“If You Could Read My Mind”

Sometimes, I Thought Gordon Lightfoot Could!

I know I said I was a KLIF, KBOX, and KFJZ listener for “pop” music during the 1960s and 1970s and wasn’t much into “easy listening” stations and songs, but one singer always caught my attention, even when he was not always carried by the more teens and twentiesoriented stations. This man, a balladeer, had a beautiful, nostalgic, longing, dreamy voice and said things that made a difference and concerned things about which I was concerned. GORDON MEREDITH LIGHTFOOT, JR. embraced and touched personally a music that could have been FOLK, POP, EASY LISTENING, and possibly even ROCK.

He was a Canadian (born in Ontario) and was still touring and singing the first part of this year, and one of his well-known and usual songs was “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” which is the re-living/recounting tale of the sinking of a vessel in the Great Lakes. It was an iron-ore vessel on Lake Superior in 1975; all 29 crew members tragically died. Lightfoot, when asked later, said this hit song should be at the top of the list for understanding Gordon Lightfoot songs.

Another well-known and pretty universally liked number is “If You Could Read My Mind,” which detailed in part the failure of his marriage.

Three more greats are “Early Morning Rain” and “Rainy Day People” and “Carefree Highway.”

You have probably gathered by now that Mr. Lightfoot has passed on rather suddenly after earlier in April cancelling his 2023 remaining engagements due to “health problems.”

In 1974, this Canadian writer/performer released a song, titled “Sundown,” which he said was partially suggested by his viewing of a setting sun at the best time of day—sundown at dusk, a term my “country” relatives used frequently right before dark! What made this song even better, in my opinion, was/is that it told about his once-upon-a-time girlfriend, a good but back-up singer, who later had a harsh brush with the “law.”

On another happier note, “Canadian Railroad Trilogy” (1967) is/was performed by school choirs and is almost a national anthem for Canada, and a leading performer, Geddy Lee, spoke of Lightfoot as Canada’s Poet Laureate; Tom Cochrane (musician), in a documentary said that if Canada had a Mount Rushmore, Lightfoot would be on it!

Lightfoot played a 12-string guitar and had a voice that was not bass but a rich baritone, and he joined in the rising popularity of Canadian coffee-house performers, who were making names for themselves during the ‘60s and ‘70s. Considered with Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, and Neil Young (all story-tellers supreme), I believe Gordon Lightfoot was the best, but that may be because he seemed to enjoy doing and singing about things that interested me and caught my attention—going into the woods, being part of nature, exploring streams and waterways, sometimes being by yourself so that you can THINK.

All was not rosy for this great writer/singer/performer, though, as he fought alcoholism and Bell’s palsy, both of which hurt his creativity and performance abilities. And, in 2002, he was “at death’s door” as a result of an aneurysm in his abdominal aorta.

Fortunately, he made remarkable recoveries from all his maladies and demons and recorded more than twenty more albums and gave much credit to Bob Dylan, who was a great adviser and helped him understand that many things are about “just getting the job done.”

In my opinion, and apparently the opinions of so many more fans, GORDON GOT THE JOB DONE so well so many times!

Interesting Note, Lightfoot was a high school track and field star, setting school records for the pole vault and shot put events, and also was the “starting” nose tackle on his school’s Georgian Bay Championship Team.