The Cowboy Junkies approach each album looking to see where they can change or improve. With
Black Eyed Man Michael Timmins wanted to explore music structure, specifically time shifts and tempo shifts. Margo wanted to expand her singing style and her range. Michael states "We also wanted to approach each song individually rather than the whole album being one long song. I wanted this one to have different perspectives in each song." Another change the band made was to record the album over several months instead of in one session. They also decided to try using a new mixture of musicians, instruments, and recording personnel. The band concentrated on two or three songs at a time instead of the album as a whole. Each month they would write and arrange song ideas for the first three weeks, and then on the final week would head into the studio at Grant Avenue Studios in Hamilton, Ontario. One musical choice was to make the album diverse in its arrangements, unlike
The Caution Horses. Each song would have its own unique collection of musicians. The theme to hold the album together was "the lyrical theme of love found, love lost and love betrayed - it was to be the journey of the faceless, nameless and haunted Black Eyed Man," according to Michael Timmins. When the Cowboy Junkies were touring for
The Caution Horses in 1990, they invited
American singer/songwriter
Townes Van Zandt to tour with them. During the tour, Van Zandt wrote "Cowboy Junkies Lament" especially for the band. Michael Timmins returned the favor, penning "Townes' Blues" as a tribute to Van Zandt. The band also cover Van Zandt's "To Live is to Fly" at the end of the album.
John Prine appears as a guest vocalist on "If You Were the Woman and I Was the Man." The band had initially asked
Jimmie Dale Gilmore to duet with Margo, but although he showed up and recorded with the band, his voice was never able to mesh with Margo's. == Track listing ==