Book excerpt: Award-winning songwriter and pioneering guitarist Bruce Cockburn has been shaped by politics, protest, romance and spiritual discovery. He has toured the globe, visiting far-flung places such as Guatemala, Mali, Mozambique, Afghanistan and Nepal, performing and speaking out on important issues, from native rights and land mines to the environment and Third World debt. His journeys have been reflected in his music and evolving styles: folk, jazz, blues, rock and world beat. Drawing from his experiences, he continues to create memorable songs about his ever-expanding universe of wonders. As an artist with thirty-one albums, Cockburn has won numerous awards and the devotion of legions of fans across Canada and around the world. Yet the man himself has remained a mystery. In this memoir, Cockburn invites us into his private world and takes us on a lively cultural and musical tour through the late twentieth century, sharing his Christian convictions, his personal relationships and the social and political activism that has defined him and has both invigorated and incited his fans.