Gordon Lightfoot

RAYZORBLADE

OK, if you're a Canuck, chances you know that Gordon Lightfoot is about right up there with ol' Jehover!

But if not, nevermind, but I have to admit, I have been a lifelong fan of: Gordon Lightfoot.

This evening, I took his 'Greatest Hits' and gave it a listen, and as expected, I was still enthralled with his lyrical genius, and playing abilities.

Anyone a Gordon Lightfoot fan?

Just curious.

All your folks living along North America's "Great Lakes" keep in mind, next month is the 28th anniversary of the sinking of the "Edmund Fitzgerald".

That song, by Gordon Lightfoot is haunting from beginning to end (over 6 minutes).

I personally love: Go-Go Girl In Love, Bitter Green, Canadian Railway Trilogy, Sundown, Race Among The Ruins, Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, and well I like just about every damn thing he ever did.

Your contributions?

I saw him in concert about 12 years ago, and then again on public television where they ran highlights from a recent concert. The man's voice is fading slightly, but his songs are still enormously enjoyable.

Being from Minnesota, I absolutely was enthralled with "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald". What a marvelous tribute to the men who passed away when the gales of November came calling.

On a lighter note....

Carefree highway, let me slip away, slip away on you.

Gopher

He could also write romantic songs....

BEAUTIFUL

At times I just don't know
How you could be anything but beautiful
I think that I was made for you
And you were made for me

And I know that I won't ever change
We've been friends through rain or shine
For such a long, long time

Laughing eyes and smiling face
It seems so lucky just to have the right
Of telling you with all my might
You're beautiful tonight

And I know that you won't ever stray
Cause you've been that way from day to day
For such a long, long time

And when you hold me tight
How could life be anything but beautiful
I think that I was made for you
And you were made for me

And I know that I won't ever change
We've been friends through rain or shine
For such a long, long time

Well, I must say it means so much to me
To be the one who's telling you
I'm telling you, that you're beautiful.

RAYZORBLADE

I was listening to his *Greatest Hits* CD, and the two songs you posted, are on it.

I love his stuff.

Next month, November 10th, will be the 28th anniversary of the "Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald".

A song, that is haunting as the tale of the ship that went down in Lake Superior, so many years ago.

Gopher

Sorry -- just one more -- my absolute favorite of Gordon's:

If You Could Read My MindGordon Lightfoot

If you could read my mind love,
what a tale my thoughts could tell.
Just like an old time movie
about a ghost from a wishing well.
In a castle dark or a fortress strong
with chains upon my feet.
You know that ghost is me
and I will never be set free
as long as I'm a ghost that you can see.

If I could read your mind love,
what a tale your thoughts could tell.
Just like a paperback novel,
the kind the drugstore sells.
When you reach the part where the heartaches
come the hero would be me.
Heroes often fail.
And you won't read that book again
because the endings just to hard to take.

I walk away like a movie star
who gets burned in a three way script.
Enter number two, a movie queen
to play the scene of bringing all the good things out in me,
but for now love lets be real.

I never thought I could act this way
and I've got to say that I just don't get it.
I don't know where we went wrong
but the feelings gone and I just can't get it back.

If you could read my mind love,
what a tale my thoughts could tell.
Just like an old time movie about a ghost from a wishing well.
In a castle dark or a fortress strong
with chains upon my feet the story always ends.
And if you read between the lines
you'll know that I'm just trying to understand
the feeling that you left.

I never thought I could feel this way
and I got to say that I just don't get it.
I don't know where we went wrong
but the feelings gone
and I just can't get it back.

Sassy

I lived up on the Great Lakes (US side another Minnesotan here) and so I know all about the song the Edmond Fitzgerald as well as remember when all of that went down. Ironically a month before the actual accident, my father had a friend who worked on the boats and he had brought us on one of those impressive thousand foot vessels to give us a tour and see what the life was to be on the boats. It was so real to me when it happened and I could envision being one of those men on those ships as it went down. Everytime I have ever heard the song, it sends chills.

RAYZORBLADE

Words/lyrics by Gordon Lightfoot.
This is a true story based upon the sinking of one of the largest inland sea vessels on the Great Lakes: The Edmund Fitzgerald. It sank in Lake Superior, during horrific weather, on November 10, 1975. Here are the lyrics to this infamous song (sns: I too get shivers from this song).

**note, apparently, where the ship has been found, part of it lays in Canada, and the other part, in the United States (Cariboo shoal). Interesting.

THE WRECK OF THE EDMUND FITZGERALD

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
of the big lake they called "Gitche Gumee."
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
when the skies of November turn gloomy.
With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more
than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty,
that good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
when the "Gales of November" came early.

The ship was the pride of the American side
coming back from some mill in Wisconsin.
As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most
with a crew and good captain well seasoned,
concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
when they left fully loaded for Cleveland.
And later that night when the ship's bell rang,
could it be the north wind they'd been feelin'?

The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound
and a wave broke over the railing.
And ev'ry man knew, as the captain did too
'twas the witch of November come stealin'.
The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
when the Gales of November came slashin'.
When afternoon came it was freezin' rain
in the face of a hurricane west wind.

When suppertime came the old cook came on deck sayin'.
"Fellas, it's too rough t'feed ya."
At seven P.M. a main hatchway caved in; he said,
"Fellas, it's bin good t'know ya!"
The captain wired in he had water comin' in
and the good ship and crew was in peril.
And later that night when 'is lights went outta sight
came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Does any one know where the love of God goes
when the waves turn the minutes to hours?The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
if they'd put fifteen more miles behind 'er.
They might have split up or they might have capsized;
they may have broke deep and took water.
And all that remains is the faces and the names
of the wives and the sons and the daughters.

Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
in the rooms of her ice-water mansion.
Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams;
the islands and bays are for sportsmen.
And farther below Lake Ontario
takes in what Lake Erie can send her,
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
with the Gales of November remembered.

In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed,
in the "Maritime Sailors' Cathedral."
The church bell chimed 'til it rang twenty-nine times
for each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
of the big lake they call "Gitche Gumee."
"Superior," they said, "never gives up her dead
when the gales of November come early!"

neverthere

I LOVE GORDON LIGHTFOOT! I freaked out the kids at the local music store too, went in and bought Shaggy and Gordon at the same time, they asked if I wanted a gift box for one (I assume he thought the Shaggy was a gift) and I said no, I was buying them both for myself. If the look on his face wasn't full of shock, I am a monkey's aunt! (LOL got some relatives that may look like a monkey, but genetically they are human)LMAO

Diana

moonwillow

I love his songs

Nosferatu

Believe it or not, I like some of his stuff. The ones the Americans might know is "If you could read my mind" since it was redone (by Stars on 54 I believe?)

I sorta grew up with his stuff. Carefree Highway and Sundown are by far my most favorites. I have his greatest hits 8-track. I'm starting to sound like I'm 40 years old here LOL! No offense anyone.

Gordon Lightfoot

Share this