January in the Halifax Airport Lounge
Longing in the Echoes: Bruce Cockburn's January Tale
Lyrics
Distant times in distant lands
Distant memories from faraway places
Worthless money changing hands
Valueless currency being exchanged
"Changing them to what?," I wonder
Reflecting on the purpose of these changes
As in the dust the jet plane thunders
A jet plane's noise echoing in the dust
Carries every feeling into gloom
Transporting all emotions into a sense of darkness
I miss you like I miss the flowers in bloom
Expressing a yearning, missing like the absence of blooming flowers
There's a crisis in the outer world
Highlighting a crisis in the external world
In the sky the smoke trails curl
Observing smoke trails in the sky
Some Winnipeg boys are Cyprus bound
Mentioning young men from Winnipeg heading to Cyprus
I hope they live to touch home ground
Expressing a wish for their safe return to familiar ground
I hope we live to touch, if just once more
Expressing a desire for a chance to reconnect, even if only once
I need you like the river needs the shore
Conveying a deep need, comparing it to the river's need for the shore
In life so delicate and strange
Reflecting on the fragility and complexity of life
Understanding seldom comes in range
Noting the rarity of understanding in this intricate existence
We stumble through familiar scenes
Describing a journey through familiar but unexamined experiences
Never thinking what it means
Highlighting a lack of contemplation on the significance of these experiences
In this cluttered landscape to be loved
Stating the need to be loved in the midst of life's complexities
I need you like I need the stars above
Expressing a profound need, likening it to the importance of stars above
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