My Top 1000 Songs #561: Wondering Where The Lions Are

[I've been writing up my Top 1000 songs on a daily basis--you can see them all in descending order by hitting the All My Favorite Songs tag.]

Folk-rock singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn is one of those artists I take for granted. I've got a lot of his records, but rarely pull them out; yet every time I do, I immediately realize I need to spend more time listening to Bruce Cockburn.

The one song of his, however, which has never been far from front-of-mind is "Wondering Where The Lions Are," off 1979's Dancing In The Dragon's Jaws. Something about the pastoral, jangly track is simply magical--I have no idea when or where I first heard it, but it just feels like I've always known this song. It's one of those tunes I'll always toss onto a mixtape/playlist for a broad crowd, hard to imagine anyone not loving it, and it nestles comfortably alongside more contemporary mainstays on these mixes like Aimee Mann and Wilco and Josh Ritter.

Solo acoustic live, 2011: