Which Gordon Lightfoot song makes you cry?

[charlene]

From A Painter Passing Through -

I am still alone, remembering at last.

I always listen to this song anticipating this line and I always get a lump in my throat thinking of him writing those words..along with the earlier ones in the song:

Once upon a time, once upon a day when
I was in my prime, once along the way.

wow.

[geodeticman.5]

Today - while responding to the thread "One single line of Lyrics makes the song much better" - I was, as usual, waxing enthusiastically along blabberty blabbert , then about 15 on -thread examples as asked for in the thread theme, and... when I got down to the lines from "The Last Time I saw Her" , and "Beautiful" (my wife and my "song"), as the thread here asks, started me crying so hard I about shorted out my keyboard. Those 2, and so many more. Thats my short entry therapy today.
~geo steve

[HeyokaFilms]

Originally Posted by geodeticman.5

Today - while responding to the thread "One single line of Lyrics makes the song much better" - I was, as usual, waxing enthusiastically along blabberty blabbert , then about 15 on -thread examples as asked for in the thread theme, and... when I got down to the lines from "The Last Time I saw Her" , and "Beautiful" (my wife and my "song"), as the thread here asks, started me crying so hard I about shorted out my keyboard. Those 2, and so many more. Thats my short entry therapy today.
~geo steve

Hello geo steve,
Good for you! Short out the whole town!....Gordon has done a fine job of reducing all of us, to our most blubbering, human level on occasion! I wish he had optioned many of his songs to be used in; Cinamatic films of the day. @1970 Can you imagine the theator's full of sobbing, blubbering examples...replace "Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head" with any number of Gordon's gems! i.e. from Butch Cassady and the Sundance Kid" Bicycle scene...I personally find "Leaves of Grass" from Sunday concert, much to my hearts satisfaction.
Cheers All,
Christopher

[Lonesometroubadour]

"The Last Time I Saw Her", Always a tear jerker for me, it reminds me of my Sister who died in 1976.

[Oh, Linda]

Bells of The Evening and If Children Had Wings.

[jj]

Originally Posted by Lonesometroubadour

"The Last Time I Saw Her", Always a tear jerker for me, it reminds me of my Sister who died in 1976.

"And if time could heal the wounds, I would tear the threads away that I might bleed some more"

that lyrics moves me (not alot of water is shed from this stone for some reason) more than almost any other Gord words...I once made a mental list of all the settings and dates where I last saw (the face) and/or spoke to a lost relative or loved one...the list got so long that I thought I should write it all down but I started feeling like I was prematurely writing memoirs ...I highly recommend it ...you end up trying to squeeze the most out of the remainder of the day and jump up from your bed the next morning

I am sorry for your loss...much belated but sincere

[Oh, Linda]

One more I should mention, "Drink Yer Glasses Empty." He could have written that for my dad's oldest brother who flew B17 and B24 bombers in WWII. They used to hand him a bottle at the end of his mission and it'd be "bottom's up," so to speak. He came home a ruined man, a sharp contrast to the young, vibrant and funny man he was in his younger day as recalled by my dad.

I heard that song for the first time this summer when I picked up a couple of CDs I was missing from the GL catalog, including Waiting For You and the Songbook collection. Those poignant lyrics made me immediately think of him.

[jj]

Originally Posted by geodeticman.5

started me crying so hard I about shorted out my keyboard

steve, it's ironic I suppose and I hope you dont mind my candid nature, but amidst your heart wrenching post, your one liner made me lol (when i typically type 'lol' I am not usually laughing our loud, mainly just grinning, but in this case I actually did!)...great one liner...cheers, hang in there, man

[christine75]

Shadows,song for a winters night and passing ship make me a litle teary eyed but so does the wreck of the edmund fitzgerald.

[jj]

Originally Posted by jj

"And if time could heal the wounds, I would tear the threads away that I might bleed some more"

...I once made a mental list of all the settings and dates where I last saw (the face) and/or spoke to a lost relative or loved one...

i found a guest book post from Maury's (of Croce fame) brother at the tribute site ...it is a fine example of what I was trying to convey:


"Mom just reminded me that tomorrow (September 16) was the last day we saw Maury alive 35 Years ago. I can't believe it's been that long since we last said goodbye. I was only 12 at the time. What a special day that was. He had so much joy and hope for his future. Maury was so happy that day to be with all of his family and friends. I can still see his face in my mind's eye smiling at all of us. I will forever cherish that day. There was so much music and laughter. My sister Mary was very pregnant with her twins who would join us only months later. We were all so skinny back then. Maury especially. He could not have weighed more that a buck 20. I remember laying underneath his grand piano that day listening to him sing and play and also listening to other music including Patti Dahlstrom's album. One song called Emotion sticks out in my mind. Today is a day that my emotions are all coming back to me of that last day. Thank you Mom for reminding me and thank you Mary for giving us this wonderful site to remember our brother every day. Thanks to all of the people who are keeping my brothers memory alive by writing in to this site. You have no idea how much it means to our family. Love to all. Robert"

[danie1@everestkc.net]

The only time that ever actually happened was watching his concert in Reno, which was on PBS, doing "Restless." I hadn't heard that in a while, and him being older now, like me (close to his age), it just got to me. It's hard to let go, you know...

[bjm7777]

I thought this thread looked familiar....I reviewed my post from 07/16/08 and I have to say that my opinion is still the same now, as then. But, I should probably add "Sixteen Miles" to the list, though. To me, music is extremely personal, and whatever emotional "jab" I get from a song, by whomever (but we're talking about Lightfoot here), is pretty much just between me and the car windshield on Highway 93, with a stack of Gord's CD's, listening to "those Hi'Way Songs".
I first heard his music in the 60's when I was a youngster, and Lightfoot's music has been the single most influential music artist I have ever listened to. I learned to play guitar on his stuff. I used to watch Terry Clements' finger work in concert with a pair of binoculars.
Does his stuff make me cry? You better believe it...

[KHester]

Gordon has a wonderful way of touching our hearts. All the songs mentioned are great
a couple others that could also be included are The Leaves of Grass and Miguel.
The Ballad of the Yarmouth Castle?


And in the other vein, one of the songs that always make me smile is Brave Mountianeers.

Kevin

[netvoyager]

I have been a Gordo fan since 1966. I have sit in Jam sessions with him at the Earle of Old Town in Chicago, drank with him, and loved him and his music for to long to remember. There is a rare song on a rare album that has a line "I come to this garden, I come here to pray." I played the vinyl version until it just wore out and have been unable to remember the song or albums name. This song brought back memories of my mother and her love of flowers and music. Somehow it just seemed he wrote it for her. I just returned from his concert in South Bend, Indiana (March 12th, 2009) at the Morris Civic Auditorium. This auditorium is a grand old place and as I watched him looking around at the gold leaf plastering and the fine structure I felt he was saying goodbye. Our group feels that this tour is his final tour. He played songs he seldom plays, said hello to old friends, and had tears in his eyes and on his cheeks through several songs. I am a rough tough male, but seeing this and hearing any of his songs now brings tears to an old fan who is aging as well. Song writers like this don't come along very often. I have been fortunate to call him a friend, to see him in numerous concerts, and to tip a few with.

[charlene]

That Same Old Obsession, ©1972 by Gordon Lightfoot

I come to this garden, I come here to rest
Early each day upon rising
I think of my lost love from over the sea
And sometimes I've wondered, if she thinks of me

I long to recall every kiss, every kind word
I miss her so much I could die
But the creatures of evil have captured her heart
And that same old obsession still keeps us apart

There's peace in the garden, there's peace in the air
Peace in the sound of the river
There's peace in the meadow, the sun shines like gold
And if she were with me there'd be peace in my soul

I long to return to the place, I remember
The taste of her lips close to mine
I could do much better, if I could be strong
Come into my garden but leave me alone

I come to this garden, I come here to rest
Just as the night comes stealing
Someone is weeping, I'm calling her name
Deep in the garden, deep in my brain

I long to recall every kiss, every kind word
I miss her so much I could die
But the creatures of evil have captured her heart
And that same old obsession still keeps us apart
But the creatures of evil have captured her heart
And that same old obsession still keeps us apart

[netvoyager]

Thank you Charlene and hello from a fellow Gordo fan!

[charlene]

Hi there!! - that song is on Old Dan's Records..

[geodeticman.5]

Originally Posted by jj

steve, it's ironic I suppose and I hope you dont mind my candid nature, but amidst your heart wrenching post, your one liner made me lol (when i typically type 'lol' I am not usually laughing our loud, mainly just grinning, but in this case I actually did!)...great one liner...cheers, hang in there, man

I saw the theme in live windows hotmail come-up with a new 'Which Gord songs make you cry, I had to log in and give my 8 bits worth. Then I saw I did I did allready. Were it not for poor memory, U would not have seen the very kind comment jj - - thank you jj, and I'm glad you got a laugh out of the keyboard shorting out - its healthy - to laugh after crying.

I heard once God (or I.D. or what/whomever to be respectful of all religions) made crying to clear out badly stuffed sinusus - and you know its true. ! I'll spair you the details, but I DID cry so hard I DID short out my keyboard.... i was only kidding at first (not on the crying, but the keyboard(, then it started acting like filter keys was off its rocker.....had to replace it...lol

but - thanks jj
& Thank you HeyokaFilms so much as well.

I just did a quick read, so forgive me if a missed anyone, but I do want to give my thought and condolances, however ill-timed for Lonesometroubadour's
sister.

Gordo can really pull all out hear t strings, and every emotion I can think of, except maybe hate ?

[johnfowles]

Originally Posted by Yuri

I shared the story of my connection to this song with this group years ago.

Ditto Yuri
I was very sad missing somebody with whom I had shared several Lightfoot concertsthe day I first heard that song and was looking out of the window on a typical wet UK drizzle and lost it completely
one of Gord's most poignant dittys

[dad2mak]

For me it's these:

"I'm Not Supposed to Care"

"Same Old Loverman"

and

"Looking at the Rain"

[ANTHONY ROBERSON]

That one gets me very sad, but not to tears. That song has some of his most powerful lyrics, in my opinon.

[ANTHONY ROBERSON]

My last post wasn't clear. It was a misplaced "quick reply".

None of his songs have ever made me cry, but some have gotten me very sad. Mainly because I deeply identify with them:
ORDINARY MAN-That song seems to be from a man doing the best he can to show his love, but it's not enough.
LOOKING AT THE RAIN-That's probably the roughest one on me. We've all dealt with loneliness, and I deal with it a lot even today at times. This song really opens up the wound. Despite that, I love the song very much.
NOW AND THEN-Man, oh man does that one bring my ex-wife during the good times back to me.
DREAMLAND-Just about the same emotions as NOW AND THEN. I love how Lightfoot is able to reflect on what brought two together while dealing with the fact that they're totally apart.
IF YOU NEED ME-It sings of the romantic man that I wish I could be.....But am not.

Wow...I think a good shrink would have charged me $57/hour for that!

[charlene]

this is a "nocharge" session at corfid...

but.. shrinks in my neighbourhood charge $250.00+ an hour...

[Wheels]

If Children Had Wings has gotten to me a few times.

[ELizabeth]

'Sit Down Young Stranger' and 'Leaves of Grass' often tear me up.