Bruce Cockburn – Wondering Where The Lions Are lyrics

Bruce Cockburn – Wondering Where The Lions Are lyrics

Sun's up, uuh huh, looks okay
The world survives into another day
And I'm thinking about eternity
Some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me.
I had another dream about lions at the door
They weren't half as frightening as they were before
But I'm thinking about eternity
Some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me.
Walls windows trees, waves coming through
You be in me and i'll be in you
Together in eternity
Some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me
Up among the firs where it smells so sweet
Or down in the valley where the river used to be
I got my mind on eternity
Some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me
And I'm wondering where the lions are...
I'm wondering where the lions are...
Huge orange flying boat rises off a lake,
Thousand-year-old petroglyphs doing a double take,
Pointing a finger at eternity
I'm sitting in the middle of this ecstasy
Young men marching, helmets shining in the sun,
Polished as precise like the brain behind the gun
(should be!) they got me thinking about eternity
Some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me
And I'm wondering where the lions are...
I'm wondering where the lions are...
Freighters on the nod on the surface of the bay
One of these days we're going to sail away,
Going to sail into eternity
Some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me
And I'm wondering where the lions are...
I'm wondering where the lions are

Lyrics taken from /lyrics/b/bruce_cockburn/wondering_where_the_lions_are.html

Songwriters: Bruce Cockburn

Wondering Where The Lions Are lyrics © CARLIN AMERICA INC

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Wondering Where The Lions Are meanings

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Unregistered 2012-07-27 15:41:27

It is a song about accepting mortality and the eventuality of death. We are all going to die sometime. The lions represent his fear of death. The ecstasy is the relief and peace that comes when you accept your place in eternity - birth, life and death. He mentions petroglyphs from the ancient past, then makes a reference to young men in the military then says we are going to sail away into eternity (death).

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unbreaker 2016-03-01 23:13:07

In an interview, Bruce Cockburn spoke about writing this song. He had been out to dinner with someone in Ottawa and they were discussing the state of affairs between Russia and China at that time. He learned that Russia and China were potentially on the brink of a nuclear exchange. This is where the opening lines come from - sun's up, looks okay, world survives into another day (which I assume he was pretty thankful for). In addition, at the time he had been having dreams about lions and Bruce Cockburn was. Is very interested in dreams, interpreting his dreams, and specifically Carl Jung's works. (Subsequently, Marion Woodman's work interested him as well and he did some Jungian dream study in the '90s).
The lion symbol is a very interesting one - often associated with wisdom, power, dignity, courage and strength.
Like any poem, the images are supposed to be thought provoking but clearly he is contemplating his personal, mystical connection with life, with others, and the with the world - standing in appreciation of the joy of his emotions. (Some kind of ecstasy's got a hold of me).

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Ericanator 2011-03-09 05:53:50

Music is one of those universal things and as in visual art I believe it is percieved differently by each person. To me this song is about a relationship; a happy relationship that the "protagonist" is wondering/waiting for something to go wrong. I've been in past relationships where all was going so well and I was so happy that it made everything in life seem better, like being in a feeling of ecstasy. It was almost like I was expecting for something to go wrong -happily it never did :) --Although I think the song was actually written about nuclear war.

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