This week, a part of Canada died. Gordon Lightfoot passed away at the age of 84.
A troubadour and master storyteller, his soothing voice and spellbinding lyrics captured the essence of life, love and everything Canadiana, making him one of our most beloved national artists of all time.
Here are songs and lyrics from my favourite Gordon Lightfoot songs of all time to add to your playlist, a tribute to the man and legend. Even now, as I read these lyrics and listen to the beautiful strains of his guitar, my eyes well up.
Song for a Winter's Night
The lamp is burnin' low upon my table top
The snow is softly falling
The air is still in the silence of my room
I hear your voice softly calling
If I could only have you near
To breathe a sigh or two
I would be happy just to hold the hands I love
On this winter night with you
Christian Island
I'm sailing down the summer wind
I've got whiskers on my chin
And I like the mood I'm in
As I while away the time of day
In the lee of Christian Island
Minstrel of the Dawn
The minstrel boy will understand
He holds a promise in his hand
He talks of better days ahead
And by his words your fortunes read
Listen to the pictures flow
Across the room into your mind they go
Listen to the strings
They jangle and dangle
While the old guitar rings
Canadian Railroad Trilogy
There was a time in this fair land when the railroad did not run
When 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
The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
In the rooms of her ice-water mansion
Pussywillows Cattails
Pussywillows, cat-tails, soft winds and roses
Rain pools in the woodland, water to my knees
Shivering, quivering, the warm breath of spring
Don Quixote
Through the woodland, through the valley
Comes a horseman wild and free
Tilting at the windmills passing
Who can the brave young horseman be
Beautiful
At times I just don't know
How you could be anything but beautiful
I think that I was made for you
And you were made for me
The Last Time I Saw Her Face
Her eyes were bathed in starlight
And her hair hung long
The last time she spoke to me,
Her lips were like the scented flowers
Inside a rain-drenched forest
But that was so long ago
That I can scarcely feel
The way I felt before
Here's a clip of Lightfoot performing That's What You Get For Loving Me with Johnny Cash in 1969.
RIP Gord.
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