My favourite song: Seven Island Suite from the Sundown LP. I believe it was the summer of ’73. I was 14 years old and did not yet know I was a Lightfoot fan – but I was. Gord’s hit of the summer was Sundown, but it has always been the “B” sides or lesser hits that I’ve been drawn to.
I was lying in bed at night in our cottage near Parry Sound, Ontario. I had the radio on. It was tuned to the only clear station we could get; AM of course – CKAR in Parry Sound. I was probably half asleep, liking to drift off to music on occasion…
And then the song came on. Seven Island Suite is one of those songs that will forever define Gordon Lightfoot’s connection with the Canadian northern landscape to me. I was mesmerized by its tune, lyrics, production values, and wonderful use of background orchestration. But to this day I can’t say I know what meaning lies behind the song.
For me, it conjured up images of the 30,000 Island area of Georgian Bay (part of Lake Huron of the Great Lakes) nearby to my family cottage. Being 14 and a shy, hopeless romantic, the song, slightly sad but optimistic, paralleled my own feelings about what awaited me in life.
I forgot about the song for a long time, in the meantime purchasing Don Quixote, my first Lightfoot album.
So here is a song stuck in the furthest recesses of my brain, until I finally purchased Sundown 3 years later. And then I heard it again. I have never tired of this song. It always sounds fresh and timeless. I’m so glad he included it on the Songbook boxed set.
In my opinion Gord’s voice was at its peak during this period of the early 70s. The full extent of his range comes through clearly on Seven Island Suite.
Gord…thanks for painting so many pictures in my mind over the years.
………Jim
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