Friday, May 16, 2008

Canadian Cultural Icon Lucky No. Seven -- Gordon Lightfoot

Just because I’m going away doesn’t mean you don’t get a Friday culture pick. Well, this one’s easy. I really wanted to put “The Canadian Railroad Trilogy” up here, a Gordon Lightfoot epic from the 1960’s. It’s beautiful, and I love it, and I have a kind of love-song attachment to it, which I won’t go into here. It takes a long time though.

And this “Song for a Winter’s Night” is just sweet and lovely. MadPriest has a Send In Your Favourite Love Song thing going on now – this is in my Top Five. Haven’t sent him one yet though.

Song For A Winter's Night Lyrics
Artist: Gordon Lightfoot (Buy Gordon Lightfoot CDs)
Album: The Way I Feel

The lamp is burnin' low upon my table top
The snow is softly falling
The air is still within 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
Upon this winter night with you

The smoke is rising in the shadows overhead
My glass is almost empty
I read again between the lines upon each page
The words of love you sent me
If I could know within my heart
That you were lonely too
I would be happy just to hold the hands I love
Upon this winter night with you

The fire is dying now, my lamp is growing dim
The shades of night are liftin'
The morning light steals across my windowpane
Where webs of snow are driftin'
If I could only have you near
To breathe a sigh or two
I would be happy just to hold the hands I love
Upon this winter night with you
And to be once again with with you

3 comments:

Doorman-Priest said...

I remember him. I didn't know he was from Canadia!

Unknown said...

I fell in love with Gordon Lightfoot when I was just a kid - maybe middle school which would have been around 1972. I've always continued to enjoy the songs of Gordon Lightfoot. Did you have a listen to the young woman singer covering The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald at MP's site? I don't recall the name...

Kate Morningstar said...

D-P -- he was taken very ill, on stage, a few years ago, in the city where I live, and spent a lot of time in hospital -- nearly died. I think his touring schedule's slowed down a lot, but he always comes here when he does tour.

Sphinx, you and I must be the same age. I missed that cover of the Edmund Fitzgerald -- it's a wonderful song -- I'll go back to MP's, and see if I can find it.

Do you know who Stan Rogers was? He lived in my town, and was a wonderful singer. He died in 1982, in a fire on an Air Canada plane on the ground at the Greater Cinncinnati Airport -- people had seen him on the ground, but he went back in to help people out. He had children in Montessori with my best friend's kids when he died. I've been trying to find something good on YouTube from him -- but I'm going to have to figure out how to put just music, like Sphinx and MP do.