If You Could Read My Mnd
Weird, isn't it? Someone brings up a topic in the blogosphere and suddenly it's off to the races. So, I found this item on Memeorandum from Powerline about Gordon Lightfoot:
Last week the Wall Street Journal ran Joanne Kaufman's profile of Gordon Lightfoot (subscribers only). Kaufman introduced Lightfoot as a performer with the kind of square, albeit eccentric, admirers who might have been fans of Lawrence Welk in an earlier era:
In the last week and a half, John Corcoran, an otherwise completely normal-seeming middle-aged guy turned up at nine out of 10 Gordon Lightfoot concerts. The owner of an oil and gas business in Traverse City, Mich., Mr. Corcoran, 52, beamed as the Toronto troubadour performed classic fare like "Beautiful," "Rainy Day People," "Carefree Highway" and his signature "If You Could Read My Mind" in Torrington, Conn.; Easton, Harrisburg, Glenside and Wilkes-Barre, Pa.; Sparta and Red Bank, N.J; Peekskill, N.Y., and here in a sold-out gig at the 1,495-seat Town Hall.
Mr. Corcoran's wife, Peggy, is tolerant. ("She knows Gordon is 68, and he's not going to be touring much longer. So she says, 'It's not heroin, booze or another woman.'")
His three children are bemused, his friends derisive. "I get unrelenting [abuse] from them. They call me a 'Lighthead,'" confided Mr. Corcoran, who as an 18-year-old became acquainted with the baritone voice and sugared folk melodies of Mr. Lightfoot and has seen him in concert some 300 times.
"I'm a little nuts. I'm a lot nuts," he amended as he stood outside Town Hall in a fever of anticipation. "All I know is that in the midst of the madness of this world it's my therapy. The music touches my heartstrings."
I identify completely. I've been a fan of Lightfoot's since I was a teenager. I saw him perform at Dartmouth, if I'm not mistaken, in the winter of 1970 right after "Sit Down, Young Stranger" had been issued (as it was originally called, before Warners renamed it "If You Could Read My Mind" for obvious reasons).
Which then cites a post by Ed Morrisey riffing off Scott Johnson's post.
I've always liked Lightfoot, but I don't think I really appreciated him until John McDonald at Newsbeat1 gave me a gift of Lightfoot's music on a trip to Canada. I took the opportunity to listen to his most well-known songs, and not just the biggest charters. Songs like Canadian Railroad Trilogy and Steel Rail Blues reminded me most of Croce, with his evocative lyrics and wistful guitar perfectly complementing his voice, reminding us of days gone by. Had Croce lived and Lightfoot had not already written the perfect sea-chanty memorial The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, I imagine Croce would have filled the void.
My favorite Lightfoot songs, though, are the ones I have known for decades: Carefree Highway, If You Could Read My MInd, and Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. They all explore loss in one way or another; the last in obvious and compelling grief for real-life victims, and the first two for the end of love. Carefree Highway looks back at a relationship that failed, and the bitter lessons of not knowing what you have when you have it:
In the interest of piling on here, I'd like to add this. I have been a huge fan of Gordon Lightfoot's music for a long, long time. Or at least of his earlier music, I haven't really kept up with Gord's later career. But back in the day, through the '70s and early '80s I listened to a lot of Gordon Lightfoot. If You Could Read My Mind was one of the first songs I learned to play on the guitar. But I also loved - no, still love - a lot of his less well known songs. Captain Ed mentions a few of his songs that are favorites like Canadian Railroad Trilogy (interesting time changes - a bit hard to master when playing), but leaves out others like High and Dry (a riot to play, especially if you have a rowdy group jamming) and Christian Island.
I'm sailing down the summer wind
I got whiskers on my chin
And I like the mood I'm in
As I while away the time of day
In the lee of Christian Island
Tall and strong she dips and reels
I call her Silver Heels
And she tells me how she feels
She's a good old boat and she'll stay afloat
Through the toughest gales and keep smilin'
But for one more day she would like to stay
In the lee of Christian Island
There's a way to paint a picture with words. Gordon Lightfoot at his best could do that. Like the picture he paints with an early song of his that is one of my favorites: Early Morning Rain.
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Captain's Quarters — May 8, 2007 @ 5:02 am
By Quilly Mammoth, May 7, 2007 @ 10:22 pm
How I first learned the song __Way back in the day__:
(there are other versions)
Got a letter in the mail
Go to war or go to jail
Got a letter in the mail
In the early morning rain
I packed my bags, I kissed my wife
And headed for the Army life
I packed my bags, I kissed my wife
In the early morning rain
I told my son not to cry
But I had tears in my eyes
I told my son not to cry
In the early morning rain
With my weapon in my hand
And a pocket full of sand
With my weapon in my hand
In the early morning rain
Got the enemy to my front
And the ocean to my rear
Wounded dying’s all I hear
In the early morning rain
As I’m laying here to rest
Caught a bullet in the chest
Even though I’ve done my best
In the early morning rain
Tell my darling not to cry
Cause I’ll never say good-bye
Tell my one and only son
Theres still battles to be won
Always hold your head up high
As a soldier passes by……..
By wheels, May 8, 2007 @ 12:07 pm
I’m working on learning to play several of my favorites of his: Pussywillows, Cattails, Canadian Railroad Trilogy, and Did She Mention My Name.
Others will be worked on eventually. Of course, they don’t sound quite the same on my ukulele …