Tried and tested
Tried and tested
By the cries of birds
By the lies I've heard
By my own loose talk
By the way I walk
By the claws of beasts
By the laws of priests
By the glutton's feast
By the word police
By the planet's arc
By the falling dark
By the state of the art
By the beat of my heart
By dark finance
By the marketing dance
By the poverty trance
By the fateful glance
Tried and tested
Tried and tested
By the pressure to rhyme
By the wages of crime
By the drop of a dime
By the ghost of the times
By the spurs of desire
By "What does love require"
By what I waited for
By what showed up at the door
Tried and tested
Tried and tested
By the nation wide
By the tears I've cried
By the lure of false pride
By the need to take sides
By the weight of choice
By the still small voice
By things I forget
By what I haven't met yet
Tried and tested
Tried and tested
Pierced by beauty's blade and skinned by wind
Begged for more -- was given -- begged again
I'm still here
I'm still here
Tried and tested
Tried and tested
Musicians
Bruce Cockburn: Electric Guitars and Vocals
Gary Craig: Drums
John Dymond: Bass
Hugh Marsh: Violins and Loop
Ben Riley: Additional Drums
Sam Phillips: Harmonies
Editor's note: This song was first played in concert at the 28 December 2002, Bambi and the Deer Hunters show at the Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto, Ontario. Rob Caldwell states that it has a driving beat, with a political bent and Nancy Bouwma says "kind of a rap type song with an excellent dance rhythm".
Setlist
Known comments by Bruce Cockburn about this song, by date:
April 2003
"You look at war and environmental problems and you look at what’s causing them and what’s preventing us from solving them and the trail always leads to human greed. Somebody’s getting paid to keep it that way or make it worse. Everyone’s wondering what it all means and what we can do about it."
-- from Bruce Cockburn's bio on Rounder Records.
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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.
