Favorite Lightfoot Song & Why? II

Wow, so tough, but fun to think about. I could just transcribe the playlist from the mixed cassette that's been in my car forever:

--Ten Degrees and Getting Colder (which I always rewind at least once)

--Marie Christine--another cool ship song

--Sit Down Young Stranger--makes me cry. So good.

--For Lovin' Me

--Walls

--Affair on Eighth Avenue

--Rainbow Trout--definitely a finalist

--Dream Street Rose--another favorite

--Magnificent Outpouring

--Spanish Moss

--Morning Glory What's the Story?

--Don Quixote

--Go My Way

--Song for a Winter's Night

. . . OK, I'm going to go play it now.

It would be impossible for me to choose a favorite Lightfoot song, they are all excellent. I will say that Gordon has been a huge inspiration in my music and I wish he could go on forever. If you see this Gordon, I hope you recover well from your recent illness.

It would be impossible for me to choose a favorite Lightfoot song, they are all excellent. I will say that Gordon has been a huge inspiration in my music and I wish he could go on forever. If you see this Gordon, I hope you recover well from your recent illness.

I love Gordon's work my favorites are summer side of life and triangle as well as pretty much everything gord has recorded. My selections speak to his vast range.

I love Gordon's work my favorites are summer side of life and triangle as well as pretty much everything gord has recorded. My selections speak to his vast range.

I agree with most everyone else; it is hard to pick just one fav..... Gord's songs remind me so much of the much beloved poets of the Romantic era (Keats, Wordsworth, Blake); nature and human nature infused with so much passon. But if I have to narrow it down, my three top picks have to be:

Wherefore and the Why - what an upbeat, uplifting, inspiring song!

Circle of Steel - makes me want to cry; Gord sees what other people try to ignore.

Song for a Winters Night - I guess tops my list. This song, like so many of his others is heartfelt, almost wistfully sang... an etherial and hauntingly beautiful song, perhaps paralleling life, coupled with Gord's melodic voice put me right over the top!

I agree with most everyone else; it is hard to pick just one fav..... Gord's songs remind me so much of the much beloved poets of the Romantic era (Keats, Wordsworth, Blake); nature and human nature infused with so much passon. But if I have to narrow it down, my three top picks have to be:

Wherefore and the Why - what an upbeat, uplifting, inspiring song!

Circle of Steel - makes me want to cry; Gord sees what other people try to ignore.

Song for a Winters Night - I guess tops my list. This song, like so many of his others is heartfelt, almost wistfully sang... an etherial and hauntingly beautiful song, perhaps paralleling life, coupled with Gord's melodic voice put me right over the top!

quote:Originally posted by Danny:
My favourite Gl song is the Circle is Small.May be an odd choice but there's just something about that song. A close second would be Circle of Steel from the Sundown LP.

Woha ho! Finally someone else mentioning "The Circle Is Small" as their favorite. Bravo Danny!

Since i first posted on this forum I have had the chance to listen to some more songs from Gordon's back catalogue and some cover versions too. Amongst the latter I have to say I have fallen in love with Ann Murray's version of "Cotton Jenny". An odd thing happened indeed: I didn't know who wrote it, until I grew so pleasantly obsessed by it I had to go and find out. Soon as I learned it was written by Lightfoot it all fell into place, so to speak.

GL has a very unique style, and in his upbeat songs he can be nothing short of exhilarating. It's not simply a question of what he sings about, or of the words he chooses, but of the music he sets these words to. Sometimes, as in "Circle", you get this contrasting feeling - a downbeat lyric and an uplifting melody, which in itself is a bold statement, I believe - and some other times the feelings expressed in the words are mirrored by the melody in such a pure, unadulterated way that it puts a big grin on your face.

Whenever I hear "The Circle Is Small" it's as if I saw a movie, one where you start laughing out loud just as you were about to break down.

quote:Originally posted by Danny:
My favourite Gl song is the Circle is Small.May be an odd choice but there's just something about that song. A close second would be Circle of Steel from the Sundown LP.

Woha ho! Finally someone else mentioning "The Circle Is Small" as their favorite. Bravo Danny!

Since i first posted on this forum I have had the chance to listen to some more songs from Gordon's back catalogue and some cover versions too. Amongst the latter I have to say I have fallen in love with Ann Murray's version of "Cotton Jenny". An odd thing happened indeed: I didn't know who wrote it, until I grew so pleasantly obsessed by it I had to go and find out. Soon as I learned it was written by Lightfoot it all fell into place, so to speak.

GL has a very unique style, and in his upbeat songs he can be nothing short of exhilarating. It's not simply a question of what he sings about, or of the words he chooses, but of the music he sets these words to. Sometimes, as in "Circle", you get this contrasting feeling - a downbeat lyric and an uplifting melody, which in itself is a bold statement, I believe - and some other times the feelings expressed in the words are mirrored by the melody in such a pure, unadulterated way that it puts a big grin on your face.

Whenever I hear "The Circle Is Small" it's as if I saw a movie, one where you start laughing out loud just as you were about to break down.

quote:Originally posted by ordinaryman:
i have so many favourite gl songs. right now, i'd have to say 'looking at the rain'. evocative, and i love the string section!

YES, 'LATR' IS ONE OF MY FAVORITES, AND A SPECIAL PLACE IN HEAVEN FOR NICK DECARO, WHO ARRAINGED THE STRINGS...

quote:Originally posted by ordinaryman:
i have so many favourite gl songs. right now, i'd have to say 'looking at the rain'. evocative, and i love the string section!

YES, 'LATR' IS ONE OF MY FAVORITES, AND A SPECIAL PLACE IN HEAVEN FOR NICK DECARO, WHO ARRAINGED THE STRINGS...

In my inept effort to post a reply to this topic, I inadvertantly established a new topic of my own. I hope I got it right this time. My favorite: On the High Seas, from Dream Street Rose. You can find my reasons under my name, elsewhere on this site.
Alan

[Alan]

In my inept effort to post a reply to this topic, I inadvertantly established a new topic of my own. I hope I got it right this time. My favorite: On the High Seas, from Dream Street Rose. You can find my reasons under my name, elsewhere on this site.
Alan

Is There Anyone Home is my favorite. Anyone know the background of the song??

Is There Anyone Home is my favorite. Anyone know the background of the song??

One of the best songs Gordon Lightfoot wrote was Protocol. The other one is 10 Degrees and Getting Colder. Cabaret is another good one. Suzanna, The Way I feel, Sit Down Young Stranger, and Bitter Green. I pick them because they come to my memory first because they are very unique Gordon style.

One of the best songs Gordon Lightfoot wrote was Protocol. The other one is 10 Degrees and Getting Colder. Cabaret is another good one. Suzanna, The Way I feel, Sit Down Young Stranger, and Bitter Green. I pick them because they come to my memory first because they are very unique Gordon style.

Gordon, I hope that you actually read some of this stuff. I can't tell you how your music has been instrumental in my life.

It was your music that helped a ghetto kid from Michigan get through some of the worst times any kid could imagine. When everyone else was listening to funk, your words touched me and made me dream of a different world...a world of fantasy and oceans.

I took your music as a challenge to grow. Because of your music, this ghetto kid went to the university of Michigan and from there to law school. Beyond that, I listened to you every night for 8 years of college, and found the inspiration to go on. I know that it sounds silly, but you helped me get into my dream school-Harvard. And every night I studied while listening to you. I graduated with highest honors.

I now own my own law firm, and I now raise my children on your expressions. You are more than a msician. You are a muse.

My favorite song of yours, among so very very very many, is " If you need me". The words in this simple song are soft and inspirational. I have a wife that I been with and have loved for 23 years, since the first moment I ever laid eyes on her while i high school. This song says what it is for a man to love a woman. And more, it says what he needs from her in order to grow as a man, to develop, to unleash everything within himself...with her as his muse. This song is deep. I wonder who she was who inspired you to compose this song. My My, how she cut into you so seriously.

As I listen to it, as I have since it was first released those many years ago, I still wonder, what woman placed such a dagger in your heart forcing you to compose such sincere, simple and deep lyrics. This is not an "A" side song, but it has "A-plus" inspiration.

Thank you for your gift of song and dreams to us the lowly listener. I have grown up these 40 years on you. As a black male, I can truly say you touch, and reach, and impact in ways that ghetto boys like me who with the inspiration of your songs, have gone on to become the dreams and goals that your words helped to create.

Gordon, I hope that you actually read some of this stuff. I can't tell you how your music has been instrumental in my life.

It was your music that helped a ghetto kid from Michigan get through some of the worst times any kid could imagine. When everyone else was listening to funk, your words touched me and made me dream of a different world...a world of fantasy and oceans.

I took your music as a challenge to grow. Because of your music, this ghetto kid went to the university of Michigan and from there to law school. Beyond that, I listened to you every night for 8 years of college, and found the inspiration to go on. I know that it sounds silly, but you helped me get into my dream school-Harvard. And every night I studied while listening to you. I graduated with highest honors.

I now own my own law firm, and I now raise my children on your expressions. You are more than a msician. You are a muse.

My favorite song of yours, among so very very very many, is " If you need me". The words in this simple song are soft and inspirational. I have a wife that I been with and have loved for 23 years, since the first moment I ever laid eyes on her while i high school. This song says what it is for a man to love a woman. And more, it says what he needs from her in order to grow as a man, to develop, to unleash everything within himself...with her as his muse. This song is deep. I wonder who she was who inspired you to compose this song. My My, how she cut into you so seriously.

As I listen to it, as I have since it was first released those many years ago, I still wonder, what woman placed such a dagger in your heart forcing you to compose such sincere, simple and deep lyrics. This is not an "A" side song, but it has "A-plus" inspiration.

Thank you for your gift of song and dreams to us the lowly listener. I have grown up these 40 years on you. As a black male, I can truly say you touch, and reach, and impact in ways that ghetto boys like me who with the inspiration of your songs, have gone on to become the dreams and goals that your words helped to create.

[char]

Donaldduffy,
you can send your beautiful post to Gord at:
Gordon Lightfoot
1365 Yonge St. #207
Toronto, Ontario
M4T 2P7
Gord doesn't go on-line but he's aware of all of us out here in cyber-space. He calls us "The Net People"

Your story is indeed a wonderful tribute to Lightfoot but I'm sure you had an awful lot to do with your personal and professional success.! Thanks for sharing your story. Drop in more often!
Char
moderator

[Steve DeRosa]

Donaldfluffy...What a beautiful post! Thanks for giving me the pleasure of reading it.

[Oma]

Donaldfluffy...What a beautiful post! Thanks for giving me the pleasure of reading it.

I guess I'm lost in the some of the more obscure cuts, along with those mentioned above, I love anything with a "haunting" cold melody that makes you draw the collar of your coat up a little.
I'm particularly fond of Shadows, The Lost Children (What an always relevant and heart-wrenching song), Does Your Mother Know?, Restless, Anything For Love, and Yarmouth Castle.
I am so impressed with GL's grasp of poetry, I mean, "What a poet!" Not much I don't like...I love anything from the Sunday Concert album, Back Here on Earth and the Sundown album.
I love his lighthearted songs such as Wild Strawberries and The Pony Man to the ballads such as Ghosts of Cape Horn and Lookin at the Rain. I love to play and sing his stuff, Lord knows I don't do it justice. His music sure is a fun part of life and there's never been a better venue in which to enjoy a GL concert than the Tivoli Theater, Chattanooga, Tennessee, 6th row right center.

I guess I'm lost in the some of the more obscure cuts, along with those mentioned above, I love anything with a "haunting" cold melody that makes you draw the collar of your coat up a little.
I'm particularly fond of Shadows, The Lost Children (What an always relevant and heart-wrenching song), Does Your Mother Know?, Restless, Anything For Love, and Yarmouth Castle.
I am so impressed with GL's grasp of poetry, I mean, "What a poet!" Not much I don't like...I love anything from the Sunday Concert album, Back Here on Earth and the Sundown album.
I love his lighthearted songs such as Wild Strawberries and The Pony Man to the ballads such as Ghosts of Cape Horn and Lookin at the Rain. I love to play and sing his stuff, Lord knows I don't do it justice. His music sure is a fun part of life and there's never been a better venue in which to enjoy a GL concert than the Tivoli Theater, Chattanooga, Tennessee, 6th row right center.

[closetcanadian]

Being a less than gifted guitar player, I absolutely marvel at the musicianship on the ballad "Miguel". Hearing Red Shea's guitar fills and how the guitars play off each other in this song just makes me shake my head in admiration and amazement. To borrow the slogan of the PGA Tour, "These guys are good"!

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"be calm in the face of all common disgraces...and know what they're doin' it for..."