Canadian songwriter Bruce Cockburn's travels to Kandahar came at a significant period during the US war in Afghanistan named Operation Enduring Freedom. That same year, 2009, saw newly appointed President Barack Obama send 17,000 additional American troops to join in the war on terrorism, issuing a formal declaration reaffirming commitment to the conflict. This declaration also meant an increased commitment by the US NATO allies, which includes Canada, Cockburn's home country.

Cockburn's trip was to include a concert for the troops and to see his brother, Captain John Cockburn. The visit ended up leaving a strong impression on him and inspiring a couple of songs that appear on his 24th studio album, Small Source of Comfort.

One of the songs was "Each One Lost," a factual song about witnessing a ceremony for two fallen Canadian soldiers. Another was the song we're discussing today, "Comets of Kandahar."

Kandahar is the second-largest city in Afghanistan, behind only the capital city of Kabul. It's located in southern Afghanistan, east of the Arghandab River. The city is an economically important center of trade in tobacco, fruits and vegetables, sheep, cotton, and silk, not to mention the sizable Afghani hashish and marijuana industry.

Kandahar's historical importance, as well, cannot be overlooked. Alexander the Great laid out the original part of the city in 330 BC. Today, modern Kandahar stands near some of the oldest known locations of human settlements in the world, including an older city important to Achaemenid Empire of the 6th Century BC.

During Operation Enduring Freedom, Kandahar was home to multiple NATO military installations, the Kandahar International Airport, since renamed Ahmad Shah Baba International Airport, with Operation Base Rhino nearby. It was the final of Afghanistan's major cities to resist NATO occupation. That ended in 2001, when Afghani forces, backed by US Special Operations Forces and advisors, drove out the Taliban.

It was, however, still an active combat zone when Cockburn was there. The security of the bases was such that the real risk of that truth shouldn’t be exaggerated. But still Cockburn put himself in harm's way to give the soldiers stationed in Kandahar some much-needed rest and relaxation.

It was while there that Cockburn sat watching the exhaust flames from fighter jets taking off from the nighttime airfield. Combat zones are intentionally dark to prevent mortar and rocket attacks; as such, all Cockburn could see were the jets’ fiery exhaust shooting through the air.

As Cockburn watched, absorbed in the beautiful force of the searing flames, a soldier turned to him knowingly and, indicating the fast-moving fire trails, said, "comets of Kandahar," planting the seed for this song.

"Comets of Kandahar" is an instrumental, and at 4:49, is the longest track on Small Source of Comfort.

-Jeff Suwak
March 28, 2025 Comets of Kandahar Songfacts
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