songs with SPIRITUAL essence

[charlene]

Originally Posted by spocksbrain

This might be a good topic for another thread, but what songs of Gord's do you see as the most spiritual, if not necessarily the most religious. I know that religion in his music has been discussed recently, but I am speaking of something deeper than religion. What songs cover the search for God and our reconciliation with the maker?

Peaceful Waters comes to mind right away. Shellfish would be another.

From Clouds of Loneliness: this is a very mournful few lines...asking for guidance in a lonely, hurting time...

Where will you go, what will you do
When your whole world ain't talking to you
Maybe you think you will see the light
Maybe you'll find what you hope is right

[geodeticman.5]

Char , I am very glad to see that you've elevated Spocksbrain's thought on the spiritual thread potential into reality.

By coincidence, I had prepared a reply in the Dylan thread where he mentioned it, tacitly speaking of some quasi-religous and spiritual discussion we have had over time that I remembered back before my medical and bereavement leave from the forum for so long.

I encouraged him to defer to you as the moderator to give the idea legs, and also bolster the noble desire of Spocks that such an important aspect of Gordons be addressed.

Were he to have opened the thread without testing the waters as he wisely, and discretely did, it could have taken the wild waters trip it has at times in the past, where less tolerant members, who I notice are not posting since I have been back in black as Geo point5.

Wild or controversial thread waters are not intrinsically bad imho, I think they represent the finest opportunity for kind and tasteful fans, in a stimulating; if not intellectual subject of such importance - call it intellectual and all too quickly someone will cry foul as it being stuffshirt,longhair, or bemoan the perceived attempts to establish the "hoi-poloi versus the proletariate" motive assumptions - which is hogwash.

To venture into this thinking persons' rosegarden of a thread theme is not at all imho an attempt to segregate by comment the artifice of "plebians" from "The Rennaisance People" - which I do not believe the members in this forum, or Lightfoot's music ideate.. And I am VERY happy this is the case.
I really have wanted to elaborate on this theme for along time, but did not wish to risk roiled waters - no risk, no gain. And....we ARE all adults here..

I think it is a compliment that we are considered capable of considerate exchange where lesser minds and hearts would be volatile and on the attack. But its a different breed in here, in corfid. I am so glad we can take up such an enjoyable facet to appreciate of the Man and his music.

I say this before we've even really begun; with the hopes of imploring of all these fine people I see that comprise corfid now to avoid the pratfalls inherant in posting back and forth to one another on an: a- volatile subject ; b- one of the three subjects we were always taught as young adults would break up a dinner table LOL ; and c- politically incorrect - to encourage bringing up subjects that test our tolerance and respect for dissimilar thoughts warranting merit as being worthy of open-minded consideration - as much as our own - at a minimum as spoken of in the constituion as one of the rights of pursuit.....

I got a lot of these thoughts and more down on keyboard earlier, really boiling down to - yeah Char - lets really encourage such a great topic again - and not let just one person feel dangling out there from the bowsprit alone, subject to possible bashing, no matter how artfuly worded LOL... and JUST AS I GOT THE POST FINISHED - AND WAS SPELL-CHECKING ETC... DAM*** IF i DIDN'T HIT THE MYSTERY KEY BY ACCIDENT THAT BLOWS AWAY ALL MY WORK IN WINDOWS - and I don't even know which it is. I know how to purposefully delete all my blabberty, but which key is that pesky launch into cyberspace I hit by accident so much ? dang it......

Well, I got the chance to rethink and rewrite after a trip down to Denver today after the loss, and now i come back to find this most excellent thread allready begun - good idea Spocksbrain, and thank you Char for adding your stamp of worthiness of the subject, and I stand beside you and Spock, bursting with ideas in this area, and thank you both for the brave thread.

ON-THREAD OFFERINGS OF SONGS WITH SPIRITUAL ESSENCE:

* Mister Rock of Ages - without question in my mind, openly spiritual, and melodically superior as well - very "hummable" , and one of my favourite.

*Make Way For the Lady - "shake hands with the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost...the impoosible believer, and the Heavenly Host" - man I love that song, and I still maintain it is one of Gord's rare forays into a small bite of Jazz , e.g. Oh Linda on Lightfoot! being another. I figured Gord as a closet jazz fan for years, unrealized, and then what do I read but the additional info on his education at Westlake College of Music, where among other things - music theory, composition, arrangements and orchestration, Piano, AND - JAZZ ! as an initial area of varied interests. I knew it !

And to this day, I read recently, he still enjoys listening to some Jazz among varied interests. His song is not tradtional jazz at all, granted, and so many types geographically branded it seems - Chicago Jazz, West Coast Jazz, L.A. Jazz etc. Gord imho produced a barely discernable jazz form - with that bongos and hi-hat Vegas hipster beat - the kind we envision Ole' Blue Eyes, and Sammy Davis Jr. swingin' too the beat on - martini in one hand, cigarette danglin', snapping their fingers and"diggin" it.

There is a hint of that in the stepped-up second half of this song - Make Way for the Lady, where the lyrics i mentioned begin; that coolbeat subtly in the background. Listen in headphones - it'll blow you away.
Oh - AND its great spiritual advice too, imho

*Forgive me Lord - unquestionably if thats possible

There are so many, many more, nd so many extremely subtle, sometimes just one line, one riff, sometimes only inferred. I believe Gord is/was a religous man, and didn't one article quote him as saying he was raised in a .. was it Presbyterian Church ? In Orillia, where he still attends at times. - and was a choir boy with a great mentor there. Not that this matters for our validation of him or his music in any way, his work stands on its own, spiritual or not.... its just interesting to take a fresnel lens and look close, and I believe one CAN see it. I want to cite so many more - but that would rob others of the enjoyment some....

Thanks Char and Spocksbrain

~geo steve

[Patti]

From River of Light:

Headin' down where the water runs deep, down deep where the fish are asleep now.

[charlene]

another I find quite spiritual (I think he also speaks as a "Rainy Day People").
I think loyalty and truth are quite important to Lightfoot in his personal life and in the themes of his writing. He speak for many of us.

Heaven Don't Deserve Me

I'm not afraid that when I'm dying
There'll be no one to hold my hand
If there's a God up there he loves me
As much as my old women can

I don't intend to be a martyr
I don't give a damn what people say
And if I never get to heaven
Heaven don't deserve me anyway

I've tasted life both good and evil
At times I was cruel and did not pay
And if I never get to heaven
Heaven don't deserve me anyway

I don't know what it was I came for
But I've enjoyed it up 'till until now
If there's a friend who ever needs me
I'll do my best to help somehow

I don't intend to keep no secrets
I don't give a damn what people say
And if I never get to heaven
Heaven don't deserve me anyway

I know and I'll admit my failures
I don't give a damn what people say
And if I never get to heaven
Heaven don't deserve me anyway

And if I never get to heaven
Heaven don't deserve me anyway

[Patti]

Quote:
Originally Posted by spocksbrain
This might be a good topic for another thread, but what songs of Gord's do you see as the most spiritual, if not necessarily the most religious. I know that religion in his music has been discussed recently, but I am speaking of something deeper than religion. What songs cover the search for God and our reconciliation with the maker?

Peaceful Waters comes to mind right away. Shellfish would be another.

Don't Beat Me Down (Back Here On Earth) 3:21


When he was a man, my father would stand
I never saw him run
There wasn't anyone could make the man bend
And the strength of his will was the tool of his trade
And he did his work well
Till the powers that be took a liking to him
And they traded his body for a cold empty shell
Don't beat me down
Don't beat me down
I've got something to say
Don't you stand in my way
And don't beat me down

When I was a youth, I found the truth
In the eyes of a friend
There wasn't anyone could make the light dim
And we talked and we rambled and we gambled to win
And the learning was good
Till the powers that be to a liking to him
And they traded their fortunes for the sight of his blood

When I was a child my mother smiled
At the cradle she bought
For the little tot she held to her breast
And the song that she sang was an anthem to love
It was all that I heard
Till the powers that be took a liking to me
And they told me that love was a four-letter word

Don't beat me down
Don't beat me down
I've got one life to live
And that's all I can give
So don't beat me down

Now I've got a place, got a worried face
And the question in mind
Please let me find a reason somehow
Why some reap the harvest while other men die
And the joker runs wild
And if powers that be take a liking to us
Then we all must return to the ways of a child
We all must return to the ways of a child

So don't beat me down
Don't beat me down
I've got something to say
Don't you stand in my way
And don't beat me down
I've got one life to life
And that's all I can give
So don't beat me down
Don't beat me down
Don't beat me down

[BILLW]

My favorite song of Gord's (did I ever mention that ?) which is quite frankly a prayer:

Second Cup Of Coffee

I'm on my second cup of coffee and I still can't face the day
I'm thinking of the lady who got lost along the way
And if I don't stop this trembling hand from reaching for the phone
I'll be reachin' for the bottle, Lord, before this day is done
I'm on my second cup of coffee and I still can't face the day
The room was filled with laughs as we danced the night away
But my sleep was filled with dreaming of the wrongs that I had done
And the gentle sweet reminder of a daughter and a son

Sitting alone, my friends have all gone home
You never know when they'll come droppin' in
Thinking of girls with their fingers in my curls
Too young to understand how love begins

I'm on my second cup of coffee and I still can't face the dawn
The radio is playin' a soft country song
And if I don't stop this trembling hand from reaching for the phone
I'll be reachin' for the bottle, Lord, before this day is done

Bill

[Shutup and Deal, I'm Losin']

Late about dusk I would start to think
One more day had been lost
Nothing I'd say ever seemed to convey how I felt
With that I had dealt - Welcome To Try

The road is paved with moonbeams
As there are faces that I knew
They all came back to haunt me,
And that ain't fair to the folks like me and you - East Of Midnight

[geodeticman.5]

A couple quick ones, perhaps too easy to identify:

*Too Late for Prayin' "Lord Abide, Let us stem the tide, of broken dreams,
sometimes it seems to tell us, its too late.... for prayin' "
- said by the Rolling Stone reviewer RM posted for us re: Too Late For Prayin' on the Sundown LP to be one of ,if not Lightfoot's MOST ambitious piece of work (paraphrased). Wow - high praise - is it in the company of CRT etc. ? I think so.... I do love that vistory.

* "All the Lovely Ladies" from COTS -by memory - 'Bless you all and keep you on the road to tenderness; Heaven can be yours just for now' - and many refrains in the song in keeping with this theme citing "heavy rounders with a headache for their pains, afraid to go around the bend" & "To all those who answer to the letter of the law, and all the rest in prison by mistake, Bless you all and have the strength to let it pass"- paraphrased

- Interesting too, that in this song, we are left to speculate on the meaning of "all the handsome gentlemen with lovin' on their minds, strolling in to take the ladies home,... .. Heaven can be yours just for now ' -roughly, and without being distasteful, perhaps the most , *provocative* interpretation -might- be that "Heaven can be yours just for now" - is referring as much to do about, shall we say - satisfaction of adult desires of mature interaction being akin to a temporary sense of heaven-like feelings; -but- I think not

- I interpret Gord to mean that all of the people and situations cited of plight, and the stark contrast of the image of the elegantly-dressed ladies and gentlemen meeting in the parlour and "taking the ladies home" are both intended to be prayer-like genuine thoughts of well-wishing for the sense of, or perhaps temporary glimpse of what Heaven -might- be like on Earth metaphorically, for strength, or sense of being loved, or sense of being able to endure hardship if just given a glimpse.. , that one may finally have "someone [that]can relieve you of your chains" - evokes many possible metaphor and also literal feelings - hard to say.

I could try to "state what it means" - but I always smile to myself when someone does that in a post, perhaps unwittingly lending the impression of stating that they know the one and true interpretation of what Gord REALLY meant, or ocassionally intentionally so with knowledge of and intent of stating just that - which I consider to be hubris in the latter case, and naivete in the former.

I am always more... tuned in,, to the person who posts with the general understanding that this is their opinion, as the above are mine, and opinion only... far be it for me to lay claim to exactly what Lightfoot meant in this song.
It was said in another thread well, much the same as I mean - that a person's post sounded more like a "statement of fact" as opposed to one of opinion. Well put.

and one song so full of metaphor, allegory, and analogy , that it could be studied by students of spiritual poetry or philosophy for a lengthy paper... another perhaps Gord would refer to as he is want to do with "another ethereal song" -

* (The)Soul is the Rock - from COTS. I won't even begin in this post to try with any sense
of brevity in an allready too-long posting - this one is jam-packed with both an English teacher's examples of metaphor, a Philosophy professor's lengthy lecture, and
even a Professor of Theology studying the religious aspects of this song.

"Rain on the rock" - harmony "Rain on the Rock' .... "say what you like to do what ya do, everyone's sleeping now two by two" "nothing is disputed, yet nothing is disproved" - and one more ort of allegory this time - the recurring "cats in the shed" - I wonder what that one is meant about ?

Clearly - the rife references to the soul in this song would fill a whole , long post. In this sense, while I am not hesitant to state that I feel a lyrical strain is religious, I chose to use the term spiritual selectively , not categorically.

And this song to me, while others I have mentioned are *religious" to me, is more spiritual, in that the lyrics speak more of the soul and redemption in a personal sense, and the song is not full of biblical or more religious per se prayer, verse, or lyrics.

It may be said to be independant of religion proper, and harken to that "deeper sense of sprituality" Spocksbrain spoke of. I don't know for sure. Maybe Gordon didn't either. Could not some his songs have been quesions to his own inner thoughts ? Interesting thought, too me.

great thread Char and Spocksbrain

longer post than I intended....so whats new ? LOL OK -I'm holding my gloves up ! lol
~geo steve

[SherylKat]

My favorite song probably of all time (!) is "Seven Island Suite" - it's spiritual to me because in my mind, it's telling us to step back, take a rest, see the beauty around us and forget the b.s. we have to live with every day!

SherylKat

[Peter Bro10]

Very thought provoking thread.... I was drawn in and stayed much longer than I intended!

Intrigued by what I find sometimes by just reading the lyric, as if it was a poem, strip away, just for now, the music. Read, and absorb the writen word. I am always amazed at what I find. Newer, fresher understanding. Perhaps its a change of perspective?

I am also surprized, I suppose, at what 'wisdom' Gord had at such a young age when he wrote, just for example, "Don't beat me down". Lyric posted above by Patti. I will have a newer appreciation of that song from now on.

"Does any one know where the love of God goes When the waves turn the minutes to hours" from the Wreck.... Well, waves ain't the only thing that can turn minutes to hours. A good corfid thread does that same thing!!!! LOL

Peace be with you my friends,

[timetraveler]

Originally Posted by SherylKat

My favorite song probably of all time (!) is "Seven Island Suite" - it's spiritual to me because in my mind, it's telling us to step back, take a rest, see the beauty around us and forget the b.s. we have to live with every day!

SherylKat

you are SO right on that. First time I heard it, I felt totally swept away by it. It's one of those rare tunes that gets you deep to the core of your very being.

[SherylKat]

Originally Posted by timetraveler

you are SO right on that. First time I heard it, I felt totally swept away by it. It's one of those rare tunes that gets you deep to the core of your very being.

At last - so nice to talk to someone who has GREAT TASTE in music! No, to me "Seven Island Suite" is like a classical piece, and you're right, it DOES move you to the core and does sweep you away, particularly the way it builds to when the words say, "It's a feeling, you'd better believe in...". I think it's a great forerunner to "Wreck"... two incredible songs...ooops, not to forget, "The Trilogy"!

He probably never played it in concert. There's a You Tube version that's very good, along with Christian Island, except that the beautiful nature shots are rather compromised by handdrawn ships moving across the landscape...

SherylKat (aka Seven Island Girl - shoulda picked that name instead!)

[jj]

Originally Posted by SherylKat

He probably never played it in concert.

a fair bit, but way back...would like to have heard this set:

http://www.lightfoot.ca/740405.htm

[geodeticman.5]

Originally Posted by jj

a fair bit, but way back...would like to have heard this set:

http://www.lightfoot.ca/740405.htm

just looked at it - Port Huron - '74 - man what a set list - no kidding !


and the most redeeming song of course - Is There Anyone Home ? lol

[Jesse Joe]

Originally Posted by jj

a fair bit, but way back...would like to have heard this set:

http://www.lightfoot.ca/740405.htm

A great set list indeed, and to actually be able to hear "Seven Island Suite" in concert by that great voice of the "SUNDOWN" days, would have been simply awesome.

Thanks jj, I had not notice that set list before.

BTW... Sheryl Kat, "Seven Island Suite" has long been my favorite ~gl~ song ever since I first heard it, when I bought the {LP} "SUNDOWN" way back in 1973.

As Im sure you know, Cathy Evelyn Smith sings back up on "High And Dry," and her voice was added without Lightfoot knowing about it. I read this in the Maynard Collins book, "If You Could Read His Mind."








I sometimes think that you are Cathy Smith ?? No ?

Seven Island Girl, would be a great screen name !

[Jesse Joe]

Apparently I was wrong, Sheryl Kat is not Cathy Smith.

She sent me a friendly PM laughing about this...

Same for our Jim Nasium, it was discussed some time ago that he might be Bob Dylan ?

http://www.corfid.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=18687

[geodeticman.5]

Originally Posted by jj

a fair bit, but way back...would like to have heard this set:

http://www.lightfoot.ca/740405.htm

yes - I know I allready posted jj on this, but if I had to "Live with just one set-list on a Desert Island' sorta thing - now there's a thread ..lol...

This'd be it, jj - you found it in Wayne's World aka Lightfoot! - Wayne Francis' site

At this point redundant for all who've read the set -list, but I gotta talk of it once more, as it has, among so many fantastic songs - and as you said jj - in that admittedly outstanding voice in '74, so many great songs, including:

My favourite 'ethereal" as Gord is quoted as saying - song of his:
"Is There Anyone Home'

Merry and My 'Our' song - 'Beautiful' - played at our wedding, and at her final service...

The Colo. Audiophile's Society (hew hew-hew ) spoken of commonly as their members favourite song of his to play and re-model in the area - and the song so many of us love - Seven Island Suite....

And Mamie's favourite song when she was taking riding lessons at 11 -
'Pony Man' - She can still sing it by heart at 26...

Anyway jj - Everyone has there own set-list favourite, many for what occurred that night or other tangential reasons, but I agree with you on this..
incredible...just the top of it for thought one more time:

Port Huron, MI
McMorran Arena - April 5, 1974

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
The List

You've allread all seen it in complete I am sure that want to; so I won't burn frame-light, as the Duke might have said another 1 or 2,3 generations later ,lol... but the starting song says it all - THE List..... thanks jj