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Life Short Call Now | 
 enlarge | Artist: Bruce Cockburn
Label: Rounder / Umgd
Category: Music
List Price: $17.98
Buy New: $11.39
You Save: $6.59 (37%)
New (26) Used (14) from $5.00
Rating:  40 reviews
Sales Rank: 20229
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 4.9 x 0.4
MPN: 613244
UPC: 011661324428
EAN: 0011661324428
ASIN: B000FS9FIU
Release Date: July 18, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new, factory sealed. Fast shipping!
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| Tracks:
| • | Life Short Call Now | | • | See You Tomorrow | | • | Mystery | | • | Beautiful Creatures | | • | Peace March | | • | Slow Down Fast | | • | Tell the Universe | | • | This Is Baghdad | | • | Jerusalem Poker | | • | Different When It Comes to You | | • | To Fit in My Heart | | • | Nude Descending a Staircase |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Four decades and 29 albums into his career, Bruce Cockburn has stood for many things: flawless musicianship, activist actions, and lyrics that effortlessly flow from touching to caustic many times throughout a single CD. It is fitting, then, that Ani DiFranco makes an appearance on Life Short Call Now, as the two world-class guitar players have strong political roots, both seeking to leave legacies that extend far beyond memorable melodies in the hearts and minds of their fans. Their lushly produced duet, "See You Tomorrow," has a slight zydeco feel, the only surprise is the lack of overt political bite in the track; a subsequent Cockburn song, "Tell the Universe," more than makes up for the subtlety with its anti-Bush commentary. "Mystery" is straight-up classic Cockburn, yet the inclusion of Ron Sexsmith, Hawksley Workman, and Damhnait Doyle is not just beautiful but also clever, as it shows the genealogy linking Cockburn's effect on subsequent Canadian songwriters. Familiar sounds aside, there is a wonderfully new commonality throughout this disc: Cockburn has included a 27-piece string section whose arrangements add not just richness to songs ("Beautiful Creatures" and "This Is Baghdad"), but powerfully dark counter-melodies as well. One of the most compelling pieces falls near the CD's end: "To Fit in My Heart" somehow manages to combine his love of jazz, worldbeat, and folk music into one gorgeous, haunting melody. It is rare indeed to see such an experienced musician continue to evolve, but Cockburn has done exactly that with this new disc. --Denise Sheppard
Album Description
Bruce Cockburn's first studio album in 3 years finds the acclaimed Canadian singer-songwriter at the top of his game. The 29th album in a career that's midway through its fourth decade, Life Short Call Now is wide-ranging, playful and adventurous, eager to take chances and happy to push limits. The songs run the gamut from the jangly first single, "Different When It Comes to You," to the classic folksong cadences of "Mystery," and from the vocal intricacies of Ani DiFranco's harmonies on "See You Tomorrow" to the deadpan modernism of the jazzy instrumental "Nude Descending a Staircase." Cockburn's insightful observations on life, love, politics, and the environment are as sharp as ever, and longtime fans and new fans alike are sure to be won over by this sterling album.
Album Description
Life Short Call Nowfinds Cockburn's insightful observations on life, love, politics, and the environment as sharp as ever, and longtime fans and new fans alike are sure to be won over by this sterling album. The first single, 'Different When It Comes to You,' goes for adds at AAA June 5th. 16 stations already reporting including R&R reporters KPIG and WNRN. 'Life Short Call NOW' also features special guest Ani DiFranco on 'See You Tomorrow.'
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| Customer Reviews:
 Evolution in Bruce's Work July 8, 2008
Nathan Busman
This album certainly brings the same sort of jazz feel and political frustration that was so apparent in "Never Seen Everything". Some of the songs, i.e. "Beautiful Creatures" and "Different When It Comes to You" are a little off from the rest of the album, and so prevent it from being the gold that was "Breakfast" and "Speechless". Have grown up listening to Bruce and this album is a sure-fire buy for long-time fans, though for some in the older crowd it may not go down quite so smooth as some of his past work, though they may very well find a good reflection on life with the "Life Short, Call Now" track. Again, the only things keeping me from rating this as a 5-star is the jarring of "Creatures" and "Different" with the rest of the album.
 Recycled November 19, 2007
S. D. Berg (Champlin, MN United States)
2 out of 5 found this review helpful
I am a long time Bruce Cockburn fan, and I have found this CD his most dissapointing ever. When I listen to his earlier work, there is such care and craft with melody. These songs seem to be built around chord patterns that only change between the verse and the chorus. The song construction is repetitive and it all has a rehashed sound.
In the documentary "The Life and Times of Bruce Cockburn" it speaks of him having severe writer's block. It would appear that the ideas are coming more slowly now. The last album I really enjoyed was BREAKFAST IN NEW ORLEANS, DINNER IN TIMBUKTU. Beyond that the past few years have been lean ones.
It is difficult to recommend this cd unless you are a rabid fan who needs every release.
 So-so March 25, 2007
saltfish&ackee
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
There are a couple of nice songs here but overall this is a weak Cockburn release. I like the title track about driving through mid-America feeling lonely and throwing out observations about billboards. Jerusalem Poker is a nice instrumental. Mystery and Different When It Comes To You are palatable, the later being the "hit single" offering here, which is okay but nothing too special. Beautiful Creatures is dreadful - high, breaking vocals (by a sixty+ year old) with terrible lyrics. A real downer, and yes, I like Bruce a lot and think he can hit the ball out of the park at times with his song writing skills, but man... Slow Down Fast is a throw away (even with Julie Wolf live). This Is Baghdad is as bleak and unappetizing as the subject matter. Nude and To Fit It In My Heart are okay but not primo Bruce Cockburn songs. I have several bootlegs from this recent tour and saw him on this tour (solo) and really did not enjoy the second set that was heavy on this release. Cockburn is a significant artist but if you want an intro to his work, begin with Charity of Night (moody), Dancing in the Dragon's Jaws (mostly acoustic), Best Of (singles - for those who only want only one Bruce release), or Stealing Fire (very 80s feel but a great band with [excepting 2 songs] excellent material.
 Songs Without Hope February 22, 2007
6 out of 20 found this review helpful
"It's time for the singers of songs without hope to take a hard look and start from scratch again."
----- FEAST OF FOOLS, Bruce Cockburn 1978
Sometimes you just have to listen with your heart... February 16, 2007
Edward R. Kriege (Chicago, IL USA)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
Okay, let me get this out in the open at the outset - I'm a long-time fan of Bruce Cockburn, going all the way back to Dancing in the Dragon's Jaw. And over all these many years I've ridden along with Bruce, there have certainly been times when I've grimaced at a ham-handed turn of a phrase or a failed attempt to get me to care about some distant cause. But what the listener has to realize is that they are listening to a poet, not a songwriter, not someone whose sole purpose is to entertain with a catchy melody and lyrics designed to have you murmuring them in the shower. So again it is with Life Short Call Now - the poet expressing what needs to be expressed because the world so desperately needs it cathected.
Case in point is the song "Beautiful Creatures" - the poet's plaintiff vocal treatment poignantly laments the disappearance of beautiful creatures on our increasingly callous planet. I was immediately taken to what the Lakota must have been feeling as the Wasi'chu continued their inexorable drive across their land, and the wailing of the funeral songs that would have accompanied the witnessing of the death of the sacred circle of life. And then the segue to the lilting "Peace March", playfully executed with brushes instead of sticks on the snare drum, an instrumental of hope on the heels of despair.
I think Bruce's lyrics to his song "Maybe the Poet" (from the 1984 Stealing Fire album) sums it up best:
Maybe the poet is gay
But he'll be heard anyway
Maybe the poet is drugged
But he won't stay under the rug
Maybe the voice of the spirit
In which case you'd better hear it
Maybe he's a woman
Who can touch you where you're human
Male female slave or free
Peaceful or disorderly
Maybe you and he will not agree
But you need him to show you new ways to see
Don't let the system fool you
All it wants to do is rule you
Pay attention to the poet
You need him and you know it
So I personally think that our personal opinions about this album don't really matter much at all - if you listen to LSCN with your heart you'll come away a more enriched person than before.
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