Gordon Lightfoot

Canadian singer-songwriter (1938–2023)

Gordon Meredith Lightfoot, Jr. CC O.Ont (November 17, 1938May 1, 2023) was a Canadian singer and songwriter who had achieved international success in the genres of folk and country music. Lightfoot had received sixteen Juno Awards and five Grammy Award nominations. He had also been inducted to the Canadian Music Hall of Fame (1986), the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame (2001) and Canada's Walk of Fame (1998).

Gordon Lightfoot
You can't jump a jet plane
Like you can a freight train
So I'll best be on my way
In the early morning rain...

Sourced edit

  • Hail hero, hail hero, child of the sun
    All covered with flowers still having your fun
  • Hail hero, hail hero, child of your fate
    Come into the kitchen don't stand by the gate
    And show us your wisdom before it's too late
    • Theme song of Hail Hero! (1969), co-written with Jerome Moross
  • Hail hero, hail hero, let me see you smile
    You been gone for so damn long, I wish you'd stay awhile
    • Theme song of Hail Hero! (1969), co-written with Jerome Moross

Lightfoot! (1966) edit

 
You can't jump a jet plane
Like you can a freight train..

The Way I Feel (1967) edit

  • But now the seeds are planted and the gates are opened wide
    The old ways are forgotten there is no place left to hide
    And the legacy I'm leaving you is not very hard to find
    You'll see it all around you at this crossroads of time
    In the sweet soil its a growing at the crossroads of time
    • Crossroads, Track 4, United Artists
 
There was a time in this fair land when the railroad did not run..
  • There was a time in this fair land when the railroad did not run
    And the wild majestic mountains stood alone against the sun
    Long before the white man and long before the wheel
    When the green dark forest was too silent to be real...
    Oh! The song of the future has been sung
    All the battles have been won
    On the mountain tops we stand
    All the world at our command
    We have opened up the soil with our teardrops and our toil

Did She Mention My Name? (1968) edit

  • And the body of a dead youth
    Lies stretched upon the ground
    Upon the filthy pavements
    No reason can be found
    Black day in July
    • Black Day In July, Track 3, (mono 45 edit), UNITED ARTISTS 50281, March 1968
  • Satin rays and coloured days
    Stark blue horizons
    Naked limbs and wheat bins, hazy afternoons
    Voicing, rejoicing the wine cups do bring
    Pussywillows, cat-tails, soft winds and roses
    • Pussywillows, Cat-Tails, Track 8, UNITED ARTISTS

Back Here On Earth (1968) edit

  • Some say he was a sailor who died away at sea
    Some say he was a prisoner who never was set free
    Lost upon the ocean he died there in the mist
    Dreaming of a kiss
    Bitter Green they called her walking in the sun
    Loving everyone that she met
    Bitter Green they called her waiting in the sun
    Waiting for someone to take her home

Sit Down Young Stranger (1970) edit

If You Could Read My Mind edit

  • If you could read my mind, love,
    What a tale my thoughts could tell.
    Just like an old time movie,
    'Bout a ghost from a wishing well.
    In a castle dark or a fortress strong,
    With chains upon my feet.
  • If I could read your mind, love,
    What a tale your thoughts could tell.
    Just like a paperback novel,
    The kind the drugstores sell.
    Then you reached the part where the heartaches come,
    The hero would be me.
    But heroes often fail,
    And you won't read that book again
    Because the ending's just too hard to take!
  • I never thought I could feel this way
    And I've got to say that I just don't get it.
    I don't know where we went wrong,
    But the feeling's gone
    And I just can't get it back.

Sundown (1974) edit

  • I can see her lookin fast in her faded jeans
    She's a hard lovin woman got me feelin mean
    Sometimes I think its a shame when I get feelin better when I'm feelin no pain
    Sundown you better take care if I find you been creepin round my back stairs
    Sundown you better take care if I find you been creepin round my back stairs
 
SS Edmund Fitzgerald
And all that remains is the faces and names of the wives and the sons and the daughters...


  • Searching through the fragments of my dream shattered sleep
    I wonder if the years have closed her mind
    I guess it must be wanderlust or trying to get free
    From the good old faithful feeling we once knew
    Carefree highway, let me slip away on you
    Carefree highway you seen better days..

Summertime Dream (1976) edit

  • When supper time came the old cook came on deck saying "Fellas its too rough to feed ya"
    When at 7:00 pm the main hatch way caved in he said "Fellas its been good to know ya"
    The captain wired in, he had water coming in and the big ship and crew was in peril
    When latter that night when her lights went outta sight came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
    Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours?...
    And all that remains is the faces and names of the wives and the sons and the daughters...

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