Big Circumstance Explained

Big Circumstance
Type:	studio
Artist:	Bruce Cockburn
Cover:	Big_Circumstance_(Bruce_Cockburn_album)_front_cover.jpeg
Released:	1989
Recorded:	1988
Genre:	Folk, pop rock
Length:	61:03
Label:	True North
Producer:	Jon Goldsmith
Prev Title:	World of Wonders
Prev Year:	1986
Next Title:	Nothing but a Burning Light
Next Year:	1991

Big Circumstance is the sixteenth full-length album by Canadian singer/songwriter Bruce Cockburn. The album was released in 1989 by True North Records. Rounder Records issued a remastered CD of the album in 2005 with a new acoustic version of "If a Tree Falls" as a bonus track.

Reception

In his retrospective review for Allmusic, critic Rob Caldwell wrote the album "was a move away from the somewhat dated, overblown sound of his previous World of Wonders, toward a leaner, more guitar-dominated sound... he takes pains to differentiate himself from right-wing Christianity and express his different view of the faith."

Track listing

All songs written by Bruce Cockburn.

1. "If a Tree Falls" – 5:43
2. "Shipwrecked at the Stable Door" – 3:38
3. "Gospel of Bondage" – 5:45
4. "Don't Feel Your Touch" – 4:49
5. "Tibetan Side of Town" – 6:59
6. "Understanding Nothing" – 4:26
7. "Where the Death Squad Lives" – 4:28
8. "Radium Rain" – 9:22
9. "Pangs of Love" – 5:18
10. "The Gift" – 6:04
11. "Anything Can Happen" – 4:31

The 2005 reissue also contains an acoustic version of If A Tree Falls.

Personnel

• Bruce Cockburn – composer, vocals, guitar, harmonica
• Fergus Jamison Marsh – bass, Chapman Stick
• Hugh Marsh – violin
• Jon Goldsmith – keyboards, autoharp
• Michael Sloski – drums, percussion
• Myron Schultz – clarinet
• Judy Cade – background vocals
• Mary Margaret O'Hara – background vocals
• Mose Scarlett – background vocals

Production

• Jon Goldsmith – producer
• George Whiteside – photography
• Bart Schoales – art direction