Quote:
Originally Posted by charlene
I never once thought of any Lightfoot song as a rock song. A toe tapper but not rock. A classic but not rock...
But mostly I never once thought of it as an "American" anything ..
 |
Interesting. Growing up, I never thought of Gordon Lightfoot as a "Canadian" performer -- just my favorite performer who happened to be from Canada. Was I supposed to?
IF YOU COULD READ MY MIND, TALKING IN YOUR SLEEP, SUNDOWN, CAREFREE HIGHWAY, RAINY DAY PEOPLE, THE WRECK OF THE EDMUND FITZGERALD and THE CIRCLE IS SMALL all charted here in the States and none of those songs made reference to Canadian Nationalism (in fact, many of his songs reference specific locations in the U.S., in addition to Canada). Also, many of his songs have been covered by American artists with most folks being unaware of who has written the music that they are listening to.
GL has been performing in America by choice for over 40 years. He has a huge fan base here that has and continues to support his talent by buying his records/cds and attending his concerts. As such and by his own volition, his work has made an imprint on the culture here as well (i.e., IYCRMM was used in the movie "Wonderland" to capture and portray a specific period of time here in the 1970's). So when someone errs in referring to one of his songs as an "American Classic", try to remember how long Americans have been listening to him, and that it actually was here in the U.S. market that he was able to "break open", which resulted in him being catapulted into international stardom.
I understand the pride Canadians feel for him. He has remained true to his Canadian roots and his country throughout his career. The fact does remain, however, that a large bulk of his career was achieved here in the U.S. When I read the comment that "I never thought of it as an "American" anything", it gave me pause to think, is that in reference to the man himself (who obviously isn't), or to some of his work (which arguably in some people's minds) could be.
I believe his music crosses international borders, and that he himself has set it up that way.
redhead