quote:Originally posted by Borderstone:
Two friends I have (they are a couple) both share the same opinion. They think GL is lame,corny,old-fashioned,boring,you-name it!
I think Borderstone’s friends belong to the gimme, gimme generation.
Maybe we could think of them as the protagonists of A Minor Ballad (She’s not really interested in him, but she might be if he flashes his credit card for a few designer dresses-gowns of soft crimson hue etc.)
Yes, when you start to listen to A Minor Ballad you could think - trite, lovey-dovey, etc.
Delve deeper, though, and you realise that this song has its roots in many centuries of English ballad making. (It t’was a young lad and his lass – with a hey and a ho and a hey nonny no.)
The word troubadour is frequently attached to GL without very much thought (I believe) being given to its true derivation. A troubadour was a lyrical poet in Southern France during the 11th-13th centuries. Many noble knights pledged their allegiance and undying love to Eleanor of Aquitaine (Wife of Henry the second of England).
She, supposedly, set up the Courts of Love in Poitiers (her capital). Here, the knights professed their love for their ladies in verse and song.
During the following centuries these songs became part and parcel of the English venacular tradition.
Ergo – we can trace the songwriting of Gordon Lightfoot back to eleventh century France.
Fanciful?
I don’t think so!
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