Interview: Cowboy Junkies Michael Timmins speaks out about new anti-war cd - Page 4

It was such a simple idea, but, probably due to the tension in the air, the passage really struck me. It is a stark and brutal idea: the celebration of war, so endemic in our society, is akin to celebrating the killing of our children. So I wrote the song with that context in mind. After I wrote it, I realized that there were many more layers to the song and idea. One was the futility of being in a band and merely singing songs of protest in the face of such violence, while others must actually endure watching their children go off and die. The other layer was a bit more subtle. The title of the song refers to the rising of the Star of Bethlehem in the December sky. The Star of Bethlehem heralded the coming of Jesus and his message of peace and love and good will toward our fellow man (a message that seems to be completely lost in these times). But it also struck me that, according to Christians, Jesus was sent by his Father to die for our sins. Another father sending his child off to die for what he perceives is the greater good. . . and, man, do we ever sing about that one.

I think it's also important to realize that this killing of our children and singing about it is not the sole preserve of "our side." We've all seen the Palestinian mothers standing proudly in front of flags while holding pictures of their newly martyred suicide-bomber sons. And the endless parade of home videos with Al Qaeda leaders celebrating the acts of the newest martyrs to the cause. There seems to be more than enough insanity to go around.

All fair points, indeed. A quick question about the cd. I noticed that Jeff Bird contributes on this cd as an additional musician. Jeff dates all the way back to contributing on the Trinity Session. How did you come to start working with Jeff and how many Junkies cds has he been on?

We started to scout around for players when we were planning the recording session that was to become The Trinity Session. We wanted a fiddle player and a friend put us on to Jeff. We were to later find out that fiddle was his least favourite instrument, but he seemed to be able to make music come out of anything else we put in his hands or inserted in his mouth. He’s a great player, a beautiful person and nice and quiet on the road. In other words, a perfect sideman. I think he has made an appearance on every Junkies CD since Trinity.

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