ALBUMS:
-- The Trouble With Normal (1983) & (2002)--


Track Listing:
Click song titles to see lyrics, other albums the song appears on, and known comments by Bruce Cockburn on the song. Track lengths are not guaranteed as they occasionally change with format (i.e. CD/vinyl) and release version.
* Denotes bonus tracks on the remastered CD version released by Rounder Records late 2002.

[1] The Trouble With Normal (3:17/3:35) - see editor's note below.
[2] Candy Man's Gone (4:00)
[3] Hoop Dancer (7:48)
[4] Waiting for the Moon (4:22)
[5] Tropic Moon (4:38)
[6] Going Up Against Chaos (5:31)
[7] Put Our Hearts Together (4:25)
[8] Civilization and its Discontents (4:16)
[9] Planet of the Clowns (3:47)
[10] Cala Luna (5:06) *
[11] I Wanna Dance With You * (4:35)

Note: For more information about other recordings of the instrumental 'Cala Luna', see editor's note below.


Order the 'The Trouble With Normal' (1983) album or the 2002 remastered version from Amazon.com now.
or check out other albums in the Project's Online Store


Album Info:

Words and music by Bruce Cockburn
Published by Golden Mountain Corp. (BMI)
Traduction by Marcel Mousette
Recorded at studio Manta Sound, Toronto, September 1982 - January 1983
Engineer: Gary Gray
Mastering: Sterling Sound, New York
Produced by True North Productions

The Musicians are:
Bruce Cockburn: Guitar and voices
Bob DiSalle: Drums
Jon Goldsmith: Keyboards
Hugh Marsh: Violin and mandolin
Dennis Pendrith: Bass and stick
Dick Smith: Percussion
Background vocals on " Put Our Hearts Together": Sharon Lee Williams, Shawne Jackson, Collina Phillips

All songs written by Bruce Cockburn ©1983 Golden Mountain Music Corp. Used by permission.

Art direction: Micheal Wurstlin
Photography: George Whiteside
Direction: The Finkelstein Management Company Limited
151 John Street, Suite 301
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5V 2T2
(416)596-8696 Telex: 065-24566

Remaster Info:
Digitally remastered at the E Room in Toronto by engineer Peter Moore, utilizing 24-bit technology.
New liner note essay written by Nicholas Jennings.
Released by Rounder Records, 19 November 2002.

19 November 2002 - From Rounder Records: Originally released in 1983, "The Trouble With Normal" is yet another gem from the Bruce Cockburn catalog. Explicit politics dominate the record, led by the weighty title track, whose lyrics, like those of so many of Cockburn's political songs, still ring true today. This remastered version of the album contains two bonus tracks, both recorded during the sessions for the album: the romantic "Wanna Dance With You," a reggae number, and "Cala Luna," a moody instrumental. "The Trouble with Normal" is a rich testament to Bruce Cockburn's timeless, sophisticated sound-and worldview. Produced by Eugene Martynec.



Known comments by Bruce Cockburn about this album, by date:

Editor's note: TRUE NORTH:TNMD53 is the pressing with the bonus track "Cala Luna" on it. The True North version has the re-recorded version of the title track, "The Trouble with Normal" [3:17], that Bruce apparently made when dissatisfied with the original recording. If you want to hear the original recording of the song, "The Trouble with Normal" [3:35], you need to get the COLUMBIA 48750 pressing of this album that does not have "Cala Luna". Are we clear now?! :-)

2002: Cala Luna is included in the bonus tracks on the Rounder Records re-release of "The Trouble With Normal" 19 November 2002.

The Trouble With Normal was also released in Germany on Plane Records and that release contains an previously unreleased instrumental called Cala Luna.


  • Unknown date

    [For a few albums you became quite political in focus, why has that changed recently?]

    "I think it's a result of not traveling but also out of a desire to not keep repeating myself. I don't think it's necessary to keep on saying the same things even though they still may be true. I can stay involved in certain issues without them coming out in songs. The same process I just described went into writing the political songs as well. If I'm not working with those sort of things for a period of time, or if I'm still working but the novelty's worn off(laughs), then I don't produce those types of songs anymore. It requires a fair amount of emotional justice to get those type of songs going. Let me add to that, the fact, though I didn't think of it at the time, Trouble With Normal, Stealing Fire, and World Of Wonders seemed to be a sort of trilogy. After doing those it seemed like I have said enough about the North-South things. At least until a new experience gives me something to add to it."

    -- from "Bruce Cockburn: The Soul of a Man", by Michael Case, Umbrella magazine, date unknown. Submitted by Nigel Parry.

  • Circa 1986

    "General concern became focused on Central America at this point, partly through reading (e.g. early poems of Ernesto Cardenal), then, most dramatically, as a result of travel to the region. Did I get "politicized"? There's an "-ism" and an "-ized" for everything, and none of them mean that much to me. If what government does affects a person's life as much as their work does or their lover does, then it seems to me it's equally fair game for comment in a song."
    -- from the World Of Wonders Tour Program, circa 1986. Submitted by Rob Caldwell.


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    Albums Index

    This page is part of The Cockburn Project, a unique website that exists to document the work of Canadian singer-songwriter and musician Bruce Cockburn. The Project archives self-commentary by Cockburn on his songs and music, and supplements this core part of the website with news, tour dates, and other current information.