Any Gordon Lightfoot Fans Here?

[Quixote1818]

I was just wondering if I am one of the few people who think Gordon Lightfoot is the greatest singer/songwriter of all time. Of course it all comes down to taste but Lightfoot's music seems to speak directly to my soul. I am kind of the outdoor, artist type so songs of nature, romance and country living are what do it for me. I also like Dan Fogelberg, John Denver, James Taylor, Jim Croci, Joni Mitchell, Cat Steven's, Janis Ian and Judy Collins. Anyone else have a similar taste in music?

I saw Lightfoot in concert two years ago in Grand Junction. I was the youngest person their I think. I am only 35 but his music was popular when I was very young.

A few Favorite Lightfoot songs:

Shadows
Song for a Winter's Night
Minstrel of the Dawn
Approaching Lavender
If you could read my mind
Beautiful
Sundown
Baby Step Back
Circle of Steal
This list could go on for a mile

Some other favorite songs

Wisteria - Fogelberg
As the Raven Fly's - Fogelberg
Anne's Song - Denver
Help me I think I am falling - Joni Mitchell
Both Side's Now - Judy Collins

[6000eliot]

1. I love "Sundown"

Also, "Carefree Highway."

[Sporadicus]

2. With a Name Like Yours, I'm Surprised You Didn't Include This One

Don Quixote

Through the woodland, through the valley
Comes a horseman wild and free
Tilting at the windmills passing
Who can the brave young horseman be
He is wild but he is mellow
He is strong but he is weak
He is cruel but he is gentle
He is wise but he is meek
Reaching for his saddlebag
He takes a battered book into his hand
Standing like a prophet bold
He shouts across the ocean to the shore
Till he can shout no more

I have come o’er moor and mountain
Like the hawk upon the wing
I was once a shining knight
Who was the guardian of a king
I have searched the whole world over
Looking for a place to sleep
I have seen the strong survive
And I have seen the lean grown weak

See the children of the earth
Who wake to find the table bare
See the gentry in the country
Riding off to take the air

Reaching for his saddlebag
He takes a rusty sword into his hand
Then striking up a knightly pose
He shouts across the ocean to the shore
Till he can shout no more

See the jailor with his key
Who locks away all trace of sin
See the judge upon the bench
Who tries the case as best he can
See the wise and wicked ones
Who feed upon life’s sacred fire
See the soldier with his gun
Who must be dead to be admired

See the man who tips the needle
See the man who buys and sells
See the man who puts the collar
On the ones who dare not tell
See the drunkard in the tavern
Stemming gold to make ends meet
See the youth in ghetto black
Condemned to life upon the street

Reaching for his saddlebag
He takes a tarnished cross into his hand
Then standing like a preacher now
He shouts across the ocean to the shore
Then in a blaze of tangled hooves
He gallops off across the dusty plain
In vain to search again
Where no one will hear

Through the woodland, through the valley
Comes a horseman wild and free
Tilting at the windmills passing
Who can the brave young horseman be
He is wild but he is mellow
He is strong but he is weak
He is cruel but he is gentle
He is wise but he is meek

[Quixote1818]

9. Actually, it was that song that got me interested in finding out

about Don Quixote. That and finding out that Don Quixote was Thoms Jefferson's favorate novel. But yes, Don Quixote is one of my favorate Lightfoot songs but I could not include them all or the list would go for a mile.

[Bluebear]

3. Too Late For Praying makes me cry (lyrics here)

It was only yesterday
When I heard the teacher say
Patiently, one and two make three
We were children, you and me
Let us pray for the ones they call
The children of today

Nothin' left but promises
Nothin' much is certain
All we see is want and need across the board, why thank you lord
We're livin' in the glory of your care
Skies of blue have all turned brown
To the sound of cryin
Lord abide, let us stem the tide
Of broken dreams
Sometimes you seem to tell us
It's too late for prayin'

See the ocean wild and blue
Think of all that's in her
She will not surrender to the likes of us, but then she must
They tell us, wise men tell us, it's too late
For each child with eyes that smile
There'll be ten more cryin'
Lord abide, let us stem the time
Of helplessness
But then I guess we're livin'
Is it too late for prayin'

Nothin' here but grains of sand
Nothin' much worth savin'
Guess we've all got problems of our own to bear, and still we share
Tomorrow could get better than today
To the ones who've loved in vain
Will ya be beholden
Lord abide, let us stem the tide
Of broken dreams
Sometimes ya seem to tell us
It's too late for prayin'

[Quixote1818]

19. Yes, I played that song in a communications class in collage

I played it while I showed photos of children starving in Africa and India for a small group communications task. It was part of the final presentation and it really brought out the sadness of the photos. Very moving and the way he sings it is just incredible.

[tyedyeto]

4. I enjoy his music and the others you listed...n/t

[Arkana]

5. I love Gordon Lightfoot

My favorites:

Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
If It Should Please You
Ghosts of Cape Horn
Race Among the Ruins
Cherokee Bend
Don Quixote

Lyrics to my favorite:

"Cherokee Bend"

His daddy was a man who could never understand
The shame on a red man's face
So they lived in the hills and they never came down
But to trade in the white man's place

Early in the spring when the snow had disappeared
They came down with a bag of skins
The fall of the year of 1910
Daddy died by the rope down in Cherokee Bend

Daddy didn't like what the white man said
'Bout the dirty little kid at his side
Daddy didn't like what the white man did
Nor the deal nor the way that he lied

There was blood on the floor of the government store
When the men took his daddy away
Then the boy came back and he come to his end
And he run like the wind from Cherokee Bend

Well the mother was alone and the winter was at hand
And she prayed to her spirit kin
It was warm in the lodge in the Kentucky hills
On the day when the boy came in

Then the blizzard came down and it covered up the door
Till they thought that it never would end
And he told her the tale of the terrible affair
Of the government store down in Cherokee Bend

Daddy didn't like what the white man said
'Bout the dirty little kid at his side
Daddy didn't like what the white man did
Nor the deal nor the way that he lied

Three long days and three long nights
They wept and they mourned and then
She returned to her work and her weaving
And they tried to forget about Cherokee Bend

Now the boy wasn't big but he had it pretty good
And they lived for a time that way
But the food run low and the meat went bad
And she said to the boy one day

"I'm leaving tonight and I never will return
From the land of my spirit kin
You must take what you need and plead what you can
For a red man's grave down in Cherokee Bend."

It wasn't very long till she closed her eyes
And he wrapped her in a robe
Found her a place on the side of the hill
And he buried her in the snow

Early in the spring he was seen in the town
With his load looking ragged and thin
Not a year had gone by till he stood once again
In the government store down in Cherokee Bend

He was ten years tall and a redskin too
So he hadn't much face to save
And the men sat around and they laughed and they clowned
At the talk of a criminal's grave

And the man from the east didn't smile when he said
"You're the son of that Indian scum
If you value your hide, then you'd better abide
By the white man's rules here in Cherokee Bend."

Daddy didn't like what the white man said
'Bout the dirty little kid at his side
Daddy didn't like what the white man did
Nor the deal nor the way that he lied

And he spit on the floor of the government store
And it served him to no good end
At the close of the deal they had taken him away
To the white man's school down in Cherokee Bend

Been 21 years since the boy disappeared
Where he run to nobody knows
But they say he fell in with a man named Jim
Now he rides in the rodeo

And they say he returns all alone to a place
Hidden deep in the Kentucky glen
And it's pretty well known who hauled up the stone
To the grave on the hill above Cherokee Bend

Daddy didn't like what the white man said
'Bout the dirty little kid at his side
Daddy didn't like what the white man did
Nor the deal nor the way that he lied

There was blood on the floor of the government store
When the men took his daddy away
It was 1910 and they never had a friend
When he died by the rope down in Cherokee Bend

It was 1910 and they never had a friend
When he died by the rope down in Cherokee Bend.

[Quixote1818]

11. Most of your list is from "Gord's Gold 2" In some ways I actually

do prefer "Gord's Gold 2" I really like all the ones you listed. Don't you love the way he brings the Ocean to life? I just want to be inside his songs. He tells a great story. What a genious he is!

[Arkana]

15. I know

My mom and dad saw him in concert, and he played "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald." Sounds fine, right? The concert was outdoors, next to a lake on a cool night, and the fog rolled in over the stage as they were playing it. My mother said it gave her chills.

[Quixote1818]

17. When I finally saw him in concert in Grand Junction

It was like I was in a trance because I was simply in awe! I basically idolize the guy and his music helped he through some very difficult times in my early 20's dealing with my brothers death. Songs like "Wherefore and Why" filled a spiritual void and gave me hope. His music has so much wisdom and depth. It's very powerful.

[Dudley_DUright]

6. Gordon is one of my favorites when I am in an "acoustic" mood

I play along to my "Gord's Gold" CD quite often.

[Quixote1818]

12. You appear to be from Canada as well?

[tuvor]

7. How can you dislike a guy

who's sung every song ever written?

Well, according to an advertisement on SCTV, anyway.

[HEyHEY]

8. HUGE fan right here

[Quixote1818]

10. Is he more popular in Canada?

[HEyHEY]

13. Oh yeah - national icon

[greendog]

14. You should check this out...

...Tony Rice, without a doubt the greatest flatpick guitar player alive, is also a huge fan of Lightfoot. Over the course of his career, he's recorded many of GL's songs.



http://www.acousticmusic.com/fame/p00312.htm

[Quixote1818]

16. Cool, thanks.

[Minstrel Boy]

18. Another Canadian who loves Gord checking in.

Some favourites:

Canadian Railroad Trilogy
Ribbon of Darkness
I'm Not Supposed to Care
Spanish Moss
Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

You may be interested in checking out this recent tribute album, featuring mostly Canadian artists:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000CGOVZ/104-3185824-7605539?v=glance

[Quixote1818]

20. Are you the Minstrel of the Dawn?

[Quixote1818]

22. I listened to that tribute album you posted and it's really good!

I think I will have to buy it now. I could tell each artist seemed to catch the essence of Lightfoot in a way that only a true fan could.

[Shopaholic]

21. You forgot Carefree Highway--

that's a fav of mine. BTW-did y'all know that Dan Fogelberg has what's being termed as "advanced" prostate cancer?

[Quixote1818]

23. Wow, I didn't know that about Fogelberg. We should all e-mail him

and wish him well. Lightfoot was having trouble last year. I hate to think that my two favorite artists are getting near the end with John Denver already gone. Does Fogelberg have a chance?

As to Carefree Highway, I had always wondered if it was inspired by the road called Carefree Highway just north of Phoenix. Sure enough, when I saw him in concert he explained that it was that road.

[saltpoint]

24. My love of his music and respect for his songwriting talent --

-- are both deeply incurable.

Bob Dylan was once asked what he thought of Gordon Lightfoot. Dylan said:

"When I hear one of his songs, I want it to last forever."

Not a bad compliment for one's songwriting.

[RebelOne]

25. I have always been a Gordon Lightfoot fan.

My favorite is If You Could Read My Mind.

[livetohike]

26. I've seen Gordon Lightfoot in concert many times

over the past three decades. I have too many favorite songs, but I can listen to the Don Quixote album a million more times and not get tired of it.

Oh, if pressed, I guess Patriot's Dream, Second Cup of Coffee, and On Susan's Floor, and Carefree Highway are some of my top favorites.

[dbt]

27. Ten Degrees And Colder!

He was standin' by the highway
With a sign that just said 'Mother,'
When he heard the diesel comin'
'Bout a half a mile away.
He held the sign up higher
So no decent soul could miss it.
It was ten degrees and colder
Down by Boulder Dam that day.

:loveya:
dbt

[Mike Daniels]

28. The Simpsons wanted to use "Wreck of the EF" on the show

It turns out "The Simpsons" had initially looked into using "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" in the episode where Bart fakes falling down a well under the guise of Timmy O'Toole. The song would have been used in the commerical for the microphone that Homer eventually buys Bart as a birthday present.

As it turned out, Lightfoot had long signed the royalties or publishing rights of the song away to the surviving family members of all the crew. Consequently, the production/writing staff ended up deciding it would be too much of a logistical and emotional nightmare to approach the families for permission to use the song and ended up using "Convoy" instead.

(Taken from the DVD commentary on that season's Simpons box set)

[Bonhomme Richard]

29. Love listening to and love....................

playing and singing his songs.