I've listened to Gord more years than I care to remember and in a host of fantastic songs it actually boils down to a very easy choice.
In the late 70s I had cause to spend a year at the far end of the Aleutians, a very cold, very isolated, very lonely place, with winter weather so bad you were restricted from going outside. So in a way I've answered the age old question of 'What would you take to a deserted island?' I took a turntable and a host of Gordon Lightfoot albums.
Anyway, the roughest part was leaving behind my family and my life literally became a version of 'Song for a Winter's Night.'
"I read again between the lines upon the page
The words of love you sent me
If I could know within my heart
That you were lonely too
I would be happy just to hold the hands I love
Upon this winter night with you"
The man is pure magic. Within a line he has gone from certain love to a bit of nagging doubt. Anyone who's ever been in that situation will readily identify how easy it is to cross that thin line and actually have both feelings at once.
Pure magic.
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