| · Not Gord’s gold, but maybe worth a bronze.
For me, Gordon Lightfoot’s music has always been coloured by two things: driving and my parents. I listen to "Sundown" or "Black Day In July," and immediately I’m in the back seat of our grey Ford LTD station wagon, squished in between my two younger siblings so they won’t fight (heh – they just fought across me), listening to my dad try to reach those high notes along with Lightfoot as we head to some distant part of Ontario (they’re all distant when you’re a kid).
Because my Neon doesn’t have a CD player, I’ve instead filtered Harmony through the impressions and emotions I think my folks would have when listening to Gord’s 20th album – his first since a near-fatal aneurysm two years ago.
What might their responses be? One: "Couchiching" is pretty goofy (although it would be a nice town anthem for Orillia, Ontario.) and the background singers on "No Mistake About It" are a little much. Two: they’d burst out with "We’ve been there!" when it came to the two tracks (the reflective "Shellfish" and the shady story of "The No Hotel") recorded live at Massey Hall in Toronto. And three: "End Of All Time" and "Inspiration Lady" are classic Lightfoot love songs – personal and universal at the same time. (Ah, parents. They’re so cute when they’re in love.…)
Now, my dad’s not sure that he wants to hear Harmony – he’s pretty sure that it won’t be as good as the old stuff. But once he does (and he will), I’m sure he’ll try to reach the high notes on a couple of those songs, for old times’ sake. (But not on "Couchiching"….)
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