Gordon Lightfoot Forums - View Single Post - What Should Gordon Be Writing About Today?

charlene · 11-28-2008, 06:14 PM

more comments at the site:
Gord's music is entwined in our National Heritage. He has nothing more to prove. His talent and longevity is a true gift to all Canadians. He should write whenever and whatever he feels like and we would be blessed with whatever music and lyrics that he feels inspired to create. I just hope that his health remains as good as possible and that I can be fortunate enough to see him and his incredible live performance at least one more time. I have seen him at the National Arts Centre here in the Nations Capital on 5 or 6 occasions and every time his performance was wonderful. You do whatever pleases you Gord.

Posted by: bryan wold | November 18, 2008 04:00 AM

I think Gordon can write on any topic brilliantly, but I would like to hear his take on the apology given to our Aboriginal Peoples by the Canadian Government and what that might mean as a way of moving the country forward by all involved.

Posted by: Rob Wolf | November 18, 2008 12:27 PM

Given the state of the economy today, how about asking Mr. Lightfoot to sing 'The Wreck of the Cantor Fitzgerald'?

Happy B'day Mr. Lightfoot!

Posted by: doug millar | November 18, 2008 07:19 PM

"The Wreck of the Stephane Dion"?

Posted by: Mark | November 18, 2008 08:42 PM

At 70, Lightfoot should be writing about death, as Strauss did in "Tod und Verklärung" and as Mahler did in "Kindertotenlieder."

Posted by: Phil | November 18, 2008 08:51 PM

I think our troubadour on matters of true blue north historic and folkloric import, Mr. Lightfoot should address the 'Three Star Canadian Mystery Selection' in a Trilogy of song.

(i) The theft of the apostrophe from Tim Hortons

(ii) The loss of the hockey 'sweater' to 'jersey'

(iii) Louis Riel: Hero? Traitor? Poet? Patriot? Heretic? Menace? Martyr? Madman? Renaissance Man Rebel? (Eat your heart out Rasputin)

Keep settin'em up and knockin'em down, Gordo.

Grant Boyd, Jr.

el Rancho Untaméd
Val-des-Monts, QC

Posted by: Grant Boyd, Jr. | November 18, 2008 10:24 PM

Whatever he wants. He need not prove anything, as some have written, but my guess is that the composer's home fires are still burning. Things affect him. There will always be a songwriter, not just a song inside, whether or not he decides to go public with his recent perceptions and let them echo in wood and steel. I'm glad he is enjoying his tours still. So are we. My 84 year-old Dad called excitedly last week offering an early birthday present to me. Lightfoot tickets for one of his two concerts in Vancouver this coming April. He has always resonated with topics and the natural surroundings that interest and inspire him. But this is a great birthday question, and he is generous enough to have a laugh, or let the twinkle in his eye warm a heart that is ever yearning and observant, then put it into song. What will happen? Let's just listen and nod. Thank you, Gord. Thank you, Tom.

Posted by: Graham Stokes | November 19, 2008 11:23 AM

Thank you to Lightfoot for helping Canadians from across this great country to relate to each other through song and story. Appreciating our history and making our own culture. We as Canadians know we are different from our American neighbors, and not just because we are so polite as our European visitors have remarked. In these times of national concerns with our involvement in Afghanistan affairs. I believe it is an important time in both Canadian history and an opportunity to further identify who we are as Canadians. Canadian soldiers have been respected peace keepers in other countries for many decades. It is important that everyone understand why we would want our troops to be involved in a conflict. Our involvement is because we respect the rights and freedoms of every Canadian and extend the defense of these rights to every human being in the world. The Canadian approach to defending rights and freedom is also very different than the force used by other nations. We are respected around the world for our respectful generosity, giving of ourselves to help others. This is part of our identity and Canadian heritage that gets little attention within our own country. I feel this would be an outstanding subject for Mr. Lightfoot to help further define our culture.

Attached is an article from an Australian who eloquently defines a Canadian.
"An Australian Definition of a Canadian

In case anyone asks you who a Canadian is . . .

You probably missed it in the local news, but there was a report that someone in Pakistan had advertised in a newspaper an offer of a reward to anyone who killed a Canadian - any Canadian.

An Australian dentist wrote the following editorial to help define what a Canadian is, so they would know one when they found one.

A Canadian can be English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek. A Canadian can be Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, Arab, Pakistani, or Afghan.

A Canadian may also be a Cree, Métis, Mohawk, Blackfoot, Sioux, or one of the many other tribes known as native Canadians. A Canadian's religious beliefs range from Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu, or none. In fact, there are more Muslims in Canada than in Afghanistan. The key difference is that in Canada they are free to worship as each of them chooses. Whether they have a religion or no religion, each Canadian ultimately answers only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God.

A Canadian lives in one of the most prosperous lands in the history of the world. The root of that prosperity can be found in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which recognize the right of each person to life, liberty and security.
Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms:
a) freedom of conscience and religion;
b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression,
c) freedom of peaceful assembly; and
d) freedom of association.

A Canadian is generous and Canadians have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need, never asking a thing in return. Canadians welcome the best of everything, the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food, the best services, and the best minds.

But they also welcome the least - the oppressed, the outcast, and the rejected.

These are the people who built Canada. You can try to kill a Canadian if you must as other bloodthirsty tyrants in the world have tried but in doing so you could just be killing a relative or a neighbour. This is because Canadians are not a particular people from a particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, can be a Canadian."

Posted by: Terry | November 19, 2008 12:14 PM

I listened to your broadcast this morning while I was driving my kids to school and heard your entreaty to send in song ideas for the Gordster when my son piped up from the back.

"Maybe that guy should write about The Highway of Heroes." We had just spent the better part of the evening before working on project on the self-same subject for
school and I couldn't help but think that that was just a fine idea. Gord has some experience weaving footnotes of our history into some fairly compelling songs, non? We could use a song that takes an unflinching look at the war of Afghanistan in all of its moral complexities. From the mouths of babes.....

11-28-2008, 06:14 PM	#6
charlene Moderator Join Date: May 2000 Posts: 16,001	Re: What Should Gordon Be Writing About Today? more comments at the site: Gord's music is entwined in our National Heritage. He has nothing more to prove. His talent and longevity is a true gift to all Canadians. He should write whenever and whatever he feels like and we would be blessed with whatever music and lyrics that he feels inspired to create. I just hope that his health remains as good as possible and that I can be fortunate enough to see him and his incredible live performance at least one more time. I have seen him at the National Arts Centre here in the Nations Capital on 5 or 6 occasions and every time his performance was wonderful. You do whatever pleases you Gord. Posted by: bryan wold \| November 18, 2008 04:00 AM I think Gordon can write on any topic brilliantly, but I would like to hear his take on the apology given to our Aboriginal Peoples by the Canadian Government and what that might mean as a way of moving the country forward by all involved. Posted by: Rob Wolf \| November 18, 2008 12:27 PM Given the state of the economy today, how about asking Mr. Lightfoot to sing 'The Wreck of the Cantor Fitzgerald'? Happy B'day Mr. Lightfoot! Posted by: doug millar \| November 18, 2008 07:19 PM "The Wreck of the Stephane Dion"? Posted by: Mark \| November 18, 2008 08:42 PM At 70, Lightfoot should be writing about death, as Strauss did in "Tod und Verklärung" and as Mahler did in "Kindertotenlieder." Posted by: Phil \| November 18, 2008 08:51 PM I think our troubadour on matters of true blue north historic and folkloric import, Mr. Lightfoot should address the 'Three Star Canadian Mystery Selection' in a Trilogy of song. (i) The theft of the apostrophe from Tim Hortons (ii) The loss of the hockey 'sweater' to 'jersey' (iii) Louis Riel: Hero? Traitor? Poet? Patriot? Heretic? Menace? Martyr? Madman? Renaissance Man Rebel? (Eat your heart out Rasputin) Keep settin'em up and knockin'em down, Gordo. Grant Boyd, Jr. el Rancho Untaméd Val-des-Monts, QC Posted by: Grant Boyd, Jr. \| November 18, 2008 10:24 PM Whatever he wants. He need not prove anything, as some have written, but my guess is that the composer's home fires are still burning. Things affect him. There will always be a songwriter, not just a song inside, whether or not he decides to go public with his recent perceptions and let them echo in wood and steel. I'm glad he is enjoying his tours still. So are we. My 84 year-old Dad called excitedly last week offering an early birthday present to me. Lightfoot tickets for one of his two concerts in Vancouver this coming April. He has always resonated with topics and the natural surroundings that interest and inspire him. But this is a great birthday question, and he is generous enough to have a laugh, or let the twinkle in his eye warm a heart that is ever yearning and observant, then put it into song. What will happen? Let's just listen and nod. Thank you, Gord. Thank you, Tom. Posted by: Graham Stokes \| November 19, 2008 11:23 AM Thank you to Lightfoot for helping Canadians from across this great country to relate to each other through song and story. Appreciating our history and making our own culture. We as Canadians know we are different from our American neighbors, and not just because we are so polite as our European visitors have remarked. In these times of national concerns with our involvement in Afghanistan affairs. I believe it is an important time in both Canadian history and an opportunity to further identify who we are as Canadians. Canadian soldiers have been respected peace keepers in other countries for many decades. It is important that everyone understand why we would want our troops to be involved in a conflict. Our involvement is because we respect the rights and freedoms of every Canadian and extend the defense of these rights to every human being in the world. The Canadian approach to defending rights and freedom is also very different than the force used by other nations. We are respected around the world for our respectful generosity, giving of ourselves to help others. This is part of our identity and Canadian heritage that gets little attention within our own country. I feel this would be an outstanding subject for Mr. Lightfoot to help further define our culture. Attached is an article from an Australian who eloquently defines a Canadian. "An Australian Definition of a Canadian In case anyone asks you who a Canadian is . . . You probably missed it in the local news, but there was a report that someone in Pakistan had advertised in a newspaper an offer of a reward to anyone who killed a Canadian - any Canadian. An Australian dentist wrote the following editorial to help define what a Canadian is, so they would know one when they found one. A Canadian can be English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek. A Canadian can be Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, Arab, Pakistani, or Afghan. A Canadian may also be a Cree, Métis, Mohawk, Blackfoot, Sioux, or one of the many other tribes known as native Canadians. A Canadian's religious beliefs range from Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu, or none. In fact, there are more Muslims in Canada than in Afghanistan. The key difference is that in Canada they are free to worship as each of them chooses. Whether they have a religion or no religion, each Canadian ultimately answers only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God. A Canadian lives in one of the most prosperous lands in the history of the world. The root of that prosperity can be found in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which recognize the right of each person to life, liberty and security. Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms: a) freedom of conscience and religion; b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, c) freedom of peaceful assembly; and d) freedom of association. A Canadian is generous and Canadians have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need, never asking a thing in return. Canadians welcome the best of everything, the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food, the best services, and the best minds. But they also welcome the least - the oppressed, the outcast, and the rejected. These are the people who built Canada. You can try to kill a Canadian if you must as other bloodthirsty tyrants in the world have tried but in doing so you could just be killing a relative or a neighbour. This is because Canadians are not a particular people from a particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, can be a Canadian." Posted by: Terry \| November 19, 2008 12:14 PM I listened to your broadcast this morning while I was driving my kids to school and heard your entreaty to send in song ideas for the Gordster when my son piped up from the back. "Maybe that guy should write about The Highway of Heroes." We had just spent the better part of the evening before working on project on the self-same subject for school and I couldn't help but think that that was just a fine idea. Gord has some experience weaving footnotes of our history into some fairly compelling songs, non? We could use a song that takes an unflinching look at the war of Afghanistan in all of its moral complexities. From the mouths of babes.....