Wake up this morning
Purple sky slowly turning golden,
Distant elms so orange
You'd swear they're burning
All this flowing water
Has got my mind wandering.
Do you ever finally reach
A point of knowing
Or do you just wake up one day
And say, I am going?
What will I tell you
When you ask me why I'm crying
Will I point above
At the Red Tail gracefully soaring
Or down below where it's prey
Is quietly trembling?
Two thousand years ago Jesus is left there hanging.
Purple sky slowly turning golden.
Cowards at his feet loudly laughing.
Loved ones stumbling homeward
Their words reeling.
Red Tail above my head quietly soaring.
Waters turn from ice, creak is roaring.
He says, enough of all this shit I am going.
Cowboy Junkies are an alternative country and folk rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1985 by Alan Anton (bassist), Michael Timmins (songwriter, guitarist), Peter Timmins (drummer) and Margo Timmins (vocalist). The three Timminses are siblings, and Anton worked with Michael Timmins during their first couple of bands. John Timmins was a member of the band but left the group before the recording of their debut studio album. The band line-up has never changed since, although they use several guest musicians on many of their studio albums, including multi-instrumentalist Jeff Bird who has performed on every album except the first.
Cowboy Junkies' 1986 debut studio album, produced by Canadian producer Peter Moore, was the blues-inspired Whites Off Earth Now!!, recorded in the family garage using a single ambisonic microphone.
The band gained wide recognition with their second studio album, The Trinity Session (1988), recorded in 1987 at Toronto's Church of the Holy Trinity. Their sound, again with Peter Moore using the ambisonic microphone, and their mix of blues, country, folk, rock and jazz earned them both critical attention and a strong fan base. The Los Angeles Times named the recording one of the 10 best albums of 1988.
Cowboy Junkies have gone on to record 16 studio albums and five live albums, with tour dates booked into 2024.
Everybody in my church loves this holy moly song...
I cannot help but feel that most people who seem so eager to diss this amazing Canadian group must never bother to contemplate or even read the lyrics. I am almost always brought to tears; if not by the lyrics, then, by Margo's powerful singing. The end of this song never fails to rip my heart wide-open, and that's a good thing; a thing that only Art or Love can do. I myself think that few groups or singers have the power to move the mind and heart like Cowboy Junkies, and I'm grateful every time I hear them on RP or my iTunes playlists.
c.
Love this song so much... this is ten years after the album was released—
I knew it was the Junkies!
ergo, thanks to RP for introducing me to more home team music. <g>
Hmm, might have to get this CD.
If only my amazon.ca account had not been hacked.....
brilliant and beautiful... this quality of high art is rare... special... love it love it love it...