10 Great Lyrics from Gordon Lightfoot

Last month I did one of these, but with Paul Simon. It is something I enjoyed doing and I will try to do one a month. This time I have chosen Gordon Lightfoot. Much like Paul Simon, I feel I connect with Lightfoot and his lyrics. So many of the things he writes are right on the money with me.
The one thing that I noticed as I gathered these lyrics is that with Lightfoot, even though his lyrics are very powerful and thought provoking, without the melodies they simply don't move you. He really throws himself into the song. Simon does as well, but not to the same extent. Simon is more about poetry, while Lightfoot is a complete musician and that transmits to the songs. Without the music attached, the songs become ordinary. Simon's do not. That is part of the reason I think that Lightfoot is so rarely covered by other artists. Anne Murray's version of Cotton Jenny is the only one I can think of that has pulled it off.

  For Lovin' Me

I ain't the kind to hang around
With every new love that I've found
Moving is my stock in trade I'm moving on,
I won't think of you when I'm gone

So don't you shed a tear for me
I ain't the love you thought I'd be
I've had a hundred more like you, so don't be blue
I'll have a thousand 'fore I'm thru

Now, there you go, You're crying again
Now there you go, you're crying again
Well some day when your poor heart is on the mend
I just might pass this way again

That's what you get for loving me

 If You Could Read My Mind

 If I could read your mind love
What a tale your thoughts could tell
Just like a paperback novel
The kind that drugstores sell
When you reach the part where the heartaches come
The hero would be me
But heroes often fail
And you won't read that book again
Because the ending's just too hard to take

 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

And I know that I won't ever change

We've been friends through rain or shine

For such a long, long time

Laughing eyes and smiling face

It seems so lucky just to have the right

Of telling you with all my might

You're beautiful tonight

And I know that you won't ever stray

Cause you've been that way from day to day

For such a long, long time

And when you hold me tight

How could life be anything but beautiful

I think that I was made for you

And you were made for me

 Sundown

She's bin lookin' like a queen in a sailor's dream
And she don't always say what she really means.
Sometimes I think it's a shame
When I get feelin' better when I'm feelin' no pain.
Sometimes I think it's a shame
When I get feelin' better when I'm feelin' no pain.
                                                   
I can picture ev'ry move that a man could make;
Gettin' lost in her lovin' is your first mistake.
Sundown, you better take care
If I find you bin creepin' round my back stairs.
Sometimes I think it's a sin
When I feel like I'm winnin' when I'm losin' again.

Carefree Highway

 Pickin' up the pieces of my sweet shattered dream

I wonder how the old folks are tonight

Her name was Ann and I'll be damned if I recall her face

She left me not knowin' what to do

Carefree highway, let me slip away on you

Carefree highway, you seen better days

The mornin' after blues from my head down to my shoes

Carefree highway, let me slip away

Slip away on you

Turnin' back the pages to the times I love best

I wonder if she'll ever do the same

Now the thing that I call livin' is just bein' satisfied

With knowin' I got no one left to blame

Carefree highway, got ta see you my old flame

Carefree highway, you seen better days

The mornin' after blues from my head down to my shoes

Carefree highway, let me slip away

Slip away on you

Searchin' through the fragments of my dream-shattered sleep

I wonder if the years have closed her mind

I guess it must be wanderlust or tryin' to get free

From the good old faithful feelin' we once knew

Carefree highway, let me slip away on you

Carefree highway, you seen better days

The mornin' after blues from my head down to my shoes

Carefree highway, let me slip away

Slip away on you

Let me slip away on you

Carefree highway, got ta see you my old flame

Carefree highway, you seen better days

The mornin' after blues from my head down to my shoes

Carefree highway, let me slip away

Slip away on you

Rainy Day People

Rainy day people always seem to know when it's time to call
Rainy day people don't talk, they just listen till they've heard it all
Rainy day lovers don't lie when they tell 'ya they've been down like you
Rainy day people don't mind if you're cryin' a tear or two
If you get lonely, all you really need is that rainy day love
Rainy day people all know there's no sorrow they can't rise above
Rainy day lovers don't love any others, that would not be kind
Rainy day people all know how it hangs on a piece of mind

Rainy day lovers don't lie when they tell you, they've been down there too
Rainy day people don't mind if you're cryin' a tear or two.

Rainy day people always seem to know when you're feeling blue
High stepping strutters who land in the gutters sometimes need one too
Take it or leave it, or try to believe it
If you've been down too long

Rainy day lovers don't hide love inside they just pass it on
Rainy day lovers don't hide love inside they just pass it on

 Daylight Katy

She walks to the sea where the seaweed is
Where the rust and the dirt runs deep
She lives nine lives in her midnight world
While her old man's fast asleep
And she doesn't have to get up in the mornin'
With her hair so soft and long

Daylight Katy come on
Daylight Katy come on
If you can't follow me down
Daylight Katy go home

 The Circle Is Small

I can see it in your eyes and feel it in the way you kiss my lips
I can hear it in your voice whenever we are talking like this
I can see what you believe in when his name is mentioned and I die I
can watch the way you walk, the way you talk, the way you close your eyes

It's alright for some, but not alright to be
Where the one that I'm lovin' can't be found
The city where we live might be quite large
But the circle is small, why not tell us all and then all of us will know

Anything For Love

In my life
In my time and in each line I've ever sung
And in my life
Was it my imagination or are you still the one
Who lingers on

I'd do anything for you
You'd do anything for me
We'd do anything for love

Ohh, you'd use any means
And I would try any scheme for love
We'd do anything for love

Summer Side Of Life

He came down through fields of green
On the summer side of life
His love was ripe
There were no illusions
On the summer side of life
Only tenderness

And if you saw him now
You'd wonder why he would cry
The whole day long

There were young girls everywhere
On the summer side of life
They talked all night
To the young men that they knew
On the summer side of life
Goin' off to fight

And if you saw them now
You'd wonder why they would cry
The whole day long

He came down through fields of green
On the summer side of life
He prayed all night
Then he walked into a house
Where love had been misplaced
His chance to waste

And if you saw him now
You'd wonder why he would cry
The whole day long