Gordon Lightfoot on how he writes a song, 1967: CBC Archives | CBC
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- Опубліковано 29 лис 2011
- In this clip from 1967, legendary Canadian singer/songwriter Gordon Lightfoot describes how he finds the words to match his soulful melodies. Bob Dylan once said that when he heard a Gordon Lightfoot song he wished "it would last forever." For more classic clips, go to www.cbc.ca/archives
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Gordon Lightfoot on how he writes a song, 1967: CBC Archives | CBC
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Rest in peace, Gordon Lightfoot, poetic and musical legend. Condolences to his loved ones and all friends in the land up North.
Thank you. He was our poet troubador - we thought he'd live forever. We are absolutely bereft.
In my humble opinion, if you could read my mind, is a perfect song, the words, the music, the structure and shape of the thing, a masterpiece
2:34 Wow ! Gordon actually writes the notes down in solfege. A true singer-guitarist-songwriter-lyricist !
RIP Gordon Lightfoot - May 2023, singer, songwriter and poet extraordinaire.
Gordon was a poet , writer , singer guitarist .GENIUS IS SOMETHING YOUR BORN WITH - IT CANT BE TAUGHT IN SCHOOL .
I like what Bob Dylan said about Gordons songs, "wish they would go on and on, like some great movies" 🤗🤗
Fascinating to see him at this young age of about 29 and reenacting the process of writing a song. Just saw him a week ago in Tarrytown, New York. He's quite a different person now at age 78, frail lbut still a great storyteller and funny, too. He commented in concert that many of his songs a verse or two can be lopped off and it's not much different, but not so for the likes of The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald. One of the greatest songwriters ever. When listening, I want his songs to go on forever, as Bob Dylan said.
Handsome man. He is right. Writing is about observation, close observation of life. And yes, sometimes you think of an idea right before bed, or if you are really lucky, you wake up with the tune in your head.
Wow, so glad you confirmed that for me.
Never underestimate the importance of the songwriting shades to songwriter's creative process.
Wow, I had no idea he was this handsome…I have only ever seen photos from the past 20 years
This too is Gord's Gold.
It's just amazing how talented one person can be. Singer, songwriter, poet, artist, musician. And he's STILL rockin'. ❤❤❤
Thank you
He passed away May 1, 2023, age 84.
And, gorgeous.
@Tammy Lewis
Actually, I think it was April 30th but it was announced on May 1st. Either way, may his soul rest in peace 🙏🙏🙏.
@@sweetcaroline2060 Somehow I feel like I heard the announcement before it was a big announcement. I was thinking, “I heard that last night”, at the time it broke big.
Nice to hear the progression of ideas from Gordon. Also, to see his notation of the melody. As well as his talent as a guitarist and singer, he was knowledgeable about music arranging. Now that he has passed, all those beautiful songs are his legacy to the world.
One day, circa 1977, I drove down to the big city and called on Gordon at his home in Rosedale.. At that time, I was a photographic student from KW who wanted to do a photojournalistic piece on him. He invited me in and spent a half hour, explaining why this could not happen in the immediate future. As he sat by his piano in the front parlour, he took time to explain that he was currently planning an extensive tour and that his time was committed to be away for far too many months than I had left in school, to do this project. That day, I had left my Leica's in the car and had therefore come away with no photographs. But I did come away with an utmost respect for this kind and gentle person, whom I had been a long-time fan of, ever since my vice principal, whose office i was a frequent visitor of, back in 1970, had first turned me on to Gordon's music. Years later, my wife and I had seen Gordon in concert, just him and his guitar, and re-affirmed our utmost respect for his incredible talent. His CD was loaded in my car's player, before and on, the day that he had passed away. The memories and his music be enjoyed well into our future. Thank you Gordon. You were truly a humble and an extraordinary man and, as my experience proves, as forthright as seen in this CBC clip.
That's nice to hear about.. Thanks. Do you still do the photography? Are your photos online, would be cool to see any thanks
He was on top of the world in 1967. Young, married to a lovely lady, two little kids and 2 great albums released
and then Cathy Smith came along, and it was "sundown you better take care
if I find you been creepin' 'round my back stairs..." lolll
@@Gabrielishere there's a lot more to that story. I wish she would've had the opportunity to give her side of what happened with Belushi. Which apparently was set up and arranged by LA's narcotics unit.
@@ronzombie6541 Oh wow... will research.
i recall an interview with Gordon saying "If you could read my mind" was written at the time of his marriage breakdown and his producer convinced him to lighten up and change the sentiment. He did and we got a great song.
Rest in Peace Gordon, you were truly one of the best songwriters in the history of the entire world and this video shows why you were so great. I'm glad that I found this amazing video. I loved your music and I will miss you so very much, a legend!
8:23am, 05/15/2023
I can die happy. I've seen Gordon Lightfoot in pajamas.
He was so handsome.
I have always loved Gordon Lightfoot's music he is a very awesome and unique storyteller.
The reading light above the bed is brilliant!!!
A very talented man..
Wow, he really writes music!
Thankfully there was a random cameraman creeping in his bedroom as he was going to sleep as he had an idea for a song so we could see it.. :)
@dutchman063 ... "creeping 'round my back stairs…"
@@eemoogee160 Maybe about... say Sundown
It's great to see a young Gordon, I was young too. His music was a constant in my life. Thanks Gord❤
We were all young at one time. I still say on my birthday : "I'm 54 years YOUNG".
His music offered a passport into parts of history and all of the human condition. His work is woven through the permanent fabric of Canadian culture and the global quilt of folk music.
His final record “Solo” can now be considered a beautiful closing chapter on a wonderful book of music.
We were so lucky to have this creative ARTIST in our midst.
Very cool for Lightfoot fans. Thanks for this,,,
Love his Southern Ontario twangy voice!
I didn't know we had twangy voices. I guess it's all in your aural perspective, where you come from.
You have no idea how much Gordon is stuck in my brain😻
I'll bet that I do know. 😏
I counted and in my Apple play list I have 17 Lightfoot songs…out of about 220. I’d say that’s a very good ration.
What a.wonderfull smart man....God bless you Gordon
More! Would love to see a series like this, where musicians/songwriters are at home, talking about their creative process.
I get drunk... Then write when sober... Or drinkng coffee.. Hank sr. Used to get drunk..😁
+1
WNEW-FM radio host Vin Scelsa used to invite three or four musicians to discuss songwriting at the New York's Bottom Line club. He had some memorable shows with a host of musical luminaries
Thanks for the music Gordon!
He was a true legend! May he rest in eternal peace!
The song he was writing here is one of my favorite of his early songs.
Which song is it ? I didn't recognise the lyrics.
@@gastondeveaux3783 Pussywillows & Cat Tails.
I always thought he was ruggedly handsome in his younger years.
Now that's an amazing process. Wake up with a line in ur head, and write it down somewhere, relating it to a melody. I do the reverse. A melody comes into my head, a rough idea of instrumentation enters my mind. Only a few weeks later does lyrics begin to be typed into my notes app on my phone.
This is great - had no idea this was in existence
RIP Gordon. ❤
Gordon Lightfoot always seemed to have a certain mystique. He is a once in a generation singer-songwriter, 12 string guitar virtuoso. RIP Gordon.
Legend.
Look at how young he is! *sigh*
You know he’s about to get serious when he puts on his sunglasses.
I am going to miss this man. RIP Gordon. You are a Canadian National treasure.
Canadian Icon. RIP. 🙏
There was so much more to come!
Fascinating. It's interesting to me how the song evolves.
This is an awesome video. Especially for someone trying to better their writing skills. Gordon is on point here❤
Can't write va song in the middle of the night without sunglasses!
oh god this is so cool
Enjoyed this!
conoci su música en los 70, me cautivo de inmediato, bellos sus temas, aun que solo llegó a mis oidos if you could read my mind, sundown y wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Con los años me adentré mas en conocer sobre su vida e interpretaciones.....y todo por medio de youtube
Great clip! 🙂
Rest In Peace
Phenomenal human being!❤
Will always love this guy. He is a genius. RIP
RIP Gordon. Thank you for the incredible music. The world is a much lonelier place without you.😥
He was quite handsome
Hottie!
He’s the best 💕
Always handsome.
Gordon.🌟
What a legend. Seems like Gordon Lightfoot was around since time began. A beautiful, brilliant, timeless artist.
this is so cool
Beautiful songs. All my life ive heard them. My uncles dog was named sundown. Peace
What a cool guy. RIP.
RIP Gordon........ hope your journey on the Carefree Highway rocks
Sehr sympathischer Sänger! Kein Musiker hat meine Art Gitarre zu spielen so geprägt wie er!
It also helps to have a beautiful heart.. and an excellent ear. I live very close to the city he was raised in, worked there for years and always wondered if I would ever see him. Of course he lived somewhere else by then, but Orillia sure is proud of Gordon Lightfoot. And, you many not realize it but Glenn Gould spent his youth just outside Orillia on the same lake at his families cottage.. There are videos of GG walking and conducting not 10 minutes from town.
Wow, cool!!!
Make no mistake, it’s the shades that make the man.
When Bob Dylan is praising your songwriting, you're doing something right. RIP Gordon
that is just not important. Bob Dylan. NEITHER of them need the others recognition to be solid and no artist does. Irrelevant to any artist is what artist likes them. Not at all what matters. It's like when someone says about a new guitarist, that they are the next hendrix...
@@morbidmanmusic Bob Dylan saying something about your songwriting may not decide whether you’re good or not - but it sure doesn’t make you feel bad.
Gordon Lightfoot learned about songwriting from Bob Dylan, but Dylan never treated Lightfoot like a protégé. Rather, they were friends and contemporaries.
That was pretty cool ..that was different and interesting... it would have been cool if they did that for a whole bunch of artists and writers Comedians filmmakers and all that
Very interesting.
REST IN PEACE Mr. LIGHTFOOT!
This is so cool. RIP to the Greatest Canadian…..
a life in the arts, well lived.
It seems that to be born Gord, or Gordon, or Gordie in Canada places one under the light of an auspicious star (sounds like the making of an intriguing NFB doc!). 'We' all know that Mr. Lightfoot is an icon, a legend, a treasure, and many more like qualifiers, but sometimes it seems that we too complacently accept this and don't pay attention to the profundity of his presence in national culture and psyche. Yes, he was once THE Canadian pop star and remained so with his entirely idiosyncratic sound and compositional style, and this is no small feat. As far as I know he was the first Canadian to have a song banned on American radio stations ('Black Day in July') and set the mode for such other 'counter imperial' poems as 'American Woman' and Young's 'Ohio'. He still lays claim to the one truly national epic ballad (The Canadian Railroad Trilogy) and to being the proletarian poet laureate of the true north, capable of an unembellished posey that is richer for its clarity. His personification of Lake Superior as 'sing[ing] in the rooms of her ice water mansion' is but one example...who could ever eroticize that vast, ostensibly indifferent lake so? And he was moved by music and feeling, not fame. If ever there was a grizzled White Knight of the Great White North it is he. We dub thee Sir Gordon - no - LORD Gordon - of Pre-Cambrian Shield!
Very good.
Black day in July is a good example of his best songwriting around this time
Rest in peace Gordon!❤
He was an influence on the chorus to Duran Duran's Save a Prayer, one of the best songs ever made.
Interesting! Thanks
I'm a fan of both but, I must interject, you couldn't find two musical styles more further apart - in style and times.
interesting! was he a musical or a lyrical influence?
@@georgesonm1774 Musical. The chorus on Save a Prayer is from If you could read my mind.
@@boke75 That's true. Cool that you like both.
genius
When Gordon was young and hip Nico was looking for a song to make her famous before her Velvet Underground days after she had been in movies. She recorded Gordon's tune "I'm Not Sayin'". She ended up recording "These Days" by Jackson Browne too. Gordon of course kept writing tunes. So many classics.
She did record Gordon's "I'm Not Sayin'" as her first single in 1965, two years before she recorded "These Days."
@@bigsby1 Thanks. Didn't know that. I'll change my post ;)
Watching this made me think of a song called Eid Ma Clack Shaw by Bill Callahan
This is great. So where's the rest of it?
Icon
RIP his talent.
Look at all of the musical talent that is born and raised in Canada. Mitchell, Lightfoot, Healy, Cohen, the list goes on and on. Bachman and all of the musicians that came out of that Winnepeg connection, Burton Cummings. For a nation that has only a population of what 30-40 million, so many talented people come from there. Neil Young. I think that says something about the nation as a whole. I don't exactly what it says, but it is only good.
Robbie Robertson & The Band: Richard Manuel, Garth Hudson, Rick Danko (Levon was from Arkansas!). Buffy Saint-Marie. Ian and Silvia. Bryan Adams. Can you think of others?
@@bobwerner6967 How can you guys forget RUSH ?
@@rarefiedtennis4777 Great point. I think we were talking about the singer/songwriters, but RUSH is a very worthy inclusion. Thanks!
When he speaks he sounds like John Corbett
Artists like Lightfoot can talk all day long about their techniques and methodologies. At the bottom line, however, Lightfoot was just endowed with natural talents that very few possess.
The ultimate student of life
What part do the shades play in the process?
Shades were to hold all the brightness in!
❤️🇨🇦🌎🇺🇲🙏
❤️🔥✨R.I.P. 🥀✨🙏🏽
Maybe...after decades, he noticed he was the only one around that stood the test of time...and realized he was a genius. He was a Living Treasure of the world. It's a much dimmer place now.
April 2023 👍❤️🇨🇦
Notice how Gordon Lightfoot actually puts notes on music paper. THAT'S writing music.
Herbert Wells well you can’t really say that if you don’t write musical notes then it’s not music.
Adam Keenan 🤔🤔🤔where do people like you, come from?
Yes and John Lennon wrote all over the paper with words ..... It makes no difference !!
Gatekeeper of career you don't do.
what... did people stop. By the way.. Beatles and stones didn't... are they did not write music in your eyes? That is just stupid... music works many ways. Yes, I write and use paper too... other great musicians don't also..
2:47 why the jump scare at the end???
"The bigger the city, the better I like it."
Present-day Toronto would have changed his mind.
Cities where desirable back then not so now with the world in the state of a melt down so more are moving out of the city and going back to nature to breath again and have peace of mind.
Can we see the full doc. on this
Now here he's playing a Gibson guitar, a Dixie Hummingbird, but on stage it's almost always a Martin for his 6 string.
he also plays his famous Gibson B45 or B50 12 strings
Here is an example of a singer whose spoken voice does not sound like their recorded voice.
I know, it's crazy how he could turn that deep baritone on like a switch!
Goodbye, friend.
Wow, Gordo in bed and wearing PJs. More than I bargained for when I clicked on a songwriting video.
He was definitely ahead of his time; now everyone wears PJs in public.
@@tammylewis2408 🤣🤣🤣🤣
👌🎼🎶👌
Gord was a babe back in the day, but I am shocked that a grown man in 1967 wouldn’t have at least a double bed. RIP