[DawnsMinstrel]

Well, here's my two cents. On first listen, I was certain I was going to come down on the side of the skeptics. Unsettled is right about the pitchiness of the singing. Gord is just too well trained. As for the guitar, podmed refers to some fingerpicking, but the guitar is being strummed. It certainly sounds like something Gord might/could do, but it doesn't sound distinctively like Gord to me. But I was listening to it through my laptop's speakers without my hearing aids on. I figured it deserved a closer listen....

So after a few closer listens I'm hearing some things that make me think it could be Gord. There is a distinctive nasal quality the way Gord sings words that end in the letter Y. Think "navvy" in CRT. In this recording as I listen to the singer sing the word "funny" I think, okay, maybe. That does sound Gord-like. On the other hand, the word "house" doesn't sound quite right, but I'm basing this more on my impression of how Canadians pronounce "ous" words, so maybe that's just my bias showing up. When we get to the phrase "best I can do" and the pitch changes that occur there. Well, maybe he'd been drinking or was tired, but the singer really slirred that in a way that Gord would never have. At least not when someone's listening. He just has too much control over his pitch. Too much training. But then we get to the word "again" in "then again". Boy that really does sound like the way Gord would sing that word. As for the spoken voice at 1:05. I'm half inclined to think that's someone else. The pitch of the voice is too low. Listen to any Gord interview. His spoken voice always sounds higher pitched than his singing. I remember how surprised I was the first time I heard his spoken voice. Took me quite by surprise. In any case, it just didn't sound like his voice even aside from the pitch. Of course this doesn't mean the singer isn't Gord.

Other words that sound "Gord Like" later in the recording "my gift is my SONG", "put down it the WORDS" . These I have to admit do sound like GL.

So, in my unscientific conclusion, I'm not quite as skeptical as I was. It could be Gord. The sound quality of the recording is just too rough, there are too many rough edges in the performance for me to be sure particularly knowing how picky Gord is about such things. It would be cool as hell if it was him, especially if there's more where this came from. I still wouldn't be at all surprised to learn that it wasn't him and a little surprised to learn that it is. But I can see both sides. How's that for decisive analysis?

-DM