Somebody help/lyric meanings!

This is a first for me, and I would appreciate any help that you could give me. For years I've been contemplating the true meanings behind the song, "Summer Side of Life." Can something set the record straight for me? I've got plenty of theories, but would love to know the real
meaning!

This is a first for me, and I would appreciate any help that you could give me. For years I've been contemplating the true meanings behind the song, "Summer Side of Life." Can something set the record straight for me? I've got plenty of theories, but would love to know the real
meaning!

[Florian]

Hi,

I have always seen this song as an anti-war song. The young man is obviously about to leave for war. ('Goin' off to fight').

He might just have received notification from the army that he has been recruited and needs to report at a military facility. ('Then he walked into a house, Where love had been misplaced').

The album 'Summer Side Of Life' has been recorded during December 1970 through April 1971, so I guess the song was written in direct relation to the Vietnam War.

[2Much2Lose]

I had heard somewhere, either at a concert or in print years ago, that the song pertained to American draft dodgers going to Canada. I'd be interested in any other opinions.
Jenney

[Jenney]

I had heard somewhere, either at a concert or in print years ago, that the song pertained to American draft dodgers going to Canada. I'd be interested in any other opinions.
Jenney

[charlene]

I thought it was about him going to war and seeing the horror and coming home broken and lost, crying all day and no one knowing why because he can't tak about the horrors he saw.
Char

[charlene]

I thought it was about him going to war and seeing the horror and coming home broken and lost, crying all day and no one knowing why because he can't tak about the horrors he saw.
Char

[vlmagee]

I think it's Sit Down Young Stranger that's about a draft dodger who went to Canada, and then returned home.

------------------
Valerie Magee

Visit my GL web site at gordonlightfoot.com

[Wes Steele]

Charlene, I think you hit the nail on the head with your response. Excellent.

Wes

[Shane]

Doesn't summer refer to the age of a person?
In this case it was probably someone in their early twenties. A spring person would be quite young, an autumn person older, and a winter person is close to the end of their earthly life. These are very loose terms with no definite age limits.

[Scott Mac]

Doesn't summer refer to the age of a person?
In this case it was probably someone in their early twenties. A spring person would be quite young, an autumn person older, and a winter person is close to the end of their earthly life. These are very loose terms with no definite age limits.

[Dan]

benny's mom,(Jack's?)

Quoting from the songbook booklet where gord comments on all the songs included in the set:

2/7. SUMMER SIDE OF LIFE
In many ways it's not one of my favorites, though people seem to want to hear it. It doesn't hold together technically on stage, to my way of thinking. It's about guys going away to fight in Vietnam; that's the whole driving thought behind it. It's about saying goodbye to your girlfriend and your mother and not knowing if you're coming back--going through God knows what.

As for Sit Down Young Stranger gord says: "It's a protest song..." I won't bore you with the rest--turn to page 39 because I know you all have the collection!

Dan the United Statian.

"War is not the answer, and young men should not die"

[This message has been edited by Dan (edited June 22, 2000).]

[LouiseAnne]

I don't know too much about that particular song, but one thing I do know is that Gord was very cautious in those days about protest songs. It was very difficult for him to get a green card to play in the States and he was very afraid of offending someone in power here who could just revoke the green card.

That's probably why the protest songs such as "Sit Down Young Stranger" and Viet Nam songs like "Summer Side of Life" were carefully veiled. And that's probably why you wonder sometimes what they're about. I think "Sit Down Young Stranger" is more of a protest song about the world in general and the way things have become. "Summer Side of Life" is more direct, but if you notice, there is no direct reference to the U.S., Nam or politics -- not that anyone could accuse Gord of.

He actually got in trouble with "Black Day in July" which was banned on many radio stations. So I guess after that, he decided to "tread with caution."

Just my opinion, though.

Stay loose, eh?

LAMS

------------------
"Love and maple syrup
go together like the
sticky winds of winter
when they meet....
If you go into the forest
Gaze up through the trees
The sky is white.
You can understand
What makes the forest
Greet the man
Like a mother's only
child ..."

[loveandmaplesyrup]

I don't know too much about that particular song, but one thing I do know is that Gord was very cautious in those days about protest songs. It was very difficult for him to get a green card to play in the States and he was very afraid of offending someone in power here who could just revoke the green card.

That's probably why the protest songs such as "Sit Down Young Stranger" and Viet Nam songs like "Summer Side of Life" were carefully veiled. And that's probably why you wonder sometimes what they're about. I think "Sit Down Young Stranger" is more of a protest song about the world in general and the way things have become. "Summer Side of Life" is more direct, but if you notice, there is no direct reference to the U.S., Nam or politics -- not that anyone could accuse Gord of.

He actually got in trouble with "Black Day in July" which was banned on many radio stations. So I guess after that, he decided to "tread with caution."

Just my opinion, though.

Stay loose, eh?

LAMS

------------------
"Love and maple syrup
go together like the
sticky winds of winter
when they meet....
If you go into the forest
Gaze up through the trees
The sky is white.
You can understand
What makes the forest
Greet the man
Like a mother's only
child ..."

[CanadaGirl38]

Hey, LAMS!

Good to see you around.

In another topic I was just talking about "Black Day in July," which is an incredibally well written song. I was in the New York City suburbs at the time and the NY stations didn't play it. Caught it at night on the skip from W-KBW in Buffalo.

[fezo]

Hey, LAMS!

Good to see you around.

In another topic I was just talking about "Black Day in July," which is an incredibally well written song. I was in the New York City suburbs at the time and the NY stations didn't play it. Caught it at night on the skip from W-KBW in Buffalo.

[LouiseAnne]

Hi, Fezo,
Yeah, "Black Day In July" was banned in many states. It was because of the Chicago riots. But what I think no one realized at the time was Gord wasn't really making a personal statement about it. He was telling a story. But this country was so sensitive, that the radio stations just wanted to play it safe. It was kind of bad timing for him. If he had written it now and released it it would have received a very warm welcome. Gord still has a soft place in his heart for Detroit and I think that particular incident really bothered him.

You have to remember that this was during the time of ALL the protest songs by people like Dylan and Joan Baez and even Peter, Paul and Mary, just to name a few. But they were AMERICANS and could actually get by with it. Gord was from Canada and it just wasn't as well-received.

Stay loose, eh?

LAMS

------------------
"Love and maple syrup
go together like the
sticky winds of winter
when they meet....
If you go into the forest
Gaze up through the trees
The sky is white.
You can understand
What makes the forest
Greet the man
Like a mother's only
child ..."

[loveandmaplesyrup]

Hi, Fezo,
Yeah, "Black Day In July" was banned in many states. It was because of the Chicago riots. But what I think no one realized at the time was Gord wasn't really making a personal statement about it. He was telling a story. But this country was so sensitive, that the radio stations just wanted to play it safe. It was kind of bad timing for him. If he had written it now and released it it would have received a very warm welcome. Gord still has a soft place in his heart for Detroit and I think that particular incident really bothered him.

You have to remember that this was during the time of ALL the protest songs by people like Dylan and Joan Baez and even Peter, Paul and Mary, just to name a few. But they were AMERICANS and could actually get by with it. Gord was from Canada and it just wasn't as well-received.

Stay loose, eh?

LAMS

------------------
"Love and maple syrup
go together like the
sticky winds of winter
when they meet....
If you go into the forest
Gaze up through the trees
The sky is white.
You can understand
What makes the forest
Greet the man
Like a mother's only
child ..."

[Dan]

quote:Originally posted by fezo:
Caught it at night on the skip from W-KBW in Buffalo.

Hey, fezo,

WKBW was the power-house AM radio station in Buffalo back then...Did FM exist then or hadn't it caught on yet....KB could be heard all up and down the east coast after the sun went down and they turned up the transmitter!

Danny Nevereth, Joey Reynolds and Tommy Shannon were the DJ's. I haven't listened to KB in years. I don't even know their format.

Fezo, as I am writing this I am listening to Is the Chicken Done Yet...interesting song, enjoying it very much. It just ended and I am going back for another.

Dan

[CanadaGirl38]

"Fezo, as I am writing this I am listening to Is the Chicken Done Yet...interesting song, enjoying it very much. It just ended and I am going back for another.

Dan"

Feel free to buy the CD...... I'm at fezo@bellatlantic.net

Yeah, my W-KBW days were prior to FM being a real important piece of radio. Makes me a dinosaur..... Glad you like that song!

[fezo]

"Fezo, as I am writing this I am listening to Is the Chicken Done Yet...interesting song, enjoying it very much. It just ended and I am going back for another.

Dan"

Feel free to buy the CD...... I'm at fezo@bellatlantic.net

Yeah, my W-KBW days were prior to FM being a real important piece of radio. Makes me a dinosaur..... Glad you like that song!