Indoctrinating the children.....

[AZroute74]

Previously posted by AZroute74:

"My daughters (18 & 20) probably don't know[who GL is]--which is a serious parenting oversight on my part."

And which I have now remedied. I talked to both daughters tonight by long distance telephone. (They are roommates and work a home day care business together). Told them the story of "Carefree Highway" and its cosmic connection with me. (By the way they know who the "Ann" is in my life. They hate her. And they both knew how sick I'd been.)

Played them a little snippet of "Carefree Highway" through the phone. I don't know if it's funny or sad that my 18-year-old's first comment was, "That would sell."

Darn right it would "sell!" That's when I explained exactly who GL is; gave them a brief bio, told how his career has spanned five decades, and complained about how under-sold he is in this country. My 20-year-old summed it up: "So in this country you have to be middle-aged to know who he is, but in Canada they think he's God?"

Eeeh--more or less.

They like his voice, but they want to know if "the old man can rock." So, even though "Canary Yellow Canoe" is not especially popular with fans of our generation, I think my girls will like it. I'll play that one for them next. On "Canary" and "Restless" and "Baby Step Back" and others that are not as well received among us old farts, it may be that the very purpose behind them is to reach the next generation--which GL seems to have done, if my girls are any indication.

[Mair]

quote: "So in this country you have to be middle-aged to know who he is, but in Canada they think he's God?"(act+q)

And how more more difficult is it, again, in the UK? So much more - but, yet, we are here!

We are really here - please don't forget us!

[Borderstone]

I've made it known on here that my 2 closest friends,that are a decade younger than me,have very little to say about GL that's kind. They're not mean about it but no matter what I say or how I explain it,they just don't (or refuse to) get it.

My God-daughter simply says,"He's Boring",but she's 9 (soon to be 10) and I can excuse that. There's those who'll like him and those that don't. ...and if they don't that's they're loss. Later!

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Borderstone,gonna post some lines tonight!:D

[Cathy]

Play Sundown for them, AZ. I bet they've heard the Elwood version. They'd probably appreciate hearing the original version.

Cathy http://www.cathycowette.com

[Iron]

The last couple times I saw Gordons shows He was sportin a black T-shirt that had the word Rock across the front.If I knew how to do it I would send you some good pictures!!

[AZroute74]

quote:Originally posted by Cathy:
Play Sundown for them, AZ. I bet they've heard the Elwood version. They'd probably appreciate hearing the original version.

Cathy http://www.cathycowette.com

Ooooh! Good idea!

[AZroute74]

How it turned out:

They didn't care about "Sundown." In fact, they'd never even heard of Elwood. (What kind of music do they listen to?) Nor were they impressed by "Canary" or "Keepin' on Yearnin'" or anything that cooks, like I thought young people would be.

They were hooked by one I hadn't thought of: "Summertime Dream."

Just the same, in the end, the Lighthead population has increased by two.

[AZroute74]

quote:Originally posted by paddletothesea:
So your the long lost "Ann" from Gords song Carefree Highway. I had read an interview from Gord years ago. How about your version? Where you suprised he wrote a song that mentioned you?
NM

Huh?

[AZroute74]

quote:Originally posted by AZroute74:
Huh?



Oh, I get you now. It goes back to my original post. No, I am NOT Ann. There is an Ann in my life who positively wrecked my marriage. My daughters hate her, and I don't exactly worship the water she thinks she walks on, either. I don't want to duplicate the whole story here, so if you don't mind I'd direct you to the thread "incredible experience" for the whole explanation.



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"Pickin' up the pieces of my sweet, shattered dream..."

[Auburn Annie]

I'm late in posting to this one but my kids have been exposed to Gord's music since they were in utero. The effect has been stronger in our firstborn. Like his mother he has very eclectic taste in music but he just floored me this morning when, as I'm walking through the living room, I hear a familiar voice coming from the CD player. He burned a disk for his car player of assorted songs, and there's "Hey You" coming from the speaker, between Jim Morrison's "When You're Strange" and "California" from "The O.C." soundtrack. Not one I would have expected but still it's nice to know it percolates through. The torch is passed!

[AZroute74]

quote:The torch is passed!

And how!

I spent the past weekend with my grandmother. My whole family likes to dig and tease at each other, and the family matriarch is no exception. She has always ragged on me for my taste in music. Country is "too depressing," pop is "too wild." Never could satisfy her. This woman is strictly a talk-radio person.

So this weekend she asked me who I'm listening to these days. I replied "Gordon Lightfoot" and waited for the jokes and teases and digs.

What I got: A brief silence followed by "He is a good one."

HE STUMPED HER! SHE COULDN'T COME UP WITH A WISECRACK OR A CRITICISM! And with my grandmother, that is a major accomplishment.

Mom is iffy but I have an uncle, maybe two, who are definite fans. With my children coming around, this makes four generations of fans in my family.

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"Pickin' up the pieces of my sweet, shattered dream..."

[This message has been edited by AZroute74 (edited February 19, 2004).]

[Cathy]

Back in the late '60s, early '70s, Mom and Dad had a couple of Lightfoot albums in their collection, but they kind of lost track of him, as I did, after Wreck. So, after I rediscovered him in the '90s, I started working on Mom, and not long after, she owned just about every album and was recommending Gord to all her Florida friends. They are all a bunch of rich, retired Lightheads now.

Cathy http://www.cathycowette.com