Which Gordon Lightfoot song makes you cry?

[Gitchigumee]

Very nice comments, Lighthead, and how true. Regarding the song "In My Fashion" I just think it is so typical of Gord to turn a topic like "How I Did It" or "How I've Lived My Life" into the beautifully simple statement "In My Fashion." What a classy guy.

[Ginny]

Thanks Gitchigumee. Just browsed through your earlier post on Dec 1st and I hear the sentiments you reflected which seem to fall in line with the ones I was trying to make. The appreciation of the complete package tends to draw on the emotional end of oneself and seems to ignite the fuel created inside when it reaches a certain level. The beauty is though, the explosion created is not a damaging one, nor a sorrowful one either. Simply joyous. This is a really great topic for guys like who like to ramble on. Cheers, Ron J.

[Ginny]

Originally posted by ColoradoSue:
~*~ THE LAST TIME I SAW HER ~*~
CLOUDS OF LONLINESS
BEAUTIFUL
STONE COLD SOBER
SHADOWS

[Ginny]

Hi ColoradoSue. "Stone Cold Sober." Yes, that's one that did a number on me, big time, as well. I'd never heard it before till my wife, Marian bought me the "Songbook" collection for my birthday and when the time was right I sat down alone in my room and listened to every tune on those recordings one by one. There were several numbers done on me that day as well by a few of those tunes especially some of the earlier ones which I hadn't heard for a while and I think that alone helped contribute to the joy of it all. But that one song placed me onto a magic carpet and swept me back to those days he was talking about in that piece of work. I felt the hurt, the pain, the joy, and the wishing of how I wanted to be back there again, Stone Cold Sober, wishing how I could have that all back, those beautiful women, those moments of ultimate joy, staying up all night, we were all so young, and so in love. Even now I don't play that one unless I can find the space to fit it into the mindset that I need to have in order for it to bring out the full potential of quality that it really has. I'm so happy that Gord put this one out there. Ron J.

[Jennifer]

Oh yeah, Gordon has made me get teary-eyed a few times. Here are a few that get me all choked up.

If You Could Read My Mind: I don't think any song expresses the pain, confusion and heartache of a divorce/breakup any better than this.

Miguel: Not only is the story very poignant but the melody is haunting and tugs at your emotions.

Talking in Your Sleep: The lyrics say it all in this one. Is there anything more sad and depressing than lying next to your sleeping beloved while listening to them talk about there secret love? Me thinks not...

Go My Way: this may not be a "sad song" per se but there is a sweet sort of longing in the words and something about that line "Why must I sail my ship alone without a friend??" that gets me each time.

[musky_man]

Oddly enough - The Ballad of Yarmouth Castle can put a lump in my throat.

I find the lyrics so powerful - sometimes it seems I'm on that boat with those poor souls going down with the ship in some sort of hellish inferno.

[Ginny]

This topic keeps coming back to me as I think of all the Lightfoot tunes that are out there and I think I've heard them all, at least the ones that are readily available, but one is never sure. Some of my songwriter friends every once in a while will pull one out of the pack and it can send me off into a tailspin. I guess it's all about the power of song. "DOES YOUR MOTHER KNOW." That's another Lightfoot tune that registers it's tally on my scale and it's up there pretty high. It's an incredibly beautiful song with a fantastic arrangement and for the folks in "our age group," during the sixties there was an influx of maritimers(Eastern Canada folks) arriving in Toronto looking for a better life. I was one of them in my early twenties, and just up and left the comfort zone of living with my parents, arriving in the big city not even knowing how to boil water. But Gordon Lightfoot was there with his music and I knew right from that moment I had found a comfort zone that, unbeknownst to me at the time, was to carry me through to this day. To say I got hooked on Lightfoot would be an understatement. My Mom is still alive and well back East and I reflect back every now and then on that lyric: "but the letters that you write, in the faded winter light, they tell her, they tell her that you've got ten dollars and you'll be alright, (or "your rent cost eight") and when you get straight, you're gonna' come back East some day." That's me re-living the past. I can't even let myself get NEAR a cry on that one. It would put me over the top, especially this time of year. I just spoke with her today and she's right as rain. I'm a very lucky guy to have a Mom this long and we only get one in this life. You kind of have to understand what things were like during the sixties in Toronto as well. Gord went down East and entertained all those folks from the remote villages on the Southern shore of Nfld. so when he wrote those kind of songs he had a scope on what he what he was doing with his work. He registered with those folks and thay gave it back to him in appreciation of his contribution. I met more Newfies in the bars in Toronto than I knew back home in Nfld. The talk always included back home, your Mom, the family etc. Not surprising Gord came up with that song. He knew how to read his audience and gave them exactly what they came to hear and I'm so happy that I was part of all that in those early days. Merry Christmas,, Ron J.

[Auburn Annie]

Merry Christmas, Ron - one of my favorites as well. His voice is vintage, with a hint of Glenn Yarborough, and you're right - he knows about being away from home and family.

[Long River]

Three songs come to mind, the first - If You Could Read My Mind. In concert, I close my eyes when he sings this & I hear how beautiful his voice is. It's the first song I knew by him, so part nostalgia & just how beautiful he sounds. Brings tears to my eyes but in a good way.

I can't even listen to Home From the Forest, too sad for me.

Another beautiful song, A Painter Passing Through, some of the lyrics... But I love this song.

[DiggerBoy]

I get close to crying with I'M NOT SUPPOSED TO CARE, PUSSYWILLOWS CATTAILS, IF CHILDREN HAD WINGS... to name a few.

What really made me cry were the songs he didn't sing at the cancelled Harris, Michigan concert in September.

Boo hoo.

Happy Holidays everyone!

[Kathy in Michigan]

I get close to crying with I'M NOT SUPPOSED TO CARE, PUSSYWILLOWS CATTAILS, IF CHILDREN HAD WINGS... to name a few.

What really made me cry were the songs he didn't sing at the cancelled Harris, Michigan concert in September.

Boo hoo.

Happy Holidays everyone!

[Mair]

Tatoo.

Time has been wasting away ...

[walls]

I'll go from the gut, and list the five that come to mind most readily:

Home From The Forest
Too Late For Prayin'
I'm Not Suppose to Care
If Children Had Wings
That Same Old Obsession

[Kathy Number Four]

Bringing this topic back to the top....

Quite a few of them get me a little misty-eyed (like "The Last Time I Saw Her" and "Clouds of Lonliness"). But in "The Patriot's Dream"... the line "She cried into the silken folds of her new wedding gown" ALWAYS brings on the tears! Also the line in another verse: "How could she tell those children that their father was shot down?" The whole song is especially apropos to the current times (i.e., the war in Iraq).

Shadows

[johnfowles]

For me it is most definitely "Looking at the Rain" (one of a few of Gord's best songs missing from the Songbook box set IMHO)
back in 1962 I had cycled the 8 miles from my parent's home in Ferndown Dorset to the big city of Bournemouth to do some shopping and as usual had gone through the racks at my favourite record shop. I was well rewarded by discovering the then
brand new Don Qiixote and peddled home as fast as possible to listen to it.
by the time I did it was a veritable cats and dogs situation...
raining heavily.... you know it was raining poodles.
I had very recently gone through the trauma of a grevious personal loss through the treachery of somebody I loved, that was in the event not to be overcome for another 27 years of living on my own
So when I found myself gazing out of the window and hearing the words
"Looking at the rain, feeling the pain
Of love lost running through my brain
Looking at the wind, watching it spin
The leaves along the street, you win
Waiting for a line to fall
Telling you it's all a big mistake
Looking at the wall, wishing you'd call
And tell me you're okay, that's all "
that was and still is a real tear jerker I can tell you!!
it was possibly wetter inside the house than outside

[Jesse Joe]

Originally Posted by Kathy Number Four

Bringing this topic back to the top....

Quite a few of them get me a little misty-eyed (like "The Last Time I Saw Her" and "Clouds of Lonliness"). But in "The Patriot's Dream"... the line "She cried into the silken folds of her new wedding gown" ALWAYS brings on the tears! Also the line in another verse: "How could she tell those children that their father was shot down?" The whole song is especially apropos to the current times (i.e., the war in Iraq).

"How could she tell those children that their father was shot down?" The whole song is especially apropos to the current times (i.e., the war in Iraq).


Quite right Kathy Number Four !

[gwen snyder]

At the concert in Indy last fall, my husband thought I was going nuts but every other song I was misty eyed... I had eyes shining with a smile and tears running out of my eyes for the passion of the man. I must admit he is "art"-ist enough for me. Blessed is the thought that was running through my mind. He had enough God in him to correct the things in his past that made him move off his goals, that was a chore. AND then write about them. Additionally he had enough compassion for us to know we all go through his emotions someone said "to stand in front of a crowd of thousands and bare your soul, etc..." we are in this together, he, you and I. He is a gift for us. We are so lucky to be in his "era". Until I started coming to this sight, the words to some of his songs alluded me, songs like "home from the forest" really didn't make sense (so it wasn't a favorite) until I read the words and identified with the sadness of the situation. We are Gord's gift, too, to be able to identify with his music and to be as "Ginny" put it in this unique space and time with a "cultural icon" like Gordon Lightfoot. Yes!!!!!

[RM]

Originally Posted by johnfowles

I had very recently gone through the trauma of a grevious personal loss through the treachery of somebody I loved, that was in the event not to be overcome for another 27 years of living on my own
So when I found myself gazing out of the window and hearing the words
"Looking at the rain, feeling the pain
Of love lost running through my brain
Looking at the wind, watching it spin
The leaves along the street, you win
Waiting for a line to fall
Telling you it's all a big mistake
Looking at the wall, wishing you'd call
And tell me you're okay, that's all "
that was and still is a real tear jerker I can tell you!!
it was possibly wetter inside the house than outside

Ouch ! Thanks for sharing that story.

[Jesse Joe]

Originally Posted by johnfowles

For me it is most definitely "Looking at the Rain" (one of a few of Gord's best songs missing from the Songbook box set IMHO)
back in 1962 I had cycled the 8 miles from my parent's home in Ferndown Dorset to the big city of Bournemouth to do some shopping and as usual had gone through the racks at my favourite record shop. I was well rewarded by discovering the then
brand new Don Qiixote and peddled home as fast as possible to listen to it.
by the time I did it was a veritable cats and dogs situation...
raining heavily.... you know it was raining poodles.
I had very recently gone through the trauma of a grevious personal loss through the treachery of somebody I loved, that was in the event not to be overcome for another 27 years of living on my own
So when I found myself gazing out of the window and hearing the words
"Looking at the rain, feeling the pain
Of love lost running through my brain
Looking at the wind, watching it spin
The leaves along the street, you win
Waiting for a line to fall
Telling you it's all a big mistake
Looking at the wall, wishing you'd call
And tell me you're okay, that's all "
that was and still is a real tear jerker I can tell you!!
it was possibly wetter inside the house than outside

I always loved that song,' Looking At The Rain.' And what I just read by you Sir John is very moving to say the least. Thanks for sharing...

What a great songwriter this poet genius is.

[Jesse Joe]

Originally Posted by gwen snyder

At the concert in Indy last fall, my husband thought I was going nuts but every other song I was misty eyed... I had eyes shining with a smile and tears running out of my eyes for the passion of the man. I must admit he is "art"-ist enough for me. Blessed is the thought that was running through my mind. He had enough God in him to correct the things in his past that made him move off his goals, that was a chore. AND then write about them. Additionally he had enough compassion for us to know we all go through his emotions someone said "to stand in front of a crowd of thousands and bare your soul, etc..." we are in this together, he, you and I. He is a gift for us. We are so lucky to be in his "era". Until I started coming to this sight, the words to some of his songs alluded me, songs like "home from the forest" really didn't make sense (so it wasn't a favorite) until I read the words and identified with the sadness of the situation. We are Gord's gift, too, to be able to identify with his music and to be as "Ginny" put it in this unique space and time with a "cultural icon" like Gordon Lightfoot. Yes!!!!!

"He is a gift for us. We are so lucky to be in his "era".

Very beautifully said gwen snyder, you guys are great...

[Kathy Number Four]

"Cobwebs and Dust", because it reminds me of how behind I am in my house cleaning.

[Dream Street Rose]

Hi Kathy,

I think I have "Cobwebs and Dust", in my head.

One of Gordon's songs that brings tears to my eyes is "Summer Side of Life".

DSR

[Kathy Number Four]

Originally Posted by Dream Street Rose

I think I have "Cobwebs and Dust", in my head.

DSR

Wellll...... I didn't want to say anything Dore, but now that you mention it......

[timetraveler]

Too Late For Praying isne. Another is Bittergreen, followed by Circle Of Steel. Oe tht hs me ter up with a differant type of tears is Seven Island Suite. It's beautiful beyond words.