Remembering Gordon Lightfoot (1938-2023)
It would only take a small penthouse to accommodate the amount of music artists who if you disappeared their legacies in their entirety, it would irreparable and forever change the very fabric of music as we know it today. In a world teeming with interpreters, reenactors, imitators, and outright frauds, only a few select songsmiths truly touched music in foundational manners integral to audio expression, and irrespective of genre. Start and end that list with whomever you wish. But damn well make sure you include Gordon Lightfoot within that small and exclusive company.
Gordon Lightfoot was a Canadian, not a Statesman. He was only country in spurts, or by accident. But even the shit kickers and the honky-tonkers out there will conclude that Gordon Lightfoot was undeniably essential, at least the ones who know their stuff, are worth their salt, and honest. And the others? Well screw them. It’s their loss if they don’t know the gold they’re missing in a catalog rendered timeless and awesome through tales of the land and the people upon it, and how those people love, and live, and eventually, and tragically, die.
No matter who you were, or where you were from, Gordon Lightfoot told your story. And he did it in a way that pulsated with the magic and mystery in life that only life itself could match in emotion, memory, and ferocity. Folk traditions were the underlying foundation that Gordon Lightfoot utilized to express his inspirations, always putting the words before the music, and the message ahead of the melody. But if electric or eclectic instruments expressed the sentiment more accurately, Lightfoot accommodated. The muse was always in charge. Lightfoot was only the vessel.
So much of music colors our lives, works like timelines in our relationships and life’s other landmarks. But Gordon Lightfoot’s music went so much deeper. It wasn’t ephemeral. It was monumental. We made life-altering decisions based on the wisdom we once gleaned from a Lightfoot lyric. We remember a place, or a moment in history and tie it to a Lightfoot song not just in the way it serenaded us in the moment, but in the way it influenced its outcome.
Yes, Gordon Lightfoot left behind ample songs you can conclusively label as “country.” There’s his early song “Cotton Jenny.” There’s the entirely of his 1974 masterpiece Sundown that’s more important than entire eras of other artists in the strokes of influential mastery it captured. But let’s not diminish Lightfoot’s legacy in conversations of genre. Not in this moment. His work stands irrespective of any limitation. It was epic in its ability to stoke the imagination. We all lived heroically and died tragically on the Edmund Fitzgerald, and we have Gordon Lightfoot to thank for it.
May Day is what they call it in many parts of the world—a day when we commemorate the laborers who built our modern society and the infrastructure we all enjoy, including many who died in that service, just like the 29 men who perished in the icy waters of Lake Superior, yet still live in the minds of all of us to this day due to Lightfoot. They died, but he allowed them to live again. And now Gordon Lightfoot is dead, but he’s still very much alive in our hearts, and minds, and souls. Because his music outlives him, and will outlive us all.
May 2, 2023 @ 2:38 am
A very nice piece. He can hold his own with any of the greats. He is one of them. As you say, this guy transcended all music groupings. At least those that matter. Hopefully he can now meet those guys from the Edmund Fitzgerald. Sleep well Gordon.
May 2, 2023 @ 2:58 am
I wasn’t even alive when he started making music. But I’ve gone back and listened to musicians from his era over and over again. As far as song writing ability most of those people have more talent in their pinky finger than the contemporaries of my era.
May 2, 2023 @ 3:42 am
This is such a beautifully written piece. What a pleasure to read on this rainy Tuesday morning. I am saddened by his passing, but excited for all those that will now dig into his catalog and be inspired to write better songs. Just as I was when I first discovered his record buried in my parents basement, when I was 9 years old.
May 2, 2023 @ 3:55 am
Great piece, have been a big fan of Gord since the 70’s, Check out his later song ‘A Lesson in Love’.
RIP Mr. Lightfoot!
May 2, 2023 @ 3:58 am
Well Said Trigger. I “CONSISTENTLY” Sell GL Lp’s/Cd’s at My Store. I Also Found MYSELF at Least Bi-Monthly Listenin To “Gord’s Gold” in Store. A Personal Favorite Was a Song Called “Old Dan’s Records”. No He was NOT Country, But I Put Him Up in The Rarefied air with artist Like Skynyrd, Dan Fogelberg, Etc.. Who Were not Traditional Country. Trig, You Nailed This One Bud.
May 2, 2023 @ 4:07 am
“If You Could Read My Mind” is the first Gordon Lightfoot song I heard; it was a refreshing and haunting pop song on AM radio in the early 70s. I grew up as a country music fan in the 60s from summertime stays with my grandparents who only listened to country radio. Given that, I knew “Early Morning Rain” by George Hamilton IV and Marty Robbins singing “Ribbon of Darkness” but I didn’t know about anything about songwriters back then. When I became a Waylon Jennings fan (also in the early 70s) and started buying his albums, I found that Waylon had sung Lightfoot’s “(That’s What You Get) For Lovin’ Me.” When Gordon Lightfoot had a few more chart hits (“Sundown” and “Carefree Highway”), I bought his his album “Gord’s Gold.” Damn, what a treasure chest of songs, with that incredible voice and subdued productions. Gordon Lightfoot is gone, but his music will live on forever! Godspeed on angel’s wings!
May 2, 2023 @ 3:27 pm
Listened to him since high school.70 to 75. My favorite song of his was “Beautiful”. I could and did listen to it over and over…he will be missed.
May 2, 2023 @ 4:08 am
Beautiful. I didn’t expect a heartfelt Gordon Lightfoot tribute this morning.
When Charles Wesley Godwin broke away from Union Sound Treaty my enthusiasm for his solo career was quickly was snuffed out (and my Appalachian heart broken) by his folky/celtic sound that many compared to Lightfoot (CWG even resembles Lightfoot in the picture above).
Maybe I’ve been doing it wrong and need to take a deep dive into Gordon Lightfoot to appreciate CWG. It’s another rainy day here today, I’ll give Sundown a spin and see if it takes me any places.
May 2, 2023 @ 2:51 pm
An hour ago, CWG posted a video on FB of him covering “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.”
May 2, 2023 @ 4:58 am
I’m very glad I got a chance to see him perform live in 2018. It was an intimate venue which made it all the better. I was struck by the power that still radiated in his eyes; when he looked out into the crowd you felt as though he was looking into your soul.
May 2, 2023 @ 5:05 am
For those of us growing up in the 70’s his songs along with Jim Croce’s were some one of the first entries into what a male singer/songwriter should and could be. I spun the 45’s to death. Even to this day every time I see someone take the stage with acoustic guitar I wonder if they could recreate the magic I heard as a boy in his songs. First time I heard CWG I said “he’s a little Gordon Lightfootsie” and that’s as great a compliment as I could pay to Charles. We lost another legend yesterday.
May 2, 2023 @ 5:14 am
I grew up learning about his music from 70’s AM radio and my sister who was a fan. I find it interesting how some artists you always connect to a family member or friend who introduced you to their music.
Got to see him in 2009 in NH but sadly it was after many health issues and he did not sound the same. I remember then thinking he probably should have just retired from performing as it was one of my least favorite concerts. Fortunately with the blessings of recordings, you can always here is great music when is voice was in true form.
RIP Gordon…take that Carefree Highway to heaven!
May 2, 2023 @ 5:23 am
Twang Bob beat me to it. If You Could Read My Mind is everything glorious about the craft of songwriting, wrapped up. Melody is a stunner, the acoustic guitar parts taking you through a most devastating song about two people doomed in a failed relationship. Man, there’s lines in there that just slay me. For example he says” when you read the part, where the heartaches come, the hero would be me…but heroes often fail.” Followed by ” you won’t read that book again because the endings just too hard to take.”
Damn….that’s a gut puncher. And that line ” and I will never be set free as long as I’m a ghost that you can’t see.” Just dreadfully sad and yet genius. The instrumental breaks in the song feature this little triplet melody, duh- duh-duhhh, duh – duh duh thing that refuses to leave your brain. And then in the very end of the song, there’s this killer little descending guitar lick that wraps the whole thing up. Epic in every way. ( incidentally, Cash did a very emotional take on this song on American IV.)
Another great one is Looking at The Rain. Once again, gorgeous melody woven around a masterful set of lyrics about , you guessed it, a doomed relationship! By all means check out Hank Jr’s version on his overlooked album The New South. Bocephus just brings some soul into this already great song and delivers one of his best vocals ever.
Could go on about Gord, he’s a treasure and will be missed.
May 2, 2023 @ 6:49 am
Rick Beato included this song in his “What Makes This Song Great?” series:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X33YyowZZxQ&t=519s
May 4, 2023 @ 6:33 am
Yes, I was going to post this. I’ve long loved that song as a true pinnacle of the era’s music. Also just listened to Beato’s eulogy for Lightfoot, very much worth listening too as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Iw7Jei8XOo
May 4, 2023 @ 9:48 am
Yeah, I saw that. His passion for the artist and for the songs is powerful. Beato gets it.
May 4, 2023 @ 10:03 am
Exactly! He’s like Trigger, a great combination of knowledge and passion.
May 2, 2023 @ 7:09 am
A memorable GL song is the final track on his “Sundown” album, titled “Too Late for Praying”. Certainly very relevant to today’s crazy ang turbulent times. His contributions to country include “Ribbon of Darkness”, “Cotton Jenny”, “Same Old Obsession”, and “Second Cup of Coffee is “.
May 2, 2023 @ 2:25 pm
The line that really gets me is “I don’t know where we went wrong, but the feelings gone and I just can’t get it back”. Been there a time or two…
May 2, 2023 @ 3:23 pm
Yep Moto. That line is the dagger that finishes you off. Just in the event there was hope, that line ended all doubt. I’ve been there too That song is deep and heavy like a Kristofferson tune.
May 2, 2023 @ 5:30 am
Beautiful tribute. I doubt there’ll ever be another one like Gordon Lightfoot.
May 2, 2023 @ 5:58 am
He was Tony Rice’s favorite songwriter by a mile, and now we see a lot of those tunes being reinterpreted by Billy Strings.
May 2, 2023 @ 2:43 pm
There is an awesome compilation of TR doing lightfoot songs, Bitter Green just absolutely kills me every time!
May 2, 2023 @ 6:03 am
Get out old Gord’s records. We will dance the whole night long. It’s fun to play the old time songs!
Old Dan’s Records is another twangy classic by Gordon Lightfoot. Hard to believe it was never released as a single.
My favorite is between Canadian Railroad Trilogy and The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
May 2, 2023 @ 6:32 am
Gordon Lightfoot was indeed a true legend, straddling the boundaries of the 1960’s folk music movement, the 1970’s singer/songwriter movement, and some elements of C&W as well, with such a great humanity behind them that was always uniquely his. A lot of today’s songwriters, regardless of genre, could still learn a lot from this man.
Like all the great people in this world, there will always be only one Gordon Lightfoot. He is now for the ages, and may he rest in peace.
May 2, 2023 @ 6:41 am
Great artist. I saw him at least half a dozen times. Even in the last few years as his voice got thin he put on a 90+ minute show and people loved him.
May 2, 2023 @ 6:56 am
How can a universe that created Gordon Lightfoot be anything but good? That’s how his music makes me feel, OK, with everything. NPR used have a show called ‘Desert Island Discs’. If I could only have one record, it would be Gord’s Gold.
May 2, 2023 @ 7:05 am
He’s an artist who really did capture the full range of human experience and emotion. Young love. Heartbreak. Heroic ends. Dead-end loser. Carefree happiness. I’m in my late 20s, but my dad frequently played songs from Gord’s Gold I and II in the car when my brothers and I were young. Truly fond memories.
A few of my favorites…Bitter Green, Cotton Jenny, Second Cup of Coffee, If You Could Read My Mind, Christian Island, Edmund Fitzgerald, Early Morning Rain, and of course Sundown.
May 2, 2023 @ 7:31 am
My favourite version of ‘Me and Bobby McGee’ is Gordon’s.
My father gave me the news earlier today. He looked so heartbroken. Thought he was going to cry. That’s some sort of tribute to the man, I guess…
May 2, 2023 @ 12:11 pm
Gordon covering Me And Bobby McGee reminds of the old SCTV skit “Gordon Lightfoot sings every song ever written”. It was a “remarkable 379-album set” in which Gordon sings songs from God Save the Queen to Love Me Tender to Dueling Banjos to Happy Birthday to You.
You can find it on YouTube.
May 2, 2023 @ 7:59 am
Gordon Lightfoot was quite a bit before my time, and someone who wasn’t ever really on my musical radar until a few years back. “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” is one of the moments I can point back to (up there with the first time I heard Cody Jinks’ “David”) that uniquely led me to feel something while listening to music.
Recently, for whatever reason, I decided to revisit Gordon’s older catalog of stuff (pre-80’s). A good chunk of it sounds right at home on a country album (or is as close as folk music can get), and I’ve been pleasantly surprised. For anyone, like me, who didn’t grow up with his music, I highly recommend giving it a listen. While Gordon Lightfoot is not usually celebrated as a country artist, his impact on the genre remains significant and his songs hold up remarkably well today.
May 2, 2023 @ 8:13 am
His writing and story telling throughout his songs is second to none. When you hear his iconic voice there is no denying who you are listening to. RIP Gordon Lightfoot.
May 2, 2023 @ 9:02 am
I heard him say on a radio interview recently that Marty Robbins covers of his songs provided him with royalty checks when he really needed them. Any song writer who has his songs covered by everyone from Waylon, Elvis, Jerry Lee and Anne Murray is obviously equally admired by his peers as he was his fans.
May 2, 2023 @ 9:31 am
“They died, but he allowed them to live again. And now Gordon Lightfoot is dead, but he’s still very much alive in our hearts, and minds, and souls. Because his music outlives him, and will outlive us all.” Very nicely said.
May 2, 2023 @ 9:57 am
I was in my early teens and living on Lake Superior when the Edmund Fitzgerald went down, so it was a big deal locally. Then when the song came out it was huge. Plus his other music was on the radio all the time too. Lots of memories.
May 2, 2023 @ 1:21 pm
My favorite country sounding Lightfoot tune is ‘You Are What I Am”.
May 2, 2023 @ 2:02 pm
With Lightfoot’s death, all the singer/songwriters that I have most admired (Roger Miller, Tom T. Hall, John Prine, Ian Tyson, Billy Joe Shaver and Mickey Newbury) are gone, except for Kristofferson and Dylan.
May 2, 2023 @ 2:45 pm
Pretty much the same list for me but add Tom Russell and Dave Alvin to the live ones!
May 2, 2023 @ 2:50 pm
One of all time greats for sure. “Looking at the Rain” has got to be one of the saddest, most beautiful love songs ever – just to mention one of many, many standouts. I’m putting on my favorite album of his, Don Quixote, as we speak. Godspeed, Gord!
May 2, 2023 @ 3:29 pm
I wasn’t a huge fan but I really did love sundown. To me that’s as country as country gets. I always wondered why he didn’t do more songs in that vein. Maybe he did, I just didn’t hear them. I think if his time had been now in the age of streaming, he would have been more popular, as is he had a nice career. Great write up
May 2, 2023 @ 4:39 pm
Just a beautiful tribute Trig – thank you. Loved all the comments as well. Please listen to lesser lights ( which in my opinion would be any other songwriters gold) such as “Saturdays Clothes” or “The circle is small”
May 2, 2023 @ 10:30 pm
Beautiful tribute. Nothing trendy or tricky in his music, just pure talent. To paraphrase Bob Dylan, you never want his songs to end.
May 3, 2023 @ 6:54 am
Gord’s music has always been a part of my life. I remember listening to The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, and hearing the story that my parents would tell me, their experience (they grew up in the Soo) that they had the night the ship sunk. That to when my dad would put on the United Artists Collection 3xCD comp he had and wed breeze through, singing nearly every song while travelling to hockey tournaments. Gord’s albums were among the first major artist catalog in my record collection. His guitar work and melodies paint vivid stories, and ones that I will always cherish. Thank you Gordon for your music, and the memories I hold in my heart today
May 4, 2023 @ 8:23 am
I grew up on the North Shore of Lake Superior. Little town called Wawa. Gord’s music was such a part of the Canadian fabric that everyone was affected. I’m glad you mentioned the United Artists recordings cause they are incredible. I urge casual fans to dive into those gems . They are pre Warner Brothers.
May 3, 2023 @ 7:33 am
Thank you for writing such a great piece. Although much of his musical catalogue is older than I am, I still have a great appreciation for the magical lyrics woven in his writings, and like you said, his songs have become landmarks in my life.
May 3, 2023 @ 8:01 am
“I can’t think of any Gordon Lightfoot songs I don’t like.” – Bob Dylan. Dylan admired him so much that he inducted Lightfoot into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame at The 1986 JUNO Awards.
May 3, 2023 @ 10:19 am
This is such a tremendous loss. Gordon Lightfoot was a giant. For me, as with so many others, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald is indelibly printed on my mind as a haunting example of the heights music can reach. His catalog is full of gems; The Watchman’s Gone is a personal favorite. Also, one of the all-time best country/folk vocalists.
For those who haven’t seen, Charles Wesley Godwin shared a fantastic cover of Edmund Fitzgerald in tribute: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CrwR5HoNtEJ/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
May 3, 2023 @ 3:17 pm
The great Tony Rice covered many Lightfoot songs and stated he was one of his all time favourite songwriters. And the notoriously uncompromising Bob Dylan who couldn’t be bothered to go accept a Nobel prize flew to Canada to help induct Gord into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. That pretty much says it all in my opinion.
January 3, 2024 @ 5:03 pm
and Gordon wouldn’t accept the award until Dylan was the one who gave it to him..
youtube has the video..
Also on youtube is his last LP – SOLO – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vm0EZnZ9_QY&list=PL2qQl5tBxo7-m2woK1xNkuDR9l4hZxE0f
There’s also videos for some of the tunes.. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbm7b2I8BKWzZ9Xtdfyh4Bw
review:https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/gordon-lightfoots-solo/
He also released LIVE AT ROYAL ALBERT HALL, London England from his shows there in 2016.. https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/gordon-lightfoot-at-royal-albert-hall/
REVIEW: https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/gordon-lightfoot-at-royal-albert-hall/
http://www.lightfoot.ca has info – check the discography and some of the deeper cuts on his albums. thank me later. He was a lovely man, kind and generous, who gave everything to be on stage for his fans. I miss him – losing him and Jimmy Buffett (who was a huge Lightfoot fan along with Kristofferson and John Prine) in 2023 was tough.. Only Kristofferson of my 3 faves is left.. the music and legend lives on. Thank you for your kind words.. https://www.facebook.com/GordonLightfootOfficial
May 3, 2023 @ 4:38 pm
As a Canadian, I remember well hearing in the late 90’s on country radio Deryl Dodd covering Gordon Lightfoot’s “Sundown”. Being 18 at the time I thought that was pretty cool hearing a Texas newcomer covering a Canadian Legend’s song.
Deryl did a good job on it.
May 3, 2023 @ 4:38 pm
May “every highway” keep slipping away on him.
May 3, 2023 @ 8:38 pm
It’s a cold, hard world we live in sometimes. A bit too fast paced. I have been traveling internationally this past week and, although I had heard that Gordon Lightfoot had passed, I hadn’t given it a lot of thought, just too busy. Thank you for your article, Trigger. It made me slow down. It made me remember. I am 58. You’re kind and thoughtful words about this legend and his songs made me remember a time, almost 50 years ago, not long after my parents, divorced, and I moved with my mother to a blue-collar town in Connecticut as she sought to rebuild her life and I entered six grade in a new school. During this period, my mom used to spin his records. I was a young budding metal head back then, listening to Sabbath and Zep and the Stones (but only the songs that rocked), but I remember listening to so many of Gordon Lightfoot‘s songs so vividly. Beautiful songs that transcended generations, that my mom and I could share. You have pulled up some dusty memories, long forgotten, with your beautiful words about this wonderful singer and songwriter. I didn’t like country back then, but I sure like it now, in many ways thanks to your hard work and the bands you have introduced me to. Gordon may not be country, and he sure isn’t heavy-metal, but he was a beautiful soundtrack to my youth. Thank you for making me take the time to slow down and remember. He may have passed on but good music lives on forever.
May 4, 2023 @ 4:53 am
He may not have been country, but my wife and I saw him at the Mother Church in 2018. He looked frail but damn did he deliver. He Hatch Show print of that concert proudly hangs on his here canuck’s wall.
May 4, 2023 @ 7:49 am
“His work stands irrespective of any limitation. It was epic in its ability to stoke the imagination …” —
Her name was Ann and I’ll be damned if I recall her face.
The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound.
I’m on my second cup of coffee and I still can’t face the day.
I think that I was made for you, and you were made for me.
And if you read between the lines, you’ll know that I’m just trying to understand the feelings that you lack.
It’s a wicked wind and it chills me to the bone, and if you do not believe me, come and gaze upon the shadow at your door.
I ain’t got a penny for Cotton Jenny to spend but then the wheels go ’round.
Does any one know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours?
“We all lived heroically and died tragically on the Edmund Fitzgerald, and we have Gordon Lightfoot to thank for it.”
May 15, 2023 @ 7:02 pm
One of my favorites ever. If you could read my mind is easily one of the best written and performed songs ever. Steel rail blues is another favorite. Great tribute. Maybe I’m biased since I’m Canadian but he’s one of the greatest writers that ever done it. Cohen aswell but that’s another story. I knew his daughter casually she liked to roleplay as a crust punk/dirty kid. Gord was known to be a mean old drunk for a time but that doesn’t take anything away from his greatness. Thanks for paying tribute to this legend.