His songs have made me cry and laugh and think very hard about the world and its inhabitants. He has (had) the voice of an opera singer (just listen to "The Last Time I Saw Her"), the heart of a poet and the lyrical ability to match, and an uncanny way of bringing tremendous emotion and imagery to his songs. His style is unique and cannot be duplicated.
Man, I love this guy! I fell in love with his music when I was 20 years old (seven years ago) and living in Montana. I was in a restaurant and I heard a simply incredible song on the radio, but I didn't know who it was. "Gordon Lightfoot," the waitress said after some thought. The song turned out to be "If You Could Read My Mind." Beautiful--truly a work of art! I bought Gord's Gold I the next day and have added every CD I could find to my collection since then.
I love almost every song he has written, but his nostalgic and darker pieces hold a special place in my heart. "Looking at the Rain," "Shadows," "The Last Time I Saw Her," "Affair on 8th Avenue," "Pussywillows, Cat-tails," "The Lost Children" and many others of that nature have always ranked among my most favorite Lightfoot songs.
I've never had the opportunity to see Gordon in concert and I will always regret not having seen him in his prime. Very few things would give me more pleasure than sitting down with him for several hours and discussing his brilliant career and the many influences/events in his life that made his music so powerful and moving...
It will be a sad, sad day for myself and all GL fans when he is gone.
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