"This is Baghdad" was inspired by a trip that Cockburn took to Iraq with a group of Americans led by Thomas Gumbleton. Cockburn said it was "an attempt to describe the scene as I saw it, which I've done in many other songs about many other places." "Slow Down Fast" was written as a piece of social commentary that observes topical events in a similar vein to his songs "Call It Democracy" and "Trickle Down".
In a review for AllMusic, critic Thom Jurek wrote, "Those who have followed his career over the past four decades wondered where he would go next, or indeed if there was anywhere he could go. The question has been answered in spades on Life Short Call Now... Life Short Call Now is absent of metonymy or metaphor; it reports from the inside what is, and what should never be with balance, as well as yearning for convergence."
Michael Keefe of PopMatters wrote Cockburn "continues to grow as an artist and to remain relevant as an observer of this rickety old world in which we live." and summarized there are "several standout songs on Life Short, but a few lackluster tracks keep the album just beyond the reach of the upper echelon of Bruce Cockburn releases." Writing for Entertainment Weekly, Beth Johnson called Life Short Call Now a "choppy, though often gorgeously scenic ride" that was "split between pro-love and antiwar songs".
Track listing
All songs written by Bruce Cockburn, except "Tell the Universe", which was written with Julie Wold, Ben Riley, and Steve Lucas.
Hawksley Workman – background vocals ("Mystery", "Slow Down Fast")
Damhnait Doyle – background vocals ("Mystery", "Life Short Call Now", "Different When It Comes to You")
Ani Difranco – background vocals ("See You Tomorrow")
Julie Wolf – background vocals ("Tell the Universe", "To Fit in My Heart")
Orchestra
Violas: Parmela Attariwala, Virginia Barron, Caroline Blackwell, Johnthan Craig, Steve Dann, Kathleen Kajioka, Jeewon Kim, Gary Labovitz, Teng Li, Nick Papadakis, Douglas Perry, Anna Redekop, Christopher Redfield, Angela Rudden, Beverly Spotton, Scott St. John, Josef Tamir, David Willms
Cellos: Maurizio Baccante, Roman Borys, Matt Brubeck, David Hetherington, John Marshman, Paul Widner, Winona Zelenka
Basses: Roberto Occhipinti, Charles Elliot
Technical
Dan Parr – score (preparation)
Jeff McMurrich – string recording engineer
Dennis Patterson – assistant string recording engineer
