Tribute To A Master - The Passing Of Gordon Lightfoot

 

I was going to write about a hockey game tonight.  The game I saw last night in Roanoke was maybe the greatest game I’ve ever seen live.  But on the way home, I heard the news that Gordon Lightfoot had passed away.  I wasn’t shocked or surprised, but I sure was bummed out to hear that news. He deserves some thoughts and maybe a few comments on how he affected my life, and probably yours as well.

Gordon Lightfoot was the Mount Rushmore of modern songwriting.  Put another way, he was the guy that John Prine and Bob Dylan looked up to.  I once saw a video of John playing a club in Canada with Gordon sitting in the front row.  You couldn’t miss how John was just over the moon because his hero was there to hear him.   Dylan said that his fellow singer died “without ever having made a bad song”, and every time he listened to one of them, he “wished it would last forever”.  I couldn't agree more.

Every song I've ever heard Gordon play was an absolute jewel in every respect.  His lyrics painted images that one could see, feel, hear and touch.  Who hasn’t felt a chill up their spine when listening to “The Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald” or felt the pain of a lost love listening to “If you Could Read My Mind”?  His composition, arranging and production were second to none.  Listen to the way the orchestral strings come in on “If You Could Read My Mind” or how the crash of the drums create the crash of the storm on “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”.  He released a dozen or more other major hits across Canada, America and the rest of the world over the years, every one a masterpiece.  My personal favorites are “Canadian Railroad Trilogy” and “Song For A Winter’s Night”.  

I had tickets to see Gordon at the Berglund Center in Roanoke in 2020, which was postponed due to COVID until August of 2021.  I was all set to go to the rescheduled show in August of 2021, but Gordon broke his wrist and the show was again postponed to February of last year.  On the night that he was to play, I had a gig so I missed out and gave the tickets to a friend.  Gordon had scheduled another U.S. tour for later this year, but canceled it just a few short weeks ago.  Gordon died peacefully on Monday, May 1, 2023 at 730 p.m. at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto. He died of natural causes. He was 84 years old.  He may have passed, but his music will last forever. He'll remain as the Mount Rushmore of songwriting long after I'm gone.

Thanks to those who followed my blog in April.  I hope to make it worth your while.  If you enjoy my little musings, I hope that you too will hit the follow button.  This month, for every new “Follow”, I’ll be donating $10 to an organization I love to support, Feeding Southwest Virginia.  Hit that button and help us feed our less fortunate neighbors and friends.