“Lovers in a Dangerous Time” is a song by Bruce Cockburn, originally released on his 1984 album Stealing Fire. The song was a Top 40 hit for Cockburn, peaking at No. 25 on the Canadian charts the week of August 18, 1984. In 2005, “Lovers” was named the 11th greatest Canadian song of all time on the CBC Radio One series 50 Tracks: The Canadian Version. (More from Wikipedia)
After a time, he became more political in his beliefs and more polemic in his performances, culminating in his excellent album Stealing Fire (1984). The first single from the album, “Lovers in a Dangerous Time” was inspired by seeing children expressing romantic love in a school playground. His next release from the album was the first overtly political Bruce Cockburn single, “If I Had a Rocket Launcher”. Cockburn wrote this song after visiting Guatemalan refugee camps in Mexico following political unrest in that country.
In light of this next single, “Lovers in a Dangerous Time” was re-interpreted by many as referring to the same Guatemalan refugee crisis that inspired “If I Had a Rocket Launcher”, or to the AIDS epidemic that was beginning to sweep the world in those days. Bruce Cockburn has said that he was pleased by both of these later interpretations.
A tribute album to Bruce Cockburn was released on Intrepid Records in 1991, called Kick at the Darkness. The opening track is a cover of “Lovers in a Dangerous Time” by Barenaked Ladies and was their first major hit in their home country of Canada, helping to launch their career.
(November 2014)
