Gordon Lightfoot Forums - View Single Post

Don Quixote · 05-17-2010, 04:14 PM

True enough. If you listen to most of the songs on the "Old Dan's Records" album, you get a kind of polarity: songs of breakups and troubled relationships (Annabel, Obsession, Can't Depend, Pony, Worth Believin') and sort of idyllic escapism (Old Dan's Records, Lazy Mornin', You Are What I Am, Hi'way Songs, even Miner's Child to some extent). This would make all sorts of sense in the context of what was going on in his life at this time (I believe his divorce was finalized in 1973, so '72, when the songs were written, must have been turbulent times). Of course, he's writing music, not autobiography, so just how much is personal detail and how much is inspired by life circumstances, and how much is just making up melodies and rhymes is always unclear, as it is with most types of art.

05-17-2010, 04:14 PM	#5
Don Quixote Senior Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Springfield, MA 01109 Posts: 309	Re: What does the song mean? True enough. If you listen to most of the songs on the "Old Dan's Records" album, you get a kind of polarity: songs of breakups and troubled relationships (Annabel, Obsession, Can't Depend, Pony, Worth Believin') and sort of idyllic escapism (Old Dan's Records, Lazy Mornin', You Are What I Am, Hi'way Songs, even Miner's Child to some extent). This would make all sorts of sense in the context of what was going on in his life at this time (I believe his divorce was finalized in 1973, so '72, when the songs were written, must have been turbulent times). Of course, he's writing music, not autobiography, so just how much is personal detail and how much is inspired by life circumstances, and how much is just making up melodies and rhymes is always unclear, as it is with most types of art.