the aspects of Tibetan tradition which was immediately accessible to me was the consumption of Tungba (spelled various ways by various Westerners). This is a kind of flat ale made from fermented millet, drunk hot. An acquired taste, but not that hard to acquire. The search for Tungba came to occupy a fair amount of what leisure time I had on that trip. Tom Kelly is an American photographer who at the time had lived in Kathmandu for 9 years, and who had the largest motorcycle I saw in Nepal. The guitar style here, as in 'Rocket Launcher', is modified Bill Broonzy - everything happening over a bass drone." - from "Rumours of Glory 1980-1990" (songbook), edited by Arthur McGregor, OFC Publications, Ottawa, 1990. Submitted by Rob Caldwell.
1990 - 'Tibetan Side of Town' was the product of notes written while I [visited] Kathmandu on a couple of different occasions. It wasn't exactly as it's stated in the song where all those things were noticed on one trip through town. But, um, but I was taking notes as I went, and those notes produced that song. The same is true of the song Nicaragua, for that matter. - from "Interview and Segments" a CD released in 1990 by True North/Epic. Anonymous submission.
Help out! To add material to this section, see this page first.
Song Index | Alphabetical Song Index | Chronological Song Index
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.