Coldest Night Of the Year - Bruce Cockburn, 1981

 
 
I was up all night socializing
Trying to keep the latent depression from crystallizing
Now the sun is lurking just behind the Scarborough horizon
And you're not even here
On the coldest night of the year

I took in Yonge Street at a glance
Heard the punkers playing
Watched the bikers dance
Everybody wishing they could go to the south of France
And you're not even here
On the coldest night of the year

Hey look at me now
See the shape I'm in
It's taken me so long to catch on to what's going on
Inside this skin
When two lovers really love there's nothing there
But this suddenly compact universe of
Skin and breath and hair

I watched the All Night TV Show
In the all night bar
I drove all the people home
I was the one with the car
Now I'm sitting here alone and sleepless and wondering where you are
And wishing you were here
On the coldest night of the year

Now I'm sitting here alone and sleepless and wondering where you are
And wishing you were here
On the coldest night of the year
 
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Born in 1945, Bruce Douglas Cockburn spent his earlier years in a farmhouse just outside of Pembroke, Ontario. He found his first guitar in his grandmother’s attic, and was committed to being a musician from that point on. His earlier groups included The Children in 1966 and The Esquires followed by The Flying Circus in 1967. He decided to go solo in 1969, a decision that led to some 29 albums, and 30 charted singles.

He has received many honours over the years for his contribution to Canadian music, culture, and social activism. Among these are honorary university degrees from Queens, York, Memorial University of Newfoundland, and St. Thomas University in New Brunswick. To top this off, he was awarded the Order of Canada in 1982 and was promoted to Officer in 2002.

Some of Cockburn’s more popular hits include Wondering Where The Lions Are, Tokyo, his first really political song, If I Had a Rocket Launcher, Waiting for a Miracle, and the song you’re listening to now, Coldest Night of the Year. As a long-time resident of Toronto, I have always identified with this song - the references to the Scarborough horizon, and especially The All-night Show, give this song special meaning, even 28 years later. Without giving all my secrets away, this song is, and will always be, dedicated to a certain blonde…