Lightfoot's songs, including "For Lovin' Me", "Early Morning Rain", "Steel Rail Blues", "Ribbon of Darkness"—a number one hit on the U.S. country chart with Marty Robbins's cover in 1965—and "Black Day in July," about the 1967 Detroit riot, brought him wide recognition in the 1960s. Canadian chart success with his own recordings began in 1962 with the No. 3 hit "(Remember Me) I'm the One", followed by recognition and charting abroad in the 1970s. He topped the US Hot 100 or AC chart with the hits "If You Could Read My Mind" (1970), "Sundown" (1974); "Carefree Highway" (1974), "Rainy Day People" (1975), and "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" (1976), and had many other hits that appeared in the top 40.
Several of Lightfoot's albums achieved gold and multi-platinum status internationally. His songs have been recorded by renowned artists such as Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams Jr., The Kingston Trio, Jerry Lee Lewis, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Judy Collins, Barbra Streisand, Johnny Mathis, Herb Alpert, Harry Belafonte, Sarah McLachlan, Eric Clapton, John Mellencamp, Peter, Paul and Mary, Glen Campbell, The Grateful Dead, Nico, and Olivia Newton-John.
Robbie Robertson of the Band described Lightfoot as "a national treasure". Bob Dylan, also a Lightfoot fan, called him one of his favorite songwriters and, in an often-quoted tribute, Dylan observed that when he heard a Lightfoot song he wished "it would last forever". Lightfoot was a featured musical performer at the opening ceremonies of the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary, Alberta. He received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Trent University in Spring 1979 and was made a Companion of the Order of Canada in May 2003. In November 1997, the Governor General's Performing Arts Award, Canada's highest honour in the performing arts, was bestowed on Lightfoot. On February 6, 2012, Lightfoot was presented with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. June of that year saw his induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. On June 6, 2015, Lightfoot received an honorary doctorate of music in his hometown of Orillia from Lakehead University.
As an individual, apart from various awards associated with his albums and singles, Gordon Lightfoot has received sixteen Juno Awards—for top folk singer in 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969,[67] 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1977, for top male vocalist in 1967, 1970, 1971, 1972 and 1973, and as composer of the year in 1972 and 1976. He has received ASCAP awards for songwriting in 1971, 1974, 1976, and 1977, and has been nominated for five Grammy Awards. In 1974 Lightfoot's song "Sundown" was named pop record of the year by the Music Operators of America. In 1980 he was named Canadian male recording artist of the decade, for his work in the 1970s.
Lightfoot was chosen as the celebrity captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs for the NHL's 75th anniversary season in 1991–1992.
Lightfoot was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1986 and the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001. He was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in 1998. In May 2003 he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada, the country's highest civilian honour. Lightfoot is a member of the Order of Ontario, the highest honour in the province of Ontario. In 1977, he received the Vanier Award from the Canadian Jaycees. In 2007 Canada Post honoured Lightfoot and three other Canadian music artists (Anne Murray, Paul Anka, and Joni Mitchell) with postage stamps highlighting their names and images. On June 24, 2012, Lightfoot was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in a New York City ceremony, along with Bob Seger.
Between 1986 and 1988, Lightfoot's friend Ken Danby (1940–2007), the realist painter, worked on a large (60 × 48 inches) portrait of Lightfoot dressed in the white suit he wore on the cover of the album East of Midnight. The picture was backlit by the sun, creating a visually iconic image of the singer.
On June 16, 2014, Lightfoot was awarded the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award by SOCAN at the 2014 SOCAN Awards in Toronto.
On October 23, 2015, Lightfoot was honoured with a 4-metre tall bronze sculpture in his hometown of Orillia, Ontario. The sculpture, called Golden Leaves—A Tribute to Gordon Lightfoot, features Lightfoot sitting cross-legged, playing an acoustic guitar underneath an arch of golden maple leaves. Many of the leaves depict scenes from Lightfoot's 1975 greatest hits album, Gord's Gold.
In 2017, he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society
He was the subject of Martha Kehoe and Joan Tosoni's 2019 documentary film Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind.
Gordon passed away on May 1st, 2023 at the age of 84.
Crossroads
Gordon Lightfoot Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
All up and down this country at labor I did toil
I slumbered in the moonlight and I rose with the sun
I rambled through the canyons where the cold rivers run
When first I did come down where the land meets the sea
The people said Who are you and what would your name be
I said I have no home and I am no man's son
In the good land I was young and I was strong
No one dared to call me son
Happy just to see my day's work done
See my day's work done
So I swung an axe as a timberjack
And I worked the Quebec mines
And on the golden prairie I rode the big combines
I sailed the maritime waters of many a seaport town
Built the highways and the byways to the western salmon grounds
I've gazed upon the good times I've seen the bad times too
Felt many a cold and bitter wind and many a mornin' dew
I've watched the country growin' like a fair and mighty thing
And on the still of a summer night I've heard the mountains ring
In the good land I was young and I was strong
No one dared to call me son
Happy just to see my day's work done
See my day's work done
But now the seeds are planted and the gates are open wide
The old ways are forgotten there's no place left to hide
And the legacy I'm leavin' you is not very hard to find
You'll see it all around you at this crossroads of time
In the sweet soil it's a-growin' At the crossroads of time
Gordon Lightfoot's song "Crossroads" speaks about the experiences of an unknown man who has worked his way through life on this native soil. The song begins with his arrival in this country where he toiled all up and down until he finally settled down where the land meets the sea. The people who live there inquire about his identity and he replies he has no home and he is no man's son, he was born inland, and that's where he comes from.
Throughout the song, the man talks about his journey through life as he crossed several obstacles and challenges. He worked as a timberjack and worked the Quebec mines, sailed the maritime waters of different seaports, built the highways and the byways to the western salmon grounds, and rode the big combines on the golden prairie. He had seen the good and bad times, felt the cold and bitter winds, and watched the country growing like a fair and mighty thing.
The song concludes with the man stating that the seeds have been planted, and the gates are open wide, the old ways are forgotten, and the legacy he is leaving is not hard to find. The man says that people will see it all around them at this crossroads of time. The song's interpretation can be that the man has lived a long and fulfilled life and is now at a turning point where it's up to the following generation to build, grow, and preserve the land that he once wandered.
Line by Line Meaning
When first I did appear upon this native soil
When I first arrived in this land
All up and down this country at labor I did toil
I worked hard throughout this country
I slumbered in the moonlight and I rose with the sun
I slept under the moon and woke up with the sun
I rambled through the canyons where the cold rivers run
I wandered through the canyons where the cold rivers flowed
When first I did come down where the land meets the sea
When I first arrived at the coast
The people said Who are you and what would your name be
The people asked me who I was and what my name was
I said I have no home and I am no man's son
I told them I had no home and was not anyone's son
'Twas inland I was born and from inland that I come
I was born inland and came from there
In the good land I was young and I was strong
I was young and strong in this good land
No one dared to call me son
Nobody called me son
Happy just to see my day's work done
I was content just to finish my daily work
So I swung an axe as a timberjack
I worked as a lumberjack
And I worked the Quebec mines
I worked in the mines in Quebec
And on the golden prairie I rode the big combines
I drove big combines on the golden prairie
I sailed the maritime waters of many a seaport town
I sailed the waters of many seaport towns
Built the highways and the byways to the western salmon grounds
I helped construct the roads to the western salmon grounds
I've gazed upon the good times I've seen the bad times too
I've experienced both good and bad times
Felt many a cold and bitter wind and many a mornin' dew
I've endured many cold and bitter winds and morning dew
I've watched the country growin' like a fair and mighty thing
I've seen the country grow like a beautiful and powerful entity
And on the still of a summer night I've heard the mountains ring
On a quiet summer night, I've heard the mountains echo
But now the seeds are planted and the gates are open wide
Now the seeds are sown and opportunities abound
The old ways are forgotten there's no place left to hide
The old ways are gone, and there's nowhere to hide
And the legacy I'm leavin' you is not very hard to find
The legacy I'm leaving behind is easy to see
You'll see it all around you at this crossroads of time
You'll see it everywhere at this turning point in history
In the sweet soil it's a-growin' At the crossroads of time
There's growth in the fertile soil of this turning point in history
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: ORNETTE COLEMAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Ben - Moderator
on Is There Anyone Home
We have now corrected this above
Glenn
on Is There Anyone Home
The note state that this song ("Is there anyone home?") was released in 1998 on the album "A Painter Passing Through". That is not correct, the song doesn't even appear on that album at all. The original release date was 1974 on "Sundown" album. Easily verified on Wikipedia or a hundred other websites.