While anyone who knows me would probably say my favorite of Gordon Lightfoot songs would be one of the gloomy or dark ones.. Something like Edmund Fitzgerald, or Ghosts of Cape Horn perhaps.. my favorite song is The Pony Man. Evoking the kind of innocence that really tugs at the heart of someone who actually remembers the magic of childhood, the song hits all those fantasies of extreme youth. I remember the time when a pirate ship loaded down with apple pies would have been a much more important dream than breaking 50 grand a year or getting a new SUV. And you know what... even at 30 something, there are lots of times when it's still a better fantasy.
When I was growing up in Central Kansas, there was a man who lived in my little town, everyone called him Pony Man Jack. He ran the pony rides at all the local events. None of Pony Man Jack's ponies ever flew, nor did jack ever hoop and holler at Mr. Moon's front door, but in the children's minds... well who's to say?
Gordon Lightfoot has many songs that invade the adult heart and mind, many of them perhaps hit too many still raw nerves to be my favorite. So I choose one that affirms the child that still lives in all of us. Even those of us who have grown into fine cynics of our age.
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