When there’s a song you listen to frequently, there comes a point where it just sort of washes over you and you don’t think that much about what the song is saying. What might be my favorite Bruce Cockburn song, “Pacing the Cage”, was running through my head last week when I realized that, holy crap, this song is about my life right now. (Hell, it even has my name in it…sort of.) I had to come up with a version of it. I was thinking of doing another take, but when I watched the video I decided that, though my performance could be better, that of my dog Lili could not.

Sunset is an angel weeping Holding out a bloody sword No matter how I squint I cannot Make out what it’s pointing toward Sometimes you feel like you live too long Days drip slowly on the page You catch yourself Pacing the cage

I’ve proven who I am so many times The magnetic strip’s worn thin And each time I was someone else And every one was taken in Powers chatter in high places Stir up eddies in the dust of rage Set me to pacing the cage

I never knew what you all wanted So I gave you everything All that I could pillage All the spells that I could sing It’s as if the thing were written In the constitution of the age Sooner or later you’ll wind up Pacing the cage

Sometimes the best map will not guide you You can’t see what’s round the bend Sometimes the road leads through dark places Sometimes the darkness is your friend Today these eyes scan bleached-out land For the coming of the outbound stage Pacing the cage Pacing the cage