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Gordon Lightfoot reflects on 'If You Could Read My Mind' ahead of concert
By Victoria Ahearn (CP) – 14 hours ago

TORONTO — An empty house, a broken marriage and a summer afternoon served as the creative spark for Gordon Lightfoot as he penned what would become one of his most iconic tunes.

The illustrious singer-songwriter says the words to "If You Could Read My Mind," released 40 years ago, came to him in a couple of hours in a vacant Toronto home that was up for sale at a time when he was experiencing marital problems.

"I was of course going through some emotional trauma leading up to a separation, so that of course manifested itself in that particular song on that particular afternoon," Lightfoot, 71, said by phone from his Toronto home.

"I'll never forget the afternoon."

Lightfoot is recalling that day as he prepares to play a sold-out show on Thursday, part of a concert series that's named after the time-honoured track.

"If You Could Read My Mind," the series, is organized by the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, of which Lightfoot is a longtime member.

"I'm shy about accepting awards and honours but I really appreciate the fact that they're using my songs as a theme for their show," he said. "I'm really happy about that."

The legendary troubadour from Orillia, Ont., will play in the series' inaugural show, as will Gord Downie of the Tragically Hip (which has covered Lightfoot's tunes), at the Toronto Centre of the Arts. Catherine MacLellan, daughter of the late singer-songwriter Gene MacLellan, will also be featured.

Lightfoot and Downie will sit down with CBC Radio's Laurie Brown during the show to chat about their songwriting methods.

The idea for the series' title "came from almost the continuation of that lyric, 'What a tale my thoughts could tell,' " said Dominic Denny, executive director of the hall of fame.

"What we wanted to do was to conjure up the image of what is going on in a songwriter's mind, what is it that they draw inspiration from, what are the metaphors that they use, what are their experiences that drive these songs?"

The story behind the making of "If You Could Read My Mind" - a song that's been covered by the likes of Johnny Cash and Don McLean - was a typical one for Lightfoot as he emerged from Toronto's Yorkville coffeehouse folk scene in the '60s.

That empty home in the Forest Hill neighbourhood where he wrote the tune was one of several that he'd scouted at the time so he could find lyrical inspiration, he said.

"I knew a couple of real-estate agents. My sister was running the business at that time, she found out who to contact and I said, 'I'd like to use the house to write some songs while you're trying to sell it.' "

"It was a method I had of writing when I was feeling like I wasn't coming up with the goods, coming up with the material," added the 17-time Juno Award winner.

"I would go in there with a chair and a table. I have a Quebec table here that fits in the trunk of my car that I take with me - just the chair and the table and the pad and the manuscript."

Lightfoot has said that his 2004 album "Harmony" will likely be his last.

He has no plans to retire from live performances, though, despite his health ailments.

Lightfoot suffered a ruptured artery in his stomach in 2002 and now has an "inner abdominal binder" made up of muscle fibre from his leg. He also wears a girdle-type device around his abdomen.

To keep up with his performance schedule, which will take him to Canada's East Coast in April, he hits the gym "just about every day," doing weights, stretches and "fast walks."

"I'm very careful to make sure that I go to my gym workouts because that's what's keeping me doing this, because I love doing it," he said, noting he plays about 70 shows a year.

"I want to be as strong as I can be. I want to store energy. I want to feel the adrenalin flow when I go onstage."

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