My wife and I have been Gordon Lightfoot fans since 1969. There's nothing he's written that I don't like/love. I've only seen him in concert twice. The first time was at the Constitution Hall in D.C. in the early 70's. We managed to make it backstage to meet him afterwards and tried to talk him into coming out for a drink with us. He was incredibly nice to our small group of college students, chatting with us for about five minutes. He seemed genuinely sorry that he couldn't come along, and said something like, "One of the things I don't like about having some measure of fame, is that I no longer have the freedom to do things I'd like to do with fans." I'll never forget that experience. The second time I saw him was more than a decade later at Wolf Trap in D.C. a huge, great concert, but there was no chance of getting anywhere near him afterwards.
I have one other anecdote about Gordon Lightfoot that sticks in my mind, and goes along with comments others have made about him not hiding his feelings. He was hosting a T.V. music show (I can't remember which one), and he was introducing the famous sitar player, Ravi Shankar. As I recall, GL said, "Here's someone's favorite musician, not mine!" I suspect he may have had a drink or so at the time, but I remember laughing very hard at the comment. Poor Ravi probably didn't find it as funny as I did.
In many ways, all GL songs are favorites, but here are some of my MOST favorite.
Beautiful - a fantastic love song
Fine as Fine Can Be - if you've got daughter's you'll understand
The Patriot's Dream - best antiwar song EVER. Every bit as meaningful now as it was when it helped open my eyes to the Vietnam war.
The Circle is Small / Dreamland - two sad but beautiful songs about betrayal, lost love.
The Canadian Railroad Trilogy - my vote for the best ballad and probably my all time GL favorite. The way the tempo mimics a trains building up speed is fantastic.
Song for a Winter's Night - incredible imagery.
Stone Cold Sober - hauntingly sad and very beautiful song
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