MGoObituary: Gordon Lightfoot dead at 84
Title says it all: Gordon Lightfoot, Canadian Folk Singer, Dies at 84 https://nyti.ms/3nsPSEC
The guy was the pride of the Canadian side.
There was a time
In this fair land
When the railroad did not run…
Sundown, my friend, and if only you could read my mind…it’d say rest peacefully and thank you!
His legend lives on from the Chippewa on down...
Oooops...double post
Canadian Railroad Trilogy, and Ballad of Yarmouth Castle (both live on "Sunday Concert"), will make you forget about the commercial mid 70's work.
Underrated artist. Love the acoustic tunes from that era - him, Jim Croce, Harry Chapin...
RIP
“I can’t think of any Gordon Lightfoot song I don’t like. Every time I hear a song of his, it’s like I wish it would last forever… Lightfoot became a mentor for a long time. I think he probably still is to this day.”
- Bob Dylan
My personal favorite…
And if you come round when the mill shuts down
You can see what chivalry means
Let’s steal away in the noonday sun
It’s time for a summertime dream
RIP to a great balladeer.
2nd best Gordon in music history....Gordon Sumner #1.
All of them great writers and singers. Sad day
"Write an obituary of Gordon Lightfoot, but do it as lyrics similar to the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald."
ChatGPT
(Verse 1) In the year of nineteen thirty-eight, on the seventeenth of day, A legend was born in Orillia town, a troubadour known as Gordon Lightfoot, they'd say. He sang songs of love and of heartache, of ships and of dreams that were lost, And we gather today to remember the man, the legend that paid the cost.
(Chorus) Oh, the tale of Gordon Lightfoot, like the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, His voice echoed through the ages, his lyrics a beacon in the night, lyrical. He sang of the brave and the fallen, and the beauty of the Canadian wild, Now he rests among the stars and the heavens, our gentle, storytelling child.
(Verse 2) He penned the Canadian Railroad Trilogy, and the love song "If You Could Read My Mind", With his guitar and his voice so golden, he painted pictures in the hearts of mankind. His words spoke of the strength and the sorrow, the tales of the people who roamed, The tales of the sailors and the workers, and the ones who made their way back home.
(Chorus) Oh, the tale of Gordon Lightfoot, like the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, His voice echoed through the ages, his lyrics a beacon in the night, lyrical. He sang of the brave and the fallen, and the beauty of the Canadian wild, Now he rests among the stars and the heavens, our gentle, storytelling child.
(Bridge) Through the storms and the winds of life, he strummed on without despair, Like a ship sailing bravely through the waves, with a heart that was strong and fair. His melodies carried us through life, like a lighthouse guiding us ashore, And now he sails to the great beyond, his music will live on forevermore.
(Verse 3) Gather 'round friends and family, to remember the man who touched our hearts, The legend of Gordon Lightfoot, and the music that set him apart. He's now gone to the great beyond, but his spirit will never fade, His songs will live on in our memories, the legacy that he made.
(Chorus) Oh, the tale of Gordon Lightfoot, like the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, His voice echoed through the ages, his lyrics a beacon in the night, lyrical. He sang of the brave and the fallen, and the beauty of the Canadian wild, Now he rests among the stars and the heavens, our gentle, storytelling child.
(Outro) So, let's raise our voices in tribute, to the man who made us believe, In the beauty and the power of music, and the stories that could set us free. Farewell to the great Gordon Lightfoot, may you find peace in the skies above, Your songs will forever inspire us, and we'll always remember your love.
I don't know what to say other than this shit is getting scary.
Yeah. That was pretty good considering Chat had never heard of him before.
Try being a teacher who has to figure out if the essay is a kid's or AI...fun times
Not to go off topic, but I wonder at what point (philosophically) does it even matter?
Imagine 100+ years ago how teachers would feel about computers and calculators spitting out math answers and people losing the ability to understand/know the computations in their head. Things like Matlab would have blown their minds.
Ultimately mankind develops tools to make life easier, and if this generation learns how to harness AI for their answers to life's questions, does it really matter? Is it really much different than going to the library and using an encyclopedia like we used to do?
What? Do you think you will have a calculator in your pocket at all times?
Ha. Jokes on you teach.
My wife is a HS English teacher who deals with this, and my brother is teaching a summer college course to teachers on how to recognize it. If I understand correctly, from way on the periphery, there are still tells within the writing. It can't replicate a student's style. My wife also said she can check the history somehow and see how a student has taken the original and changed wording to try and make it their own. And my brother mentioned something about AI software that can review the paper and tell if it's AI-generated. This software can also tell if it's been plagiarized. They're learning how to keep up with the cheaters.
But there's no question that it's a game changer.
Now just imagine combining it with CGI. You could stream a Michigan football game and have Keith Jackson do the call without asking him to come out of retirement one more time.
AI ratting-out AI. I like it.
You must love Blade Runner.
l do.
If only Keith Jackson WOULD come out of retirement.
Here, take yer +1.
Saw him at Hill Auditorium in my freshman year at UM in the spring of 1971!
Got his greatest hits album through Record Club of America. We would sign up friends in the dorm and get 4 free albums. All you had to do is buy 4 albums in 2 years at regular club prices which were still less than the typical list prices. It was a great way to build your collection and got exposed to a lot of great groups that we would otherwise not have heard at great prices - James Gang (with Joe Walsh), King Crimson (with Lake from Emerson, Lake and Palmer), Spirit, Traffic (with Stevie Winwood), Yes, and James Taylor, to name a few. Plus all the stalwarts of the time, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Crosby, Stills and Nash.
I just happened to be at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum on the 30th anniversary weekend of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald at Whitefish Point in the UP. I was up there because I was meeting with JW Wells State (close to Menominee) Park staff on Friday reviewing the design of a new interpretive center. It was cold, the wind was blowing, and there were cross currents. You could visualize the danger.
and from bard.google.com. Shorter:
The Wreck of the Gordon Lightfoot
The legend lives on from the tales of the past Of the singer and songwriter who sailed on the charts He left his home in Canada To make his way in the world And he soon became a star With his songs of love and loss
But on February 22, 2023 The Gordon Lightfoot struck an iceberg And sank to the bottom of the sea With all hands on board
The news of his death Shocked the world And fans mourned his passing But his music will live on For generations to come
He was a true legend And his songs will be sung for years to come So raise a glass to Gordon Lightfoot And let's remember his music And the joy it brought to so many people
The Wreck of the Gordon Lightfoot Will never be forgotten.
Struck an iceberg?
The iron boats go as the mariners all know
With the gales of November remembered.
Speaking of gales and the Edmund Fitzgerald, here is an interesting piece detailing the weather that took place when the ship sank.
https://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/wxwise/fitz.html
Many of the better known bands from back in the day have members in their 70's and 80's.
I just heard about this. I can't believe someone negbanged this. Another legend passes. I bought Gord's Gold on vinyl in the mid 80's when I was in law school. My friends thought I was nuts that I would listen to it until the listened to it themselves.
Time for another bell to ring in the Mariners' Church of Detroit.
Maybe you just had to be there. I remember Gordon Lightfoot as this kind of big deal right after WotEF, but then by the late 1980s WotEF was that song you played to announce the party had ended. Well, other people did that, because I always thought it was pretty cool.
De-TROY-et
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X33YyowZZxQ&t=2s
What Makes This Song Great?™ Ep.94 From Rick Beato
If you could read my mind. RIP Gordon Lightfoot.
I can picture every move that a man can make,
Getting lost in her loving is your first mistake
Sundown, you better take care,
If I find you've been sneaking 'round my back stairs...
Sometimes I think it's a sin,
When I feel like I'm winning, when I'm losing again
The 2019 documentary about Gordon (called If You Could Read My Mind) is excellent and a must-watch—even if you may not be the biggest GL fan in the world.
I can second that, great documentary. I remember being struck by how many great songs this man performed in addition to "Fitzgerald." Total legend.
RIP, Gordon.
Growing up on the Great Lakes in an area with a lot shipwrecks (Manitou Passage) and having gotten caught in a storm out there once and witnessing how quickly the water can become ferocious, the song of the Edmund Fitzgerald always made an impression on me.
Also, when I was little and my Dad had that song playing, I very much liked saying 'Gitche Gumee'.
mooned the fitz near the north channel 4 months before it went down. becalmed in a little sail boat, hottest summer i ever remember in the UP, and the fitz was blowing his horn to beat the band to get us out of the channel (n.b. the fitz was right, we needed to move the heck out of the way). so 13 yr old XM, once out of the channel, thought it would be a good idea to moon the fitz. yeah, not much wiser now than i was then.
Let's have ChatGPT write a song about that.
(Verse 1) There was a boy named XM Who loved to sail the Great Lakes on a whim One night he saw the Edmund Fitzgerald And decided to have a bit of fun, oh well
(Chorus) XM, oh XM, what did you do? You mooned the Edmund Fitzgerald, who knew? The sailors on board were quite surprised As you waved your little behind in the skies
(Verse 2) The moon was shining bright and clear As XM sailed his boat near The wind was blowing and the waves were high But XM was determined to give it a try
(Chorus) XM, oh XM, what did you do? You mooned the Edmund Fitzgerald, who knew? The sailors on board were quite surprised As you waved your little behind in the skies
(Bridge) Some say it was a silly thing to do But XM just wanted to break through The monotony of the night And give the sailors a funny sight
(Chorus) XM, oh XM, what did you do? You mooned the Edmund Fitzgerald, who knew? The sailors on board were quite surprised As you waved your little behind in the skies
(Outro) Now the Edmund Fitzgerald is gone But XM's mooning lives on and on A moment of joy in a tragic tale Forever remembered in the sailor's wail.
laughter and amusment. fear of AI. and a picture of you at your writer's table:
As a sailor in the U.S. Navy, I found it interesting how one day you could find the seas so lovely, and the next so fearsome, totally different.
I remember learning of the inscription that President Kennedy kept on his desk, from the Breton Fisherman's Prayer:
"O God, Thy Sea Is So Great And My Boat Is So Small."
I've never sailed in any form, but those words always struck home.
Pretty much true in the seas of life too.........
I was aware of the Fitz, but now living in Duluth, shipping is very much part of life, and the Fitz is a big deal; obviously, Duluth-Superior was its last port before it sank. There's a section in the shipping museum about it, and Split Rock Lighthouse up the shore lights once a year on the anniversary of its sinking.
Hauntingly, there's a good chance it would still be working today if it hadn't sunk. The Arthur Anderson was sailing with it and still makes regular visits up here.
I've been sailing in the harbor a fair amount and occasionally have to adjust my routes when a ship is moving through the channel.
Bless you.
RIP on the Carefree Highway
Let me slip away, slip away on you.
Carefree Highway is inspired by the road of the same name in Arizona
Here's the video (would not embed)
Gordon Lightfoot trivia.
Sundown is thought to be about Cathy Smith who later did time for injecting Belushi with his fatal OD.
He inspired many, not least BiSB and his unforgettable Terp Kablooey. As timing would have it, the Terps of November are exactly six months away.
RIP to a legend.
A repost of the lyrics penned by BiSB (with all due respect for Gordon Lightfoot):
The legend lives on
from Piscataway on down
Of the big flop they called
‘Terp Kablooey’
Maryland, it’s said, never ends up ahead
When the Terps of November start losing
A wide receiver corps with four dudes who can score
Masked a defense, uh, slightly less… sturdy?
But that good team, it’s true, wouldn’t stay 6 and 2
When the gales of November came early
The team was doing fine on the Big Ten’s East side
When they flew out to breezy Wisconsin
As Maryland teams go, it was better than most
With a QB and linemen well-seasoned
Concluding a year with maybe nine wins And dreams of bowl games in sunny Orlando
And when kickoff was nigh and the flags whipping up high Could it be the collapse they’d been fearin'?
When huddle time came, Taulia brought ‘em in, sayin' "Receivers, it's too rough to feed ya"
And as Jump Around played, and the line had caved in, he said "Fellas, it's been good to know ya"
Locksley called in, he had rushers on the edge And the QB and backs were in peril
And at 3 yards a pass, with the D-Line on his ass Came the wreck of the ‘22 Terrapins
Does anyone know: where does Maryland go When they lose to Penn State and Ohio?
The pundits all say that they'll meet Duke or Wake In the Pinstripe Bowl, brought by New Era
Ohio State rolls, The Nittany Lions sing In the Big Ten East standings each season
Old Michigan steams like a 1970’s dream And the Playoff Committee takes notice
And farther below State and Rutgers, you know Take the wins the Big Ten West can send ‘em
But Terps will no-show, as the Marylanders all know And as tales of November remind ‘em
The legend lives on from Piscataway on down Of the big flop they called ‘Terp Kablooey’
Maryland, it’s said, never ends up ahead When the Terps of November start losing