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RM · 07-18-2008, 01:27 PM

Whatever........

Waiting For You
---------------

Well, actually, we've been waiting for him. Gordon Lightfoot's new album is his first since East of Midnight (1986) – and while, scientifically speaking that's long enough for all the cells in the human body to regenerate, it's comforting to know that the passage of time has done little to diminish either the artistic spirit or the patriotic fervor of the bard of the Great White North. Scoff if you will, but I'd wager a good $2 bill they'll be crying in their toques when the title track comes over the airwaves in Saskatchewan and a few good lumberjacks hear these words: "Up in the wilderness, land of our birth/Land of our toil, land of our worth/I can stay healthy and wealthy and wise." And I'm equally certain they'll be laughing in their Labatt's when they come across "Wild Strawberries," in which the Gordster confesses, "People often ask me just the way it must feel/To be standing up here with you down there/Let it now be known that throughout all these years/I have been wearing – polka-dot underwear."

Seriously, though, we should all be grateful that Lightfoot still cares enough to try and educate us ugly USAers about what it means to be a true North American. In "Restless," for example, he makes reference not just to geese and trout but to muskies (which, according to my dictionary, is short for muskellunges – large pikes that may weigh 60 to 80 pounds and are valuable sport fish). Would we expect anything less from a singer-songwriter-naturalist whose publishing company is called Moose Music? I think not. To quote Bob McKenzie: "Beauty, eh?" (RS 664)

BILLY ALTMAN

07-18-2008, 01:27 PM	#1
RM Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 1,965	Rolling Stone reviews : Waiting For You Whatever........ Waiting For You --------------- Well, actually, we've been waiting for him. Gordon Lightfoot's new album is his first since East of Midnight (1986) – and while, scientifically speaking that's long enough for all the cells in the human body to regenerate, it's comforting to know that the passage of time has done little to diminish either the artistic spirit or the patriotic fervor of the bard of the Great White North. Scoff if you will, but I'd wager a good $2 bill they'll be crying in their toques when the title track comes over the airwaves in Saskatchewan and a few good lumberjacks hear these words: "Up in the wilderness, land of our birth/Land of our toil, land of our worth/I can stay healthy and wealthy and wise." And I'm equally certain they'll be laughing in their Labatt's when they come across "Wild Strawberries," in which the Gordster confesses, "People often ask me just the way it must feel/To be standing up here with you down there/Let it now be known that throughout all these years/I have been wearing – polka-dot underwear." Seriously, though, we should all be grateful that Lightfoot still cares enough to try and educate us ugly USAers about what it means to be a true North American. In "Restless," for example, he makes reference not just to geese and trout but to muskies (which, according to my dictionary, is short for muskellunges – large pikes that may weigh 60 to 80 pounds and are valuable sport fish). Would we expect anything less from a singer-songwriter-naturalist whose publishing company is called Moose Music? I think not. To quote Bob McKenzie: "Beauty, eh?" (RS 664) BILLY ALTMAN