Until, “TURN IT OFF!” And with that, old man Lightfoot swears off his song and, by extension, his former self.
It goes on, and, in the offensive sense, gets worse. “Where did I get off writing a song like this?” Considerably older, stringier, and physically withered compared to the upright and barrel-chested version of himself singing on screen, the Lightfoot of today can barely take it anymore. I have a Quebec table here that fits in the trunk of my car that I take with me – just the chair and the table and the pad and the manuscript.Gordon Lightfoot watches, practically through his fingers, as Gordon Lightfoot performs “For Lovin’ Me”, one of his many hits from back in the day. "I would go in there with a chair and a table. That empty home in the Forest Hill neighbourhood where he wrote the tune was one of several that he'd scouted at the time so he could find lyrical inspiration, he said.
The story behind the making of "If You Could Read My Mind" – a song that's been covered by the likes of Johnny Cash and Don McLean – was a typical one for Lightfoot as he emerged from Toronto's Yorkville coffee-house folk scene in the 1960s. "What we wanted to do was to conjure up the image of what is going on in a songwriter's mind, what is it that they draw inspiration from, what are the metaphors that they use, what are their experiences that drive these songs?" The idea for the series' title "came from almost the continuation of that lyric, `What a tale my thoughts could tell,'" said Dominic Denny, executive director of the hall of fame. Lightfoot and Downie will sit down with CBC Radio's Laurie Brown during the show to chat about their songwriting methods. Catherine MacLellan, daughter of the late singer-songwriter Gene MacLellan, will also be featured. The legendary troubadour from Orillia, Ont., will play in the series' inaugural show, as will Gord Downie of the Tragically Hip (which has covered Lightfoot's tunes), at the Toronto Centre of the Arts. "I'm shy about accepting awards and honours, but I really appreciate the fact that they're using my songs as a theme for their show," he said. "If You Could Read My Mind," the series, is organized by the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, of which Lightfoot is a longtime member.
#Gordon lightfoot if you could read my mind series
Lightfoot is recalling that day as he prepares to play a sold-out show at the Toronto Centre for the Arts on Thursday, part of a concert series that's named after the time-honoured track. "I was of course going through some emotional trauma leading up to a separation, so that of course manifested itself in that particular song on that particular afternoon," Lightfoot, 71, said by phone from his Toronto home. The illustrious singer-songwriter says the words to "If You Could Read My Mind," released 40 years ago, came to him in a couple of hours in a vacant Toronto home that was up for sale at a time when he was experiencing marital problems. An empty house, a broken marriage and a summer afternoon served as the creative spark for Gordon Lightfoot as he penned what would become one of his most iconic tunes.
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