Great song. One important typo in the lyrics video, however: it reads "I'm just trying to understand the feelings that you've LEFT" but I believe that actual line is "the feelings that you LACK" (it reads that way on his official website). That's a significant difference in the tone of the song. Just FYI. And I have to say I have really appreciated your music reactions. You are one of the few "reactors" on youtube that don't seem to be doing over-the-top fake stuff or trying to just generate clicks. Your reactions seem genuine and your commentary is thoughtful and not over-the-top. Good stuff.
There are a few typos in the lyrics. I find that most lyric videos that reactors use are full of errors because the people making them are just too stupid and lazy to get it right.
I looked up the lyrics and I can see what your saying; however, I’m not really sure, as to which word is correct. I have always thought it to be “left”; which to me, makes more sense, to the story line, where she has left him and he is trying to cope, with his feelings. If you use “lack” you would be correct in your position. There would quite a difference, to the meaning. It would be instead of him dealing, with his feelings, it would be him wondering why she doesn’t have any feelings, now if ever, for him.
Not only is this my favorite Gordon Lightfoot song, it's one of my Top 10 all time favorite songs. It moves me every time I hear it, and I'm now 67 years old.
For the life of me, I cannot comprehend how anyone can write something this beautiful. A stunning piece of work top to bottom. Gordon was a real treasure. RIP Gord.
It's not his best. His most popular, but not his best. 'Apology', 'Home from the Forest'. 'Spanish Moss', 'Summerside of Life'. 'Stone Cold Sober', 'Early Morning Rain., 'Approaching Lavender, 'Circle of Steel'. 'Bells of the Evening'. Hi'way Songs/;, 'You are What I am', 'Lazy Mornin'. If You Need Me', 'Song for a Winters Eve'. Now and Then',' Ordinary Man', 'I;m Not Supposed to Care, 'Carefree Highway', 'Never Too Close', 'Second Cup of Coffee', 10 Degrees and Getting Colder.' 'Steel Rail Blues', 'Talkin'g In Your Sleep', The Watchman's Gone, Looking at the Rain'. 'Wherefore and Why'. 'Goodbye To Amnabelle',,,
One of Lightfoot's most personal songs, "If You Could Read My Mind" is about the breakup of his first marriage - a common theme in many of his songs. In the liner notes of his boxed set Songbook, he describes it as "a song about the failure of marriage." Lightfoot acknowledged that his infidelity doomed his first marriage, which offers some insight into this song. The lyrics are vivid, likening his story to a paperback novel or an old-time movie Source: Songfacts
The fact is Gordon never fell out of love with his first wife Brita, who is the inspiration for this song and dozens and dozens he wrote before, during and long after their marriage ended. For a myriad of reasons and EXCUSES, past traumas and "devastating experiences", none having to do with Brita, Lightfoot imploded their marriage by habitually committing adultery. It is not excessive to state he went through women sometimes by the dozens in a day or weekend, throughout the marriage. Oddly, he did not cheat on her during their courtship. In fact, he was terrified Brita would leave him. He considered her his best friend and admired her independent, adventurous nature, which he strongly related to. When Brita left him he was devastated. Lay on the floor of their empty home day and night for weeks, only getting up to use the bathroom. He wouldn't eat or drink. Other than to drink more booze -part of the acceleration in his drinking which also contributed to her leaving with their two toddlers. HE tried unsuccessfully, to win her back during the 3 plus year divorce proceedings, even leaving live in love Cathy Smith multiple times for chances to reunite with Brita-which al\ways ended in failure due to his drinking and frightening temper. Throughout Lightfoot's tumultuous years in the whole of the seventies, caused by endless bad choices in relationships, alcoholism that was literally killing him and uncontrollable mood swings that derailed his career, Lightfoot continued to wrote songs for and about Brita-all of them love songs that were no longer scathed with blame Many reflected upon all he'd lost when Brita moved on. There are songs of joy, as well, which celebrate those qualities about her personality he would never find in another woman. There are songs that are odes to her womanhood, celebrating her body not in the simplistic, crude language of modern pop and rock, but harkening back to the poetry of transcendentalists'. Sensual, erotic, and evocative. A night they spent together years after the divorce became such a song: 'Spanish Moss.' a memory of making love to Brita by a sycamore she found surrounded by trees laden with Spanish Moss illuminated in glowing white by the moon. And it was Brita who, despite all he'd done in the past to hurt her and their children, was one of his strongest advocates during his recovery from alcoholism. When finally sober and clear headed he took full responsibility for the destruction of the marriage stating he'd caused "real human trauma" in her and his children. For the rest of his life, he practiced grace and empathy, as well. While living in a Constan t state of repentance. He successfully repaired the relationships with his six children, worked on peaceful relations with the various mothers of those children while continually learning better ways to express anger and co[pe with his deep depression. So much of his rebirth was because of her. For an astomidshi9ng 60 plus years, from their first meeting in Toronto. long before his fame until his own death in 2023, he wrote songs for Brita. But, I think, he'd have much rather have done something else: He would have traded it all in, all the achievements if it meant having her back with him. If only he hadn't blown it all to he)) way back when.
@@harlowrioux5790 Wow. Thank you for all this. I had seen hints of his troubled history, but not this level of detail. Amazing he was still able to write and perform such wonderful songs... and so sad.
Canadian Railroad Trilogy is the more famous track but I think Crossroads is the better song about working across the country. A killer track with just guitar and harmonica.
Yes I think "Canadian Railroad trilogy" has the story telling element you like and it is mostly upbeat. Another sad out of the news story is told in "Black day in July". A really haunting story.
Such an old favorite that didn't actually mean anything to me until I was older and experienced the pain of broken relationship. So a childhood favorite became bitter sweet.
This song takes me back to when I came back from Vietnam and was stationed at Ft. Carson, Colorado. My wife had left me before I got home and I always think of the guys that didn't make it home.
I hope you had some brother or friends to talk it out with. My eldest brother went to Nam, for two tours, and I would go hunting and fishing with him. That was the only time I could get him to open up. And over time, we discussed so much of being alive in the paradise that we can exist in here and now. Like Tao philosophers had said: The things one doesn't understand as hurtful, are a blessing to you - not understanding what worse time you would have had without that experience. An Attitude of Gratitude.
Fun fact. The late, great radio host, Art Bell, was *mad* for Lightfoot. He used his songs as bumper music all the time, etc. Well, Art was all about the paranormal. Anything will do. Well, he got it into his head that these lyrics were quasi-spooky. Like he's literally a ghost watching this woman. So, Art had him on and breathlessly asked what the song was about. Was it ghosts? "No," said Mr. Lightfoot, only so slightly confused. "It was about when my wife and I were separating and I felt distinctly unseen by her." You could almost hear the disappointment in Mr. Bell's voice. Of course, he also thought the Blair Witch film was actual found footage and that those poor kids had died. Usually, he was a pretty smart guy. We all have our moments. RIP Bell. RIP Lightfoot.
Growing up as a kid in the 70s this music will always be special, the story telling back in those days by incredible musical artists was unmatched then and now
Gordon had 4 hits out of 17 albums. He was really loved as artist . Most all of his albums were really good. He usualy had a good audience when ever he played. People lover his songwriting, soft easy going songs attracts a big audience. Many of the songs that was not a hit was loved by his adience and they remembered them.
One of the most artfully produced, performed, and engineered recordings ever, by the songwriters' songwriter. Red Shea plays the second guitar part (all the neat little arpeggios and other highlights) and Nick DeCaro composed the string parts. Gordon Lightfoot is on the Mount Rushmore of singer-songwriters, with Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Carole King, and John Prine.
Gordon Lightfoot was one of Canada's best singer/songwriters! I have loved this song for a long, long time. I loved it even more after a presentation/analysis of it (musically) by Rich Beato (on UA-cam). One gets swept up on the lyrics and there are all kinds of things going on musically in the arrangement that are just brilliant! You mentioned the strings, but there are also tiny string fills and guitar fills too. At one point in the song, Gordon is harmonizing with himself with the magic of technology. BTW, this song came out decades before The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald. I'll bet you would love Approaching Lavender, Minstrel of the Dawn, Canadian Railroad Trilogy, Rainy Day People, Cotton Jenny, and there are so many more! Don Quixote comes to mind. Such a deep catalogue! RIP Gordon!
Gordon is an amazing storyteller, as were many artists from that era. They just put it all out on the table partly for their own release, and partly to engage the listener in searching their own souls for these same experiences that they have swept under the rug in an attempt to escape heartache and pains that they would rather not, or simply don't know how to heal, but know that they must.
My Mom being from the East Coast played Gordon religiously. I grew up listening to the best of the best. RIP Gordon Lightfoot. Great reaction as usual my friends and Peace out 🙏 ✌️ ☮️
Absolutely epic song...another brilliant, and beautiful song by Gordon; is "The Last Time I Saw Her Face"; extremely emotional and poignant. You won't be disappointed if you hear this one...I think it is one of his best of all time.
This was our first introduction to Gordon Lightfoot on the hit chart and it blew us all away. Beautiful voice and fabulous lyrics. There's another really soft song called "Beautiful" that's wonderful as well.
There are so many great Gordon Lightfoot songs. You’ve barely scratched the surface, albeit with some of his best… I’ve always loved the sweetness and poetic beauty of Rainbow Trout….well worth a listen as well.
You are correct. An interesting bit of trivia is that his children felt that he was blaming his ex wife too much in this song with the one sided line "the feelings that you lack" so in later live versions, Gordon adapted the lyrics to say, "The feelings that we lack." Example here ua-cam.com/video/b35XdQxvVJ0/v-deo.htmlsi=b151e6lZgOYpBdu6&t=199
No. The fact is, they didn't fall out of love. Particularly Lightfoot, who despite all his cheating and songs written about the cheating, completely fell apart when she left him. Some of his most gut-wrenching love songs are about Brita. 'The Last Time I saw Your Face.' ; Apology' which he called the natural precursor to IYCRMM. 'Beautiful' was for her on the eve of the finalization of their divorce.IN fact, when she first left with their toddlers in tow, he couldn';t get up from the floor other than to use the bathroom. He stopped eating and drinking. When he moved in with his mistress, he abruptly left her several times determined to move back in with Brita in order to start over again. But his drinking put an end to each attempt. Brita, for her part, remained a part of his life until she died in 2011. He wrote about their relationship before, during and after their divorce until the day he died. There is more to Lightfoot than 'If You Could REad My Mind' and so much more about the relationship to be found in other songs. Ut's a shame people don't really look further into his astonishing catalogue of songs, because there are songs better than 'If You Could Read My Mind' like 'Spanish MOss' and 'You Are What I Am.' He never ever got over losing her.
You've hit the trifecta of some of his very best songs, but he has several more that can also take you away. I've said it before, but I'll say it again, if I had an ounce of musical talent, I would want to be like Gordon.
Glad to see new listeners discovering one of our Canadian 🇨🇦 national treasures. He may be gone (we still miss him) but his music will stay forever. Although I’m very happy that his genius is enjoyed all around the world there are some artists that we Canadians feel extra connected to, Gordon is definitely one of them and the fact that he chose to live his life here in Canada is something special to us. He loved his home, the same can be said for Michael Buble who grew up in Burnaby, BC and who’s main home is not far from his childhood house and about five minutes from where I live. Joni Mitchell is another special Canadian artist as is Celine.
Gordon Lightfoot was a poet who put his storytelling to music with a kind, melodic voice that just touches each note to empathize the emotion in the story. I can’t imagine anyone making this into any other genre. That would ruin it.
Listen to Lightfoot's epic "Canadian Railroad Trilogy"! My Dad, who was also Gordon, had a few records by Lightfoot in the 1970's. (My parents had Simon & Garfunkel, Petula Clark, Glen Cambell, the Carpenters,....and they accepted my Brother and I getting into other music. We had Cool Parents!) In 2017, Gordon L' toured and came to our near Ohio -got tickets! Lightfoot was an older man, more frail than how he appeared with the stature of a a lumberjack, in the 70's,....yet, he was still with fine voice, guitar skills, and a good band. Glad to see Gordon, with my Dad! My Dad died a few months before, at 84 years, due to Dementia,....I was always happy to go to music concerts with my Dad, or my Brother (Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Metallica, Diana Krall, Tom Petty) - yes, without my Dad now, yet, fine experiences and shared music as a big part....
He had so many incredible songs. In my opinion his album Don Quixote is the greatest album ever recorded. It's one of those albums you have to listen to over and over again and it gets better with every listen. The song Christian Island on it is one of the most evocative songs I've ever heard. It makes me want to buy a sailboat and be free.
The "old-time movie" he's referring to is 'The Time of Their Lives', a highly atypical vehicle for comedy duo Abbott and Costello. I saw it serialized over the course of 5 evenings after school in the mid-60s on TV-Ontario, a provincial public station analogous to PBS. Host Elwy Yost gave me my first viewing on his program of the original 'King Kong', and Willis O'Brien follow up 'Mighty Joe Young; his son Graham has a thriving career as a screenwriter whose credits include 'Speed', 'Speed 2', 'Broken Arrow', and TV series 'Justified' and 'Silo'. The best party I've EVER been to was a celebration of Gordon's music in the late-mid 90s featuring rock/punk and new wavey versions of Lightfoot songs. I commandeered a free microphone to add a Bowue-esque harmony i could hear in my head that no-one else was singing on this song and added it to my busking repertoire soon after, earning me the only $50(CAD)bill I ever earned in the subway or on the street. Otherwise, my patience paid off after about 3 hours and I ended up playing lead guitar on the last 6-8 tunes of the after-hours warehouse event despite never having played anything by Gordon before. Someone who'd recognized me from the jam scene collared me going into a bar to seek company for the party and bought me beer throughout. Unforgettable experience for me. A couple of highlights from the evening as a member of the audience were 'Only A Go-Go Girl', very fun with a backup singer in period gear including white boots such as Rhonda Sandcrabs would die for, dancing just as they would in clubs or on TV shows such as 'American Bandstand' and 'Canadian Railroad Trilogy' by Toronto art-poppers the Rheostatics who also wrote the music for the movie version of Paul Quarrington's Brian Wilson(Beach Boys) inspired novel 'Whale Music' which yielded at least a regional or national hit with 'Claire'. Have fun picking a direction out of that mess 😅 😉🤙🏼🎶❤️🍁❤️✨️🕊
Such a great song! I was so sad to hear of Gordon Lightfoot's passing away recently. Loved his music. One of the best songwriters & storytellers. He was a Canadian legend. Gordon Lightfoot had so many hits through his long career such as "Early Morning Rain", "Steel Rail Blues", "Ribbon Of Darkness", "Carefree Highway", "Rainy Day People", "Cotton Jenny", "Black Day In July", "Canadian Railroad Trilogy" etc.
"Canadian Railway Trilogy" is his epic composition, commissioned by the Canadian Government in 1967 to celebrate Canada's 100th Year Anniversary. A beautiful telling of Canada's story. The country that was built by a railway.
About the break up of his marriage, in later years his adult daughter told him the line in this song that goes "I'm just trying to understand, the feelings that you lack." was disrespectful and hurtful to her mother, so from then on he changed the you to a we.
While you guys are doing these great classic acoustic folk love songs, (John Denver, Gordon Lightfoot) you should really check out, Paul Stookey - "The Wedding Song (There Is Love)" Paul was a member of the folk group Peter Paul and Mary. He released The Wedding Song on his debut solo album and it became a hit for him. It's been one of the most performed songs at people's weddings. A beautiful song!
A great composer. One of the great Canadien performers of the 60s (& beyond): Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Ian Tyson (and his wife) Sylvia Tyson. So much great music from these folks.
More on a personal level...a relationship that went wrong, and can be empathized by so many. This one really hit home for a lot of people. A great song, and the emotional pain is greatly conveyed in such a powerful manner.
Great song. One important typo in the lyrics video, however: it reads "I'm just trying to understand the feelings that you've LEFT" but I believe that actual line is "the feelings that you LACK" (it reads that way on his official website). That's a significant difference in the tone of the song. Just FYI. And I have to say I have really appreciated your music reactions. You are one of the few "reactors" on youtube that don't seem to be doing over-the-top fake stuff or trying to just generate clicks. Your reactions seem genuine and your commentary is thoughtful and not over-the-top. Good stuff.
There are a few typos in the lyrics. I find that most lyric videos that reactors use are full of errors because the people making them are just too stupid and lazy to get it right.
This is in my top 5 songs of all time. So important to me personally. It's "lack". You are 100% right. If anyone disagrees then...
Being from Canada you should watch the Canadian Railroad Trilogy
I looked up the lyrics and I can see what your saying; however, I’m not really sure, as to which word is correct. I have always thought it to be “left”; which to me, makes more sense, to the story line, where she has left him and he is trying to cope, with his feelings. If you use “lack” you would be correct in your position. There would quite a difference, to the meaning. It would be instead of him dealing, with his feelings, it would be him wondering why she doesn’t have any feelings, now if ever, for him.
He also changed the word later after speaking to his Daughter. He changed the Word to "We" instead of You.
One of the best songs ever written. Perfect lyrics, music, guitar and vocals. A masterpiece. RIP.
Very talented song writer and performer.
It is close to perfect song.
Not only is this my favorite Gordon Lightfoot song, it's one of my Top 10 all time favorite songs. It moves me every time I hear it, and I'm now 67 years old.
It's haunting musical and lyrical qualities always evoke the bittersweet sadness of any failed relationship... his voice conveys this perfectly.
Exactly. It's haunting and beautiful..
For the life of me, I cannot comprehend how anyone can write something this beautiful. A stunning piece of work top to bottom. Gordon was a real treasure. RIP Gord.
This is his best song. He put a lot of his life into his music.
I like Sundown almost as much.
You two should do his Canadian Railroad Trilogy a song about the rail layers
Our stories played out
Yes, it was so good they even made a disco version of it. LOL
It's not his best. His most popular, but not his best. 'Apology', 'Home from the Forest'. 'Spanish Moss', 'Summerside of Life'. 'Stone Cold Sober', 'Early Morning Rain., 'Approaching Lavender, 'Circle of Steel'. 'Bells of the Evening'. Hi'way Songs/;, 'You are What I am', 'Lazy Mornin'. If You Need Me', 'Song for a Winters Eve'. Now and Then',' Ordinary Man', 'I;m Not Supposed to Care, 'Carefree Highway', 'Never Too Close', 'Second Cup of Coffee', 10 Degrees and Getting Colder.' 'Steel Rail Blues', 'Talkin'g In Your Sleep', The Watchman's Gone, Looking at the Rain'. 'Wherefore and Why'. 'Goodbye To Amnabelle',,,
One of Lightfoot's most personal songs, "If You Could Read My Mind" is about the breakup of his first marriage - a common theme in many of his songs. In the liner notes of his boxed set Songbook, he describes it as "a song about the failure of marriage."
Lightfoot acknowledged that his infidelity doomed his first marriage, which offers some insight into this song. The lyrics are vivid, likening his story to a paperback novel or an old-time movie
Source: Songfacts
Thanks for that little piece of knowledge-you gave me an avenue to explore! Peace to you friend ❤
The fact is Gordon never fell out of love with his first wife Brita, who is the inspiration for this song and dozens and dozens he wrote before, during and long after their marriage ended. For a myriad of reasons and EXCUSES, past traumas and "devastating experiences", none having to do with Brita, Lightfoot imploded their marriage by habitually committing adultery. It is not excessive to state he went through women sometimes by the dozens in a day or weekend, throughout the marriage. Oddly, he did not cheat on her during their courtship. In fact, he was terrified Brita would leave him. He considered her his best friend and admired her independent, adventurous nature, which he strongly related to. When Brita left him he was devastated. Lay on the floor of their empty home day and night for weeks, only getting up to use the bathroom. He wouldn't eat or drink. Other than to drink more booze -part of the acceleration in his drinking which also contributed to her leaving with their two toddlers. HE tried unsuccessfully, to win her back during the 3 plus year divorce proceedings, even leaving live in love Cathy Smith multiple times for chances to reunite with Brita-which al\ways ended in failure due to his drinking and frightening temper. Throughout Lightfoot's tumultuous years in the whole of the seventies, caused by endless bad choices in relationships, alcoholism that was literally killing him and uncontrollable mood swings that derailed his career, Lightfoot continued to wrote songs for and about Brita-all of them love songs that were no longer scathed with blame Many reflected upon all he'd lost when Brita moved on. There are songs of joy, as well, which celebrate those qualities about her personality he would never find in another woman. There are songs that are odes to her womanhood, celebrating her body not in the simplistic, crude language of modern pop and rock, but harkening back to the poetry of transcendentalists'. Sensual, erotic, and evocative. A night they spent together years after the divorce became such a song: 'Spanish Moss.' a memory of making love to Brita by a sycamore she found surrounded by trees laden with Spanish Moss illuminated in glowing white by the moon. And it was Brita who, despite all he'd done in the past to hurt her and their children, was one of his strongest advocates during his recovery from alcoholism. When finally sober and clear headed he took full responsibility for the destruction of the marriage stating he'd caused "real human trauma" in her and his children. For the rest of his life, he practiced grace and empathy, as well. While living in a Constan t state of repentance. He successfully repaired the relationships with his six children, worked on peaceful relations with the various mothers of those children while continually learning better ways to express anger and co[pe with his deep depression. So much of his rebirth was because of her. For an astomidshi9ng 60 plus years, from their first meeting in Toronto. long before his fame until his own death in 2023, he wrote songs for Brita. But, I think, he'd have much rather have done something else: He would have traded it all in, all the achievements if it meant having her back with him. If only he hadn't blown it all to he)) way back when.
@@harlowrioux5790 Wow. Thank you for all this. I had seen hints of his troubled history, but not this level of detail. Amazing he was still able to write and perform such wonderful songs... and so sad.
Heroes often fail. Enter number 2, I can never be set free, if I'm a ghost that you cannot see. They 3 lines always hit me hard. Left lonely
"Canadian Railroad trilogy" building the railroad across the country....gorgeous song...just like this one.
yes please
You bet, excellent choice
Top-notch storytelling in that one, plus impressive change-ups to the melody and pacing as the song unfolds.
Canadian Railroad Trilogy is the more famous track but I think Crossroads is the better song about working across the country. A killer track with just guitar and harmonica.
Yes I think "Canadian Railroad trilogy" has the story telling element you like and it is mostly upbeat.
Another sad out of the news story is told in "Black day in July". A really haunting story.
Musical poet in upper echelons of greatness! A Canadian legend who has a huge following worldwide! RIP Gordon from all of your fans in Oz 🇦🇺 🙏
One of the most beautiful songs ever, by any artist.
agreed !!
A Canadian legend. One of the greatest love song writers ever.🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦
so so true
Great choice for a reaction, and thanks to Gordon Lightfoot for leaving us with these fantastic songs. Lyrical and melodic from start to finish.
Big Gordon fan here. This song gets me emotional every time I hear it. When I listen to Gordon, I “feel” it. Why I love his music.
Such an old favorite that didn't actually mean anything to me until I was older and experienced the pain of broken relationship. So a childhood favorite became bitter sweet.
My favorite from Gordon. It always made me feel melancholy, though.
Gordon was awesome, I highly recommend his song "Beautiful ", it is just awesome.
Excellent choice
Absolutely love that song.
"Carefree Highway", "Rainy Day People", "The Circle Is Small", "Race Among The Ruins".....
"Beautiful"
"Canadian Railroad Trilogy", "Don Quixote", "The Minstrel of the Dawn", "Circle of Steel", "Is There Anyone Home?" ...
Watchman’s Gone
"Carefree Highway" is my favorite Gordon Lightfoot masterpiece.
Did She Mention My Name is another great one
My fave of his. Had the 45 record, yes I'm that old. 😮
Me too...😂😂😂
This is my favorite song of his. If I recall correctly, he wrote the song about his crumbling marriage.
Another great song by Gordon is "Beautiful". One of the most beautiful love songs ever written.
This song takes me back to when I came back from Vietnam and was stationed at Ft. Carson, Colorado. My wife had left me before I got home and I always think of the guys that didn't make it home.
That's rough mate. Glad you made it back.
I hope you had some brother or friends to talk it out with. My eldest brother went to Nam, for two tours, and I would go hunting and fishing with him. That was the only time I could get him to open up. And over time, we discussed so much of being alive in the paradise that we can exist in here and now.
Like Tao philosophers had said: The things one doesn't understand as hurtful, are a blessing to you - not understanding what worse time you would have had without that experience. An Attitude of Gratitude.
Early Morning Rain is another awesome GL song , ✌️❤️☕
His best song EVER 💖
Gordon said, the feeling's gone and I just can't get it back. He is writing about a breakup in a very poetic way.
“Carefree Highway” is another GREAT Lightfoot song, as well as “Early Morjing Rain” and “The Circle is Small”
This is gut wrenching for anyone who has lost someone they lost in a relationship
Lightfoot is a legend followed him since I was 16 one of my favorites is song for a winters night
Canadian Railroad Trilogy is a masterpiece.
Fun fact. The late, great radio host, Art Bell, was *mad* for Lightfoot. He used his songs as bumper music all the time, etc. Well, Art was all about the paranormal. Anything will do. Well, he got it into his head that these lyrics were quasi-spooky. Like he's literally a ghost watching this woman. So, Art had him on and breathlessly asked what the song was about. Was it ghosts? "No," said Mr. Lightfoot, only so slightly confused. "It was about when my wife and I were separating and I felt distinctly unseen by her." You could almost hear the disappointment in Mr. Bell's voice. Of course, he also thought the Blair Witch film was actual found footage and that those poor kids had died. Usually, he was a pretty smart guy. We all have our moments. RIP Bell. RIP Lightfoot.
Growing up as a kid in the 70s this music will always be special, the story telling back in those days by incredible musical artists was unmatched then and now
Gordon had 4 hits out of 17 albums. He was really loved as artist . Most all of his albums were really good. He usualy had a good audience when ever he played. People lover his songwriting, soft easy going songs attracts a big audience. Many of the songs that was not a hit was loved by his adience and they remembered them.
Nobody sounds like him! I knew his voice instantly when growing up!
Very personal lyrics that nearly everyone can relate to on some level. That's not easy to do, but is why this song is timeless.
One of the most artfully produced, performed, and engineered recordings ever, by the songwriters' songwriter. Red Shea plays the second guitar part (all the neat little arpeggios and other highlights) and Nick DeCaro composed the string parts. Gordon Lightfoot is on the Mount Rushmore of singer-songwriters, with Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Carole King, and John Prine.
I view these kinds of songs as a reflection of personal experiences and sentiments...a n internal conversation.
I just love Rainy Day People. It speaks to me in a personal
way. Gordon was really good at that…a true troubadour poet.
Miss him tremendously.
Gordon Lightfoot was one of Canada's best singer/songwriters! I have loved this song for a long, long time. I loved it even more after a presentation/analysis of it (musically) by Rich Beato (on UA-cam). One gets swept up on the lyrics and there are all kinds of things going on musically in the arrangement that are just brilliant! You mentioned the strings, but there are also tiny string fills and guitar fills too. At one point in the song, Gordon is harmonizing with himself with the magic of technology. BTW, this song came out decades before The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald.
I'll bet you would love Approaching Lavender, Minstrel of the Dawn, Canadian Railroad Trilogy, Rainy Day People, Cotton Jenny, and there are so many more! Don Quixote comes to mind. Such a deep catalogue! RIP Gordon!
One of the most beautiful heartbreaking songs ever .
My sister LOVED Sundown so much. But I love it all. He was great.
He has such a haunting voice ( no pun intended) capable of moving you along with him
Gordon is an amazing storyteller, as were many artists from that era. They just put it all out on the table partly for their own release, and partly to engage the listener in searching their own souls for these same experiences that they have swept under the rug in an attempt to escape heartache and pains that they would rather not, or simply don't know how to heal, but know that they must.
This was my introduction to Mr. Lightfoot. Instant fan.
Definitely very poetic in his story telling of a relationship ending it seems like to me. Such a beautiful song!❤️
Thanks for reacting guys!❤
My Mom being from the East Coast played Gordon religiously. I grew up listening to the best of the best. RIP Gordon Lightfoot. Great reaction as usual my friends and Peace out 🙏 ✌️ ☮️
Absolutely epic song...another brilliant, and beautiful song by Gordon; is "The Last Time I Saw Her Face"; extremely emotional and poignant. You won't be disappointed if you hear this one...I think it is one of his best of all time.
One of my favorite all-time tunes.
This is one of the all time, beautiful popular songs along with Wichita Lineman.
Have to include Galveston to Glen Campbell's greatest songs..
Thank you for reacting to this beautiful song by the late great Gordon Lightfoot.
masterpiece
This was our first introduction to Gordon Lightfoot on the hit chart and it blew us all away. Beautiful voice and fabulous lyrics. There's another really soft song called "Beautiful" that's wonderful as well.
RIP legend
Love so many of Gordon Lightfoot songs. This is one of his best.
There are so many great Gordon Lightfoot songs. You’ve barely scratched the surface, albeit with some of his best…
I’ve always loved the sweetness and poetic beauty of Rainbow Trout….well worth a listen as well.
"Did She Mention My Name" is another really good song.
My all time favorite of Gordon’s incredible catalogue of music!
The lyrics said, "the feelings that you've left," but it should read, "the feelings that you lack." It sounds like they both fell out of love.
Yeah I always thought it was "feelings that you lack", and I had the captions on which said "lack" but the screen lyrics seemed wrong.
You are correct. An interesting bit of trivia is that his children felt that he was blaming his ex wife too much in this song with the one sided line "the feelings that you lack" so in later live versions, Gordon adapted the lyrics to say, "The feelings that we lack." Example here ua-cam.com/video/b35XdQxvVJ0/v-deo.htmlsi=b151e6lZgOYpBdu6&t=199
@@pastormikeleiter, he DOES say "the feeling's gone, and I just can't get it back." Twice. I think that connotes that it's two-sided.
@@punkydoodle4774 I can't disagree w/ you there.
No. The fact is, they didn't fall out of love. Particularly Lightfoot, who despite all his cheating and songs written about the cheating, completely fell apart when she left him. Some of his most gut-wrenching love songs are about Brita. 'The Last Time I saw Your Face.' ; Apology' which he called the natural precursor to IYCRMM. 'Beautiful' was for her on the eve of the finalization of their divorce.IN fact, when she first left with their toddlers in tow, he couldn';t get up from the floor other than to use the bathroom. He stopped eating and drinking. When he moved in with his mistress, he abruptly left her several times determined to move back in with Brita in order to start over again. But his drinking put an end to each attempt. Brita, for her part, remained a part of his life until she died in 2011. He wrote about their relationship before, during and after their divorce until the day he died. There is more to Lightfoot than 'If You Could REad My Mind' and so much more about the relationship to be found in other songs. Ut's a shame people don't really look further into his astonishing catalogue of songs, because there are songs better than 'If You Could Read My Mind' like 'Spanish MOss' and 'You Are What I Am.' He never ever got over losing her.
One of the Great Canadian artists🇨🇦🇺🇸
You've hit the trifecta of some of his very best songs, but he has several more that can also take you away. I've said it before, but I'll say it again, if I had an ounce of musical talent, I would want to be like Gordon.
His song All the lovely ladies, is pure poetry!
Gordon wrote some great songs. This one is the best, imo.
I love this song. Anyone that has beef divorced knows how he is feeling.
Legend, legend ,legend...............................Oh Canada !
Beautiful song! 😊
This beautiful song is another of my childhood favorites. ❤
Man, I can remember when this came out. Good songs like this stay in my mind like forever.
"Carefree Highway" is another great one by Gordon Lightfoot. Love your reactions!
Red Shea on lead acoustic guitar. An amazing player ❤
Heroes often fail - the greatest line of lyrics that I've ever heard.
Glad to see new listeners discovering one of our Canadian 🇨🇦 national treasures. He may be gone (we still miss him) but his music will stay forever. Although I’m very happy that his genius is enjoyed all around the world there are some artists that we Canadians feel extra connected to, Gordon is definitely one of them and the fact that he chose to live his life here in Canada is something special to us. He loved his home, the same can be said for Michael Buble who grew up in Burnaby, BC and who’s main home is not far from his childhood house and about five minutes from where I live. Joni Mitchell is another special Canadian artist as is Celine.
Gordon Lightfoot was a poet who put his storytelling to music with a kind, melodic voice that just touches each note to empathize the emotion in the story.
I can’t imagine anyone making this into any other genre. That would ruin it.
Listen to Lightfoot's epic "Canadian Railroad Trilogy"!
My Dad, who was also Gordon, had a few records by Lightfoot in the 1970's. (My parents had Simon & Garfunkel, Petula Clark, Glen Cambell, the Carpenters,....and they accepted my Brother and I getting into other music. We had Cool Parents!) In 2017, Gordon L' toured and came to our near Ohio -got tickets! Lightfoot was an older man, more frail than how he appeared with the stature of a a lumberjack, in the 70's,....yet, he was still with fine voice, guitar skills, and a good band. Glad to see Gordon, with my Dad! My Dad died a few months before, at 84 years, due to Dementia,....I was always happy to go to music concerts with my Dad, or my Brother (Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Metallica, Diana Krall, Tom Petty) - yes, without my Dad now, yet, fine experiences and shared music as a big part....
Its so cool my whole music collection from the 70's is being played now on U Tybe. Love it!! This is one of my favorite songs!!🎉❤🎉 Ty!!
He had so many incredible songs. In my opinion his album Don Quixote is the greatest album ever recorded. It's one of those albums you have to listen to over and over again and it gets better with every listen. The song Christian Island on it is one of the most evocative songs I've ever heard. It makes me want to buy a sailboat and be free.
Summer side of life - Gordon Lightfoot
That is my all time favorite song.
Word wizard❤
Words and music
In the early morning rain , steel rail blues , and the Canadian Railroad Trilogy. Great songs
The "old-time movie" he's referring to is 'The Time of Their Lives', a highly atypical vehicle for comedy duo Abbott and Costello. I saw it serialized over the course of 5 evenings after school in the mid-60s on TV-Ontario, a provincial public station analogous to PBS. Host Elwy Yost gave me my first viewing on his program of the original 'King Kong', and Willis O'Brien follow up 'Mighty Joe Young; his son Graham has a thriving career as a screenwriter whose credits include 'Speed', 'Speed 2', 'Broken Arrow', and TV series 'Justified' and 'Silo'.
The best party I've EVER been to was a celebration of Gordon's music in the late-mid 90s featuring rock/punk and new wavey versions of Lightfoot songs.
I commandeered a free microphone to add a Bowue-esque harmony i could hear in my head that no-one else was singing on this song and added it to my busking repertoire soon after, earning me the only $50(CAD)bill I ever earned in the subway or on the street.
Otherwise, my patience paid off after about 3 hours and I ended up playing lead guitar on the last 6-8 tunes of the after-hours warehouse event despite never having played anything by Gordon before. Someone who'd recognized me from the jam scene collared me going into a bar to seek company for the party and bought me beer throughout. Unforgettable experience for me.
A couple of highlights from the evening as a member of the audience were 'Only A Go-Go Girl', very fun with a backup singer in period gear including white boots such as Rhonda Sandcrabs would die for, dancing just as they would in clubs or on TV shows such as 'American Bandstand' and 'Canadian Railroad Trilogy' by Toronto art-poppers the Rheostatics who also wrote the music for the movie version of Paul Quarrington's Brian Wilson(Beach Boys) inspired novel 'Whale Music' which yielded at least a regional or national hit with 'Claire'.
Have fun picking a direction out of that mess 😅
😉🤙🏼🎶❤️🍁❤️✨️🕊
This song is Fantastic!!! Glad you are reacting to it!!
This is my favorite song by Lightfoot.
Such a great song! I was so sad to hear of Gordon Lightfoot's passing away recently. Loved his music. One of the best songwriters & storytellers. He was a Canadian legend. Gordon Lightfoot had so many hits through his long career such as "Early Morning Rain", "Steel Rail Blues", "Ribbon Of Darkness", "Carefree Highway", "Rainy Day People", "Cotton Jenny", "Black Day In July", "Canadian Railroad Trilogy" etc.
Gordon Lightfoot has a ton of good songs. I suggest giving "Did She Mention My Name". Very descriptive and nostalgic storytelling.
The greatest balladeer ever....
"Canadian Railway Trilogy" is his epic composition, commissioned by the Canadian Government in 1967 to celebrate Canada's 100th Year Anniversary. A beautiful telling of Canada's story. The country that was built by a railway.
Gordon wrote this on guitar. He brought the strings in to enhance the emotion in the song. 😢
wonderful song frm v 70s, v decade of wonderful songs, longing, regret, finality.
about 20 albums to pick thru. so many great songs
His "big enchalada". Lightfoot's catalog is wide and deep and very much worth exploring.
One of my all time favorite songs.music, lyrics and vocals are just about perfect.this song carries so many deeply personal memories for me.
Great reaction, Sam and Phil! This is a beautiful song.
A Canadian treasure 🇨🇦RIP to a legend.
A commonality of his song are about Loss, Loss of life, loss of love etc.
This is by far my favorite Gordon Lightfoot song. It's a beautiful and melancholy story with rich imagery about a lost love and sung so brilliantly. o
A Masterpiece of a pop record,,
About the break up of his marriage, in later years his adult daughter told him the line in this song that goes "I'm just trying to understand, the feelings that you lack." was disrespectful and hurtful to her mother, so from then on he changed the you to a we.
While you guys are doing these great classic acoustic folk love songs, (John Denver, Gordon Lightfoot) you should really check out, Paul Stookey - "The Wedding Song (There Is Love)"
Paul was a member of the folk group Peter Paul and Mary. He released The Wedding Song on his debut solo album and it became a hit for him. It's been one of the most performed songs at people's weddings. A beautiful song!
A great composer. One of the great Canadien performers of the 60s (& beyond): Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Ian Tyson (and his wife) Sylvia Tyson. So much great music from these folks.
More on a personal level...a relationship that went wrong, and can be empathized by so many. This one really hit home for a lot of people. A great song, and the emotional pain is greatly conveyed in such a powerful manner.
its a perfect song
Lightfoot's "Beautiful" is well, beautiful. Definitely worth doing.
A song that seems to haunt human beings everywhere touching each and every soul without really knowing why....