"HARMONY" a new favourite!

[stationmaster]

Well I thought that "INSPIRATION LADY" was good, but now when I listen to "HARMONY" I get shivers down my back. There's something about that song that sounds ghostly! I don't know If it's Gord's voice or the arrangement but it is something to listen to. Anyone feel the same?

[violet Blue Horse]

It is a beautiful, classic Lightfoot song. I always smile when I hear the line "Do you read me write." It has so many and so much meaning, yet it is the simplest song there is. I would give everything I'll ever own to write lyrics like that.


quote:Originally posted by stationmaster:
Well I thought that "INSPIRATION LADY" was good, but now when I listen to "HARMONY" I get shivers down my back. There's something about that song that sounds ghostly! I don't know If it's Gord's voice or the arrangement but it is something to listen to. Anyone feel the same?

[stationmaster]

Yes the words are simple, but the song is about much more than words. I think Gord has taken this one from the heart and soul.

[Borderstone]

Being a singer/songwriter,there really is no other place he'd draw his songs from,except the topical real life ones.

Harmony gave you chills,End Of All Time did that for me and I'm sure different songs mean different things to others. I think when all is said and done this CD will touch more people's lives than expected. http://www.corfid.com/ubb/smile.gif Aurevoir! http://www.corfid.com/ubb/cool.gif

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"A knight of the road,going back to a place where he might get warm." ;) - Borderstone

[stationmaster]

"One day time will tell when you're living in yesterday
Thinking of things to do, thinking of things to say
Thinking of things divine, find a bottom line"
Yes Borderstone,those are powerful words for a powerful song. To me, this is a song from the HEART unlike HARMONY which seems to be more from the SOUL. I see songs as from either the brain, heart or soul. Anyone can think of words and make a BRAIN song. Some songwriters can convey from the HEART as Gord often does but very rarely does a song truely come from the SOUL. I have listened to most of Gords songs. A lot are from his heart but this one(Harmony) disturbs me when I hear it. I don't know why, but it has special hidden meaning I guess!

[violet Blue Horse]

I love Shellfish. Those lyrics hold a lot of meaning for me. The first few times I listened I couldn't make out one phrase. When I looked at the lyrics and actually read the words I started to cry; "He who hesitates is lost". It was a phrase my father used to use a lot and I don't think I'd heard it in nearly 14 years. I guess it was something I needed to hear again. http://www.corfid.com/ubb/smile.gif

quote:Originally posted by Borderstone:
Harmony gave you chills,End Of All Time did that for me and I'm sure different songs mean different things to others. I think when all is said and done this CD will touch more people's lives than expected. http://www.corfid.com/ubb/smile.gif Aurevoir! http://www.corfid.com/ubb/cool.gif

[searam]

I always had a saying, "the dreams of youth become the regrets of old age"...
Thought I would throw that in.
Sean

[violet Blue Horse]

Yeah. I know the old man died not having done many of the things he dreamed of, largely because he had children instead. http://www.corfid.com/ubb/smile.gif Ironically I seem to have wound up doing more than I ever thought I would, largely because I don't have children . . . but also because he pushed us to chase our dreams. He was a good father for a daughter to have.

quote:Originally posted by searam:
I always had a saying, "the dreams of youth become the regrets of old age"...
Thought I would throw that in.
Sean

[searam]

People that sacrifice dreams for children are the true heroes. I have never had any, but I looked at what my mom went through, and I realise she is a saint. Sorry to hear of your dad.
Sean

[stationmaster]

Well we always have choices to make in life. Sometimes some of us are fortunate enough to have the best of both worlds, but that does not always happen. Both my wife and I have both given up some personal dreams to have children. Now that we have our daughter, it seems like those dreams don't matter as much. Some people resume their dreams when their children are grown up and gone. I'm not sure if that will happen for us, I guess that's part of the mystery of life.

[charlene]

Sometimes life makes our choices for us.

Char

[charlene]

and more times than not we don't like the choices....
but we persevere,,,,
http://www.corfid.com/ubb/wink.gif
Char

[violet Blue Horse]

Uh Huh. Hmmmmmmmmm . . . and are we sure she was talking about music at the time? http://www.corfid.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

quote:Originally posted by TheWatchman:


Just gotta keep plugging along. "You gotta do the best with what you got."--Gordon Lightfoot's grade school teacher http://www.corfid.com/ubb/smile.gif

[stationmaster]

If Gord read some of this he would probably release #21...

[stationmaster]

Well this HARMONY album is just getting better every day! First it was INSPIRATION LADY, then HARMONY and now it's END OF ALL TIME! These are my favourites, until I add more! I still think HARMONY is the best...

[Rob1956]

Well, I'm at the position that I just got the CD yesterday...I was late in ordering it at CD Universe, and since I pay by check, it takes a while to clear the check, etc. Well, I just have to say it is my favorite CD of Gord's since "Shadows". He sounds aged, experienced, more confident in what he has to say and how to say it. I have no doubt that if his diaphram and larynx can handle it, there will be a #21. He might deny it, but I trust he's written half the songs during his recovery that could appear on #21 if he wants. Unforunately, radio stations don't usually play CD's of people over 50 (UNLESS YOU SUBSCRIBE TO XM RADIO WHERE I'VE HEARD GORD QUITE A BIT..ARE YOU LISTENING?) so I doubt you'll hear it "over the air". But then again who heard any of Dylan's stuff off of "Time out of Mind" on the radio, even tho it won a Grammy for best album...
"River of Light" keeps running thru my mind just like "My Little Love" did when I first heard "Painter" for the first time. Nice going Gord..a real gem to add to your "cannon".

[searam]

Music is timeless! Or, so the perfect thought would lead us. I still listen to Bach and he's over fifty ( I think )! The Pop/Rock gen is aging. Who makes the rules that their continued artistry cannot be played? We should "throttle" the program managers!!!
Sean

[violet Blue Horse]

I think part of it is who listens to the radio and buys the majority of the music, and it ain't us. We're busy paying rent and making car payments. Those damn fourteen year olds can afford to buy CD's with their allowance. How do you compete with that?

Then you get into how much it cost to buy a radio station these days. When you have to spend 50 or 60 million or more to purchase a station you have a huge debt to service and you can't do it playing Classical Jazz or Gordon Lightfoot. Just ask the folks in Houston who just lost their one and only classical commercial station when Radio One bought their third station in the market for 72.5 million.

quote:Originally posted by searam:
Music is timeless! Or, so the perfect thought would lead us. I still listen to Bach and he's over fifty ( I think )! The Pop/Rock gen is aging. Who makes the rules that their continued artistry cannot be played? We should "throttle" the program managers!!!
Sean

[Big Blue]

quote:Originally posted by charlene:
Sometimes life makes our choices for us.

Char

I think life will definitely make a choice for you if you don't make enough strong choices of your own. This is an old saying I think and I'm paraphrasing, "Make your own plan and stick to it or you'll become a part of someone else's plan."

[searam]

Maybe I am way off base, but if you have a special talent, or a special direction you are drawn to, you should have the heart and courage to follow it. Seems like everyone these days are focused on money, but that does not feed the soul. OK, somone will say it feeds the mouth, but I think most of you get what I mean.
Follow your own God-given path. Take yourself as far as you can and I think your soul will be fulfilled. Gosh, sometimes I sound like an psychologist! What do you think?
Sean

[stationmaster]

This post is getting DEEP! We're sounding like a bunch of GORDLINGS!

[Rob1956]

Watchman: I do agree with you. Contrary to what Oprah says, you are not always in control of your destiny. You will always have people who make decisions that directly effect your life. Be it a boss, a spouse, the IRS, a record company, whatever.
You have to accept that and learn how to work around it. Take Gord for example. Warner Bros. didn't want to promote his albums, so he found someone who would. Is Warner Bros. or Reprise records better known than Linus? Sure, but he worked around it.

[charlene]

life is what happens while you're busy making other plans. John Lennon

how one handles the "stuff" of life is what matters.

Char
doing pretty well with the "stuff"

[violet Blue Horse]

Well Doc, it all started back when I was . . . oh, wait. Sorry. Got confused there.

I think following your path is tough if you never had an example to follow. That kind of courage is something you learn by example or by trial and error. Sometimes just finding the path can take forty or fifty years.

I think it's all about balance.


quote:Originally posted by searam:
Maybe I am way off base, but if you have a special talent, or a special direction you are drawn to, you should have the heart and courage to follow it. Seems like everyone these days are focused on money, but that does not feed the soul. OK, somone will say it feeds the mouth, but I think most of you get what I mean.
Follow your own God-given path. Take yourself as far as you can and I think your soul will be fulfilled. Gosh, sometimes I sound like an psychologist! What do you think?
Sean

[DMD3]

quote:Originally posted by stationmaster:
Well I thought that "INSPIRATION LADY" was good, but now when I listen to "HARMONY" I get shivers down my back. There's something about that song that sounds ghostly! I don't know If it's Gord's voice or the arrangement but it is something to listen to. Anyone feel the same?

I'd say that next to No Hotel, that's the best song on the album.

[stationmaster]

Well I'm getting used to all the new songs now. Some of them took a while to get used to but my favourites list is growing. I still get shivers when I play HARMONY though. There's something about that one that gets to me. I'm sure I'll figure it out some day!

[stationmaster]

Here is the site for INSPIRATION LADY video. I just saw it and it looks great!
http://www.linusentertainment.com/artists/gordon/gord_video.html

[stationmaster]

And some famous quotes:

“Gordon Lightfoot, everytime I hear a song of his, it's like I wish it would last forever. "


Bob Dylan


"I don't think anybody before or since has had the impact on Canadian culture, through popular music or folk music, that Gordon Lightfoot has had."

Ian Tyson


"I've always been trying to write songs like Lightfoot. A song of mine like 'Come Monday' is a direct result of me trying to write a Gordon Lightfoot song."

Jimmy Buffett


"Canadian Railroad Trilogy is an extremely fine piece of songwriting. "

Johnny Cash


"Gordon Lightfoot looms pretty large in my life as a writer and an artist in general. I never travel anywhere without at least two of his records with me."

Ron Sexsmith


"Lightfoot's voice is such a part of the fabric of Canada, I know it almost as well as I know my own voice."

David Foster

[stationmaster]

And a nice pic!
http://www.wendellphillips.com/images/people/08-Gordon%20Lightfoot.jpg

[Bill]

As posted in another segment, my seven month old daughter is nuts for the song "Harmony"! Proving it was't a fluke: I didn't play it for her for several days, then yesterday popped it in while she was well occupied playing. She immediately looked up, turned, and was all smiling and excited. Very cool.

[johnfowles]

quote:Originally posted by Bill:
As posted in another segment, my seven month old daughter is nuts for the song "Harmony"! Proving it was't a fluke: I didn't play it for her for several days, then yesterday popped it in while she was well occupied playing. She immediately looked up, turned, and was all smiling and excited. Very cool.

Hey Bill did you know that the home page link in your profile goes nowhere useful??


------------------
My Gordon Lightfoot webring
starts at
http://www.johnfowles.org.uk/lightfoot

[Bill]

Old link to old job site. Haven't had time to build new site. Sorry.

[stationmaster]

Well I think I have figured it out! All of this time I didn't know why "Harmony" was so powerful but it seems that my take on the song is this: Gord wrote that song about himself and his aging voice which he refers to as Harmony. "Have you gone away, have you gone to stay. And if you pass me by I will miss you" Sounds like he is looking for something within himself, searching for his "Harmony". "If you pass me by I will miss you" meaning that he will be lost when the day comes that he can no longer sing. "I'm holding on tight, do you read me write" Well this line refers to Gord's ability to sing the words that he writes. " Where have you gone, what have we done" That just sums up a lifetime of a man and his "Harmony". Well that's just my interpretation of the song.

[violet Blue Horse]

I think this is one of those songs that has many meanings and he probably knows that. I think he also mentioned somewhere that he hadn't written much prior to beginning to write for this CD. It could be that he was wondering if he could still write or had the desire to. Sounds silly, but every artist wonders that before they start the next song, painting, weaving whatever "Can I still do this?" You live in fear of waking up one day unable to do what you love most.

Or it could be about a lack of harmony in a relationship too.

I think it has a whole lot of meanings and Mr. Lightfoot will never tell us what it meant to him. http://www.corfid.com/ubb/smile.gif