
The discography for Canadian rock singer Bruce Cockburn consists of 26 studio albums, 5 live albums, 9 compilation albums, and over 30 singles.
Cockburn was signed to True North Records in 1970, becoming the first artist signed to the label. That same year, he released his self-titled album, which peaked at No. 65 on the RPM Canadian album chart.
Following "Up the Hillside", which reached the Canadian adult contemporary chart, Cockburn experienced a seven-year dry spell on the singles charts until "Wondering Where the Lions Are", his first song to appear on the national singles charts in the United States. It became his highest charting single on the US Billboard Hot 100 and his second song to reach the RPM Top Singles chart after "One Day I Walk", which had entered that listing nearly eight years prior. Cockburn sustained a series of charting singles throughout the 1980s and 1990s in Canada, with several of them reaching the top 50. His highest charting song in his home country was "If a Tree Falls", which peaked at No. 8 in 1989.
Cockburn's albums were released under several labels in the United States, with his first album being carried by Epic Records in 1971. He then switched to Island Records for the US release of In the Falling Dark which was sustained through Further Adventures Of. Millennium Records agreed to handle the release of his records in the United States beginning with Dancing in the Dragon's Jaws. Cockburn switched over to Gold Mountain Records for The Trouble with Normal, which was not officially released in the US until 1985. Nothing but a Burning Light in 1991, Columbia Records began handling the releases of Cockburn's albums outside of Canada.
Several of Cockburn's albums have received certifications from Music Canada, with his Christmas album being certified 6x platinum.
| Title | Peak chart positions | Certifications | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAN |
GER |
US | ||
| Bruce Cockburn (1970) | 65 | – | – | MC: Gold |
| High Winds, White Sky (1971) | 26 | – | – | MC: Gold |
| Sunwheel Dance (1972) | 19 | – | – | MC: Gold |
| Night Vision (1973) | 14 | – | – | MC: Gold |
| Salt, Sun and Time (1974) | 24 | – | – | |
| Joy Will Find a Way (1975) | 34 | – | – | MC: Gold |
| In the Falling Dark (1977) | 44 | – | – | MC: Gold |
| Further Adventures Of (1978) | 65 | – | – | |
| Dancing in the Dragon's Jaws (1979) | 22 | – | 45 | MC: Platinum |
| Humans (1980) | 32 | – | 81 | MC: Gold |
| Inner City Front (1981) | 20 | – | – | MC: Gold |
| The Trouble with Normal (1983) | 14 | – | – | MC: Gold |
| Stealing Fire (1984) | 12 | – | 74 | MC: Platinum |
| World of Wonders (1986) | 7 | 48 | 143 | MC: Gold |
| Big Circumstance (1989) | 15 | – | 182 | MC: Gold |
| Nothing but a Burning Light (1991) | 30 | – | – | MC: Gold |
| Christmas (1993) | – | – | – | MC: 6× Platinum |
| Dart to the Heart (1994) | 27 | – | 176 | |
| The Charity of Night (1997) | 70 | – | 178 | MC: Gold |
| Breakfast in New Orleans, Dinner in Timbuktu (1999) | – | – | – | |
| You've Never Seen Everything (2003) | – | – | – | |
| Life Short Call Now (2006) | – | – | – | |
| Small Source of Comfort (2011) | – | – | – | |
| Bone On Bone (2017) | 34 | – | – | |
| Crowing Ignites (2019) | – | – | – | |
| O Sun O Moon (2023) | – | – | – | |
| The Blood of Others (2026) | – | – | – | |
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions |
|---|---|---|
| Can | ||
| Circles in the Stream | 1977 Deluxe edition reissued 2005 |
91 |
| Bruce Cockburn Live | 1990 Deluxe edition reissued with additional track 2002 |
47 |
| You Pay Your Money and You Take Your Chance | 1997 | – |
| Bruce Cockburn—Live on World Cafe | 2002 bonus disc from Borders Books and Music |
– |
| Slice O Life—Solo Live | 2009 | – |
| Title | Year | Can |
US |
|---|---|---|---|
| Resume | 1981 US only |
– | 174 |
| Mummy Dust | 1981 originally released in Canada only |
43 | – |
| Rumours of Glory | 1985 Germany only |
– | – |
| Waiting for a Miracle: Singles 1970–1987 | 1987 Canadian version is two discs, US version is one |
18 | – |
| If a Tree Falls | 1990 Australia only |
– | – |
| Anything Anytime Anywhere: Singles 1979–2002 | 2002 | – | – |
| Speechless | 2005 instrumental compilation; includes 3 new recordings |
– | – |
| Greatest Hits 1970-2020 | 2021 no new material was released on this album |
– | – |
| Rarities | 2022 Collection of unreleased tracks and remastered tracks |
– | – |
| Title | Release date | Media | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bruce Cockburn Live - Rumours of Glory | 1984 | VHS, Beta | Cineplex Corp. |
| Bruce Cockburn Full House 1986 Hamburg TV show | 2005 | DVD | |
| Bruce Cockburn Pacing the Cage: The Feature Documentary | 2013 | DVD | True North Records |
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAN |
CAN AC |
AUS |
GER |
US Hot 100 |
US Mainstream Rock |
US Modern Rock | |||
| 1970 | "Going to the Country" | — | 4 [1] | — | — | — | — | — | Bruce Cockburn |
| "Musical Friends" | — | 26 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1971 | "One Day I Walk" | 64 | — | — | — | — | — | — | High Winds, White Sky |
| 1972 | "It's Going Down Slow" | — | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | Sunwheel Dance |
| "Up on the Hillside" | — | 21 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1973 | "Mama Just Wants to Barrelhouse All Night Long" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Night Vision |
| 1975 | "Burn" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Joy Will Find a Way |
| 1977 | "I'm Gonna Fly Someday" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | In the Falling Dark |
| 1978 | "Laughter" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Further Adventures Of |
| 1979 | "Wondering Where the Lions Are"[2] | 39 | 6 | 92 | — | 21 | — | — | Dancing in the Dragon's Jaws |
| 1980 | "Tokyo" | 44 | 36 | — | — | — | — | — | Humans |
| 1981 | "Rumours of Glory" | — | 36 | — | — | 104 | — | — | |
| "Fascist Architecture (I'm Okay)" | — | 1 [3] | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "The Coldest Night of the Year" | 42 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Mummy Dust | |
| 1982 | "You Pay Your Money and You Take Your Chance" | — | 19 | — | — | — | — | — | Inner City Front |
| 1983 | "The Trouble With Normal" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | The Trouble with Normal |
| 1984 | "Lovers in a Dangerous Time" | 25 | 8 | — | — | — | 56 | — | Stealing Fire |
| "Making Contact" | 74 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "If I Had a Rocket Launcher" | 49 | — | — | — | 88 | 16 | — | ||
| 1985 | "Peggy's Kitchen Wall" | 88 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1986 | "People See Through You" | 37 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | World of Wonders |
| "Call It Democracy" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "See How I Miss You" | 81 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1987 | "Waiting for a Miracle" | 50 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | Waiting for a Miracle |
| 1989 | "If A Tree Falls" | 8 | — | 41 | — | — | — | 20 | Big Circumstance |
| "Don't Feel Your Touch" | 43 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Shipwrecked at the Stable Door" | 92 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1991 | "A Dream Like Mine" | 16 | 5 | 175 | 87 | — | — | 22 | Nothing but a Burning Light |
| 1992 | "Great Big Love" | 27 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Mighty Trucks of Midnight" | 67 | 12 | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Somebody Touched Me" | 49 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1994 | "Listen for the Laugh" | 18 | 9 | — | — | — | — | — | Dart to the Heart |
| "Scanning These Crowds" | 42 | 21 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1995 | "Someone I Used to Love" | — | 36 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1997 | "Night Train" | 25 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | The Charity of Night |
| 1999 | "Last Night of the World"[2] | — | 28 | — | — | — | — | — | Breakfast in New Orleans, Dinner in Timbuktu |
Notes