# Does anyone know where the love of God goes? ( RIP Gordon Lightfoot: 2023-May-1 ) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** celebrity-death, music\ **Created:** [May 2, 2023, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-where-the-love-of-god-goes-rip-gordon-lightfoot-2023-may-1/983445 "2023-05-02T02:51:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-where-the-love-of-god-goes-rip-gordon-lightfoot-2023-may-1/983445/61 "2023-05-03T16:50:24Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > It’s understandable that after years of playing that Gordon would tweak a few things. I know he changed a few things in _Edmund Fitz_, some for new historical data coming in and one because a local complained the Martime Sailors Catherdral in _not_ musty. He also made changes to _If You Could Read My Mind_ after his daughter by that marriage sat him down and said you know, Dad, there really are 2 sides to that story. Again, how many of us, if we’re being honest, haven’t thought, yeah ok, fair to say. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-where-the-love-of-god-goes-rip-gordon-lightfoot-2023-may-1/983445/62 "2023-05-03T17:27:39Z")
> [@gkster](#): > > This is my favorite Gordon Lightfoot song: > [Song For A Winter’s Night - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7F9R94DLniE) > And the NY Times has a good article; the gift link should get you past the paywall Thanks for the gift link. I thought this first line from the article was impressive: > Bob Dylan once named Gordon Lightfoot one of his favorite songwriters, and called the musician “somebody of rare talent” while inducting him into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1986. I do think, though, that somehow trying to define such an extensive career in terms of 10 best songs is a bit unfair. Lightfood produced so much great material that it’s almost impossible to rate, and some of my personal favourites are often passed over in “best song” collections. > [@aceplace57](#): > > I read later all the songs on Gords Gold were rerecorded. It’s understandable that after years of playing that Gordon would tweak a few things. Aha – that explains it! I was listening to _Early Morning Rain_ on one of those YouTube links above, and while it was obviously a studio recording, it sounded a bit different than the one I’m familiar with. Incidentally, Lightfood nearly died in 2002, when he would have been just 64. From Wiki: > … before the second concert of a two-night stand in Orillia, Lightfoot suffered severe stomach pain and was airlifted to McMaster University Medical Centre in Hamilton, Ontario. He underwent emergency vascular surgery for a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm,[42] and he remained in serious condition in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Lightfoot endured a six-week coma and a tracheotomy, and he underwent four surgical operations.[43] All of his remaining 2002 concert dates were cancelled. Frivolous trivia: I was thinking about the line, “Out on runway number 9, big 707 set to go” from _In the Early Morning Rain_, wondering if that runway number was just picked at random. There is no such runway at Pearson International, the main airport of Lightfoot’s adopted hometown of Toronto. The closest are runways 06L and 06R. Runway 09 would run due east, but the prevailing winds in North America are usually from the west. But … during crappy weather, prevailing winds often reverse direction, and aircraft often take off in easterly directions. And early morning rain is crappy weather. Probably just a happy coincidence that this actually lines up with reality! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-where-the-love-of-god-goes-rip-gordon-lightfoot-2023-may-1/983445/63 "2023-05-03T17:29:33Z")
> [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](#): > > I did a cover of ‘Song for a Winter’s Night’ a couple of years ago - posted here as a humble tribute to a truly great artist. [https://youtu.be/gi\_CpQ96SIY](https://youtu.be/gi_CpQ96SIY) > > Now, I’ve heard the story via Fred Smith, lead guitarist for Leisa Way and the Wayward Wind, that this song was actually written in a hotel room in Cleveland, OH, in the middle of a July thunderstorm. I haven’t heard that tale verified other than Fred telling it… Yes that was very nice. Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-where-the-love-of-god-goes-rip-gordon-lightfoot-2023-may-1/983445/64 "2023-05-03T17:42:31Z")
For some reason I thought he was singing about being in L.A. (and, yeah LAX doesn’t have a runway 9, but poetic license) ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-where-the-love-of-god-goes-rip-gordon-lightfoot-2023-may-1/983445/65 "2023-05-03T17:46:13Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Frivolous trivia: I was thinking about the line, “Out on runway number 9, big 707 set to go” from _In the Early Morning Rain_, wondering if that runway number was just picked at random. There is no such runway at Pearson International, the main airport of Lightfoot’s adopted hometown of Toronto. The closest are runways 06L and 06R. Runway 09 would run due east, but the prevailing winds in North America are usually from the west. Runway 6/24 R&L are new, and runways typically have two designations based on which way traffic is coming from in current conditions. Since 2012, my desk has overlooked the runways immediately on the south side of the 401 and I see planes taking off and landing both ways depending on the winds on 6/24 and 5/23. If the winds shift, they go directly over me on 15/33. > **[Runways](https://www.torontopearson.com/en/community/noise-management/understanding-airport-noise/runways)** > > Pearson runways are assigned based on wind direction and wind speed, weather, runway conditions/availability, type of aircraft, operational efficiency and time of day. According to this, 9/27 was the old Malton (now Toronto Pearson) airport runway: > **[Original 'Malton' Airport - Wikimapia](http://wikimapia.org/6885476/Original-Malton-Airport)** > > This rectangle outlines the approximate extent of the original Malton Airport. At the botton of the rectangle you can see what are now several taxiways which had their origins in an East-West runway (approx. an 09-27 alignment). So the historical accuracy goes to Gord, and I now return you to remembering his music. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Burden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/958977/32.png) [@Jack\_Burden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Burden)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-where-the-love-of-god-goes-rip-gordon-lightfoot-2023-may-1/983445/66 "2023-05-03T17:55:53Z")
> [@outlierrn](#): > > He also made changes to _If You Could Read My Mind_ after his daughter by that marriage sat him down and said you know, Dad, there really are 2 sides to that story. Again, how many of us, if we’re being honest, haven’t thought, yeah ok, fair to say. Thank you for posting this - I noticed listening to a live version that he changed “feelings that you lack” to “feelings that we lack” and now know why. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-where-the-love-of-god-goes-rip-gordon-lightfoot-2023-may-1/983445/67 "2023-05-03T17:58:52Z")
> [@K364](#): > > For some reason I thought he was singing about being in L.A. Lightfoot lived in LA only briefly, from 1958 to 1960. In 1960 he returned to Toronto, a city that he loved, and lived there ever since (AFAIK in the upscale neighbourhood of Rosedale). Unlike other famous Canadian performers like Leonard Cohen, who moved to LA and stayed there. _In the Early Morning Rain_ was written in 1966. > [@FinsToTheLeft](#): > > According to this, 9/27 was the old Malton (now Toronto Pearson) airport runway: I’m aware of course that runways have two opposite designations, depending on which way the traffic is flowing. I was not aware that there was an 09/27 at the old Malton airport. Apparently 06L/24R was built in the 1960s. In 1966 Gord may well have been referencing the actual old runway. And I prefer to think that Gord was aware that on a rainy morning when prevailing winds were not obeying the usual patterns, takeoffs could well have been easterly. 🙂 > [@FinsToTheLeft](#): > > Since 2012, my desk has overlooked the runways immediately on the south side of the 401 Wait – what runways on the south side of the 401? The entire airport is north of the 401! ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-where-the-love-of-god-goes-rip-gordon-lightfoot-2023-may-1/983445/68 "2023-05-03T18:08:25Z")
The news of Gordon Lightfoot’s death hit me hard when I heard about it yesterday morning. He is my all-time favorite, most-loved singer-songwriter. I’ve been regularly listening to his songs for nearly 50 years—since I was a small child. One of the more pleasant memories I have of my childhood was when my stepfather used to put on LP’s of his music on the stereo. I later played his songs on that same stereo in my dorm room at college. I’ve seen him at a live concert twice in my life. The first time was at Ravinia Park in Highland Park, Illinois in the ‘80s (where I later graduated from high school). I saw him with my mother and little sisters. It was a lawn concert, so I didn’t get a good look at him then. The second time was in June 2008 at a small venue here in Connecticut. My son, who is now an avid concert-goer, says he was the first artist he ever saw live. Unfortunately age and hard living had taken a toll on his voice by that time, but I was glad to see him again. I had an opportunity to see him at a concert just last year, but unfortunately I came down with Covid, so it didn’t happen. And now it never will. I will miss him. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-where-the-love-of-god-goes-rip-gordon-lightfoot-2023-may-1/983445/69 "2023-05-03T18:16:13Z")
> [@robby](#): > > The second time was in June 2008 at a small venue here in Connecticut. My son, who is now an avid concert-goer, says he was the first artist he ever saw live. I feel the same way about Lightfoot. He was not only the first performer I ever saw live, when he performed on our college campus, but also probably the only one, if you don’t count things like musicals and orchestral concerts. I’m naturally now reliving all his music in my collection. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-where-the-love-of-god-goes-rip-gordon-lightfoot-2023-may-1/983445/70 "2023-05-03T18:42:40Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > > [@robby](#): > > > > The second time was in June 2008 at a small venue here in Connecticut. My son, who is now an avid concert-goer, says he was the first artist he ever saw live. > > I feel the same way about Lightfoot. He was not only the first performer I ever saw live, when he performed on our college campus, but also probably the only one, if you don’t count things like musicals and orchestral concerts. I’m naturally now reliving all his music in my collection. Actually, come to think of it, I believe he was the first major artist I saw live as well. I had never attended a live concert before that one at Ravinia Park. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-where-the-love-of-god-goes-rip-gordon-lightfoot-2023-may-1/983445/71 "2023-05-03T18:48:59Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > The 10 essential songs, NY Times > ([Gordon Lightfoot Song Lyrics - Alphabetic](https://gordonLightfoot.com/songs.shtml) for lyrics) > ➤ [For Lovin’ Me - YouTube](https://is.gd/GML001) — “For Lovin’ Me” (1966), lyrics @ [https://is.gd/lkzpKE](https://is.gd/lkzpKE) I watched a documentary on him. He had disavowed this song, refused to ever play it again. He said it couldn’t reconcile the message in the lyrics with his own feelings. [He later felt some embarrassment about the song, and said, “I didn’t know what chauvinism was.”](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/02/arts/music/gordon-lightfoot-songs.html) ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-where-the-love-of-god-goes-rip-gordon-lightfoot-2023-may-1/983445/72 "2023-05-03T18:49:18Z")
Back to Early Morning Rain - Songfacts suggests it was inspired by being in L.A. [https://www.songfacts.com/facts/gordon-lightfoot/early-morning-rain](https://www.songfacts.com/facts/gordon-lightfoot/early-morning-rain) If we think he’s being specific, wherever the airport is, it’s 3 hours away from home. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-where-the-love-of-god-goes-rip-gordon-lightfoot-2023-may-1/983445/73 "2023-05-03T18:51:28Z")
Lightfoot also modified the lyrics to “Wreck of the Edmund Fitz” too, by changing the word ‘musty’ to ‘rustic’ in the line about the Maritime Sailor’s Cathedral in Detroit. He’d received feedback from the cathedral that it wasn’t musty at all, but rather it was well maintained. He told us about this change during his Summer 2019 performance in Milwaukee, the very last time I saw him perform. ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-where-the-love-of-god-goes-rip-gordon-lightfoot-2023-may-1/983445/74 "2023-05-03T18:58:40Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Wait – what runways on the south side of the 401? The entire airport is north of the 401! My office is on the south side of the 401, the airport is on the north side. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-where-the-love-of-god-goes-rip-gordon-lightfoot-2023-may-1/983445/75 "2023-05-03T19:24:17Z")
> [@K364](#): > > Back to Early Morning Rain - Songfacts suggests it was inspired by being in L.A. [https://www.songfacts.com/facts/gordon-lightfoot/early-morning-rain](https://www.songfacts.com/facts/gordon-lightfoot/early-morning-rain) > > If we think he’s being specific, wherever the airport is, it’s 3 hours away from home. Lots of confusion and speculation. The _New York Times_ “10 Essential Songs” article says _Early Morning Rain_ was written in 1966, your source says 1964. Actually your source seems to be right about that, since Ian & Sylvia released an album with that as the title song in 1965. Regardless, Lightfoot was in Toronto when he wrote it, and had been for years. He could of course have been remembering a moment of homesickness at LAX, but “three hours time” makes no sense in reference to Toronto, which he would have been nostalgic about, and is indeed the reason he moved back. But beyond that, the plane is _ **westward** _ bound: _Hear the mighty engines roar, see the silver wing on high_ _She’s away and westward bound, far above the clouds she’ll fly_ My own entirely unfounded speculation is based on both real-life experiences and various Canadian songs reflecting them, that center on westerners migrating east to the Big City (typically Toronto) and, for one reason or another, longing for home. So I’ve always imagined this is one of those folks longing to return home. And indeed three hours flying time from Toronto would get you out to around Saskatchewan. Lightfoot himself writes about this in _Alberta Bound_: _Tomorrow night I’ll be Alberta bound_ _Though I’ve done the best I could_ _My old luck ain’t been so good and_ _Tomorrow night I’ll be Alberta bound_ _No one-eyed man could e’er forget_ _The Rocky Mountain sunset_ _It’s a pleasure just to be Alberta bound_ _I long to see my next of kin_ _To know what kind of shape they’re in_ _Tomorrow night I’ll be Alberta bound_ So did Ian Tyson (of Ian & Sylvia) in the deeply melancholy _Four Strong Winds_: _Think I’ll go out to Alberta_ _Weather’s good there in the fall_ _I got some friends that I could go to working for_ _Still, I wish you’d change your mind_ _If I ask you one more time_ _But we’ve been through this a hundred times or more_ _Four strong winds that blow lonely_ _Seven seas that run high_ _All those things that don’t change, come what may_ _If the good times are all gone_ _Then I’m bound for moving on_ _I’ll look for you if I’m ever back this way_ ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-where-the-love-of-god-goes-rip-gordon-lightfoot-2023-may-1/983445/76 "2023-05-03T19:32:43Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > So did Neil Young in the deeply melancholy _Four Strong Winds_: > > _Think I’ll go out to Alberta_ > _Weather’s good there in the fall_ Nitpick, while Neil Young’s version of _Four Strong Winds_ may be the best known, let’s give credit where it’s due; its writer is Ian Tyson. I’d heard Young sing it many times but didn’t really appreciate it until I heard Ian and Sylvia: [https://youtu.be/B3m7ckGhnsc?t=24](https://youtu.be/B3m7ckGhnsc?t=24) Here’s a good Gordon Lightfoot song that I’d forgotten about: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rVJjKQxkZg&ab](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rVJjKQxkZg&ab) And wasn’t there a minor plane crash at Pearson some years ago, where a jet ended up with its nose facing south and blocking the 2 northmost lanes of the westbound 401? All I’m coming up with on google is the 2005 Air France crash, but this wasn’t as serious, even though it looked crazy ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-where-the-love-of-god-goes-rip-gordon-lightfoot-2023-may-1/983445/77 "2023-05-03T19:36:48Z")
> [@gkster](#): > > Nitpick, while Neil Young’s version of _Four Strong Winds_ may be the best known, let’s give credit where it’s due; its writer is Ian Tyson. Thanks for the clarification – I actually knew that but got confused because both versions are quite prominent. I just had time to edit the post to correct the mistake. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-where-the-love-of-god-goes-rip-gordon-lightfoot-2023-may-1/983445/78 "2023-05-03T19:48:46Z")
From the NY Times obit for Tyson, Dec 2022: “Before Canadian musicians like Neil Young, Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell or Leonard Cohen, there was Ian Tyson. . . . “Four Strong Winds” was voted the most essential Canadian piece of music by the listeners of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation public radio network in 2005 . . . . Mr. [Neil] Young, in the Jonathan Demme concert film “Heart of Gold” (2006), recalled being 16 or 17 and spending all his money playing the Ian and Sylvia version of “Four Strong Winds” over and over on the jukebox at a restaurant near Winnipeg. “It was the most beautiful record that I’ve heard in my life, and I just could not get enough of it,” he said.” And the 1986 CBC video shows Gordon Lightfoot, Judy Collins and I think Neil Young and Anne Murray joining Ian and Sylvia at 3:08; I’ve cued up to their entrance in this link: [Ian and Sylvia - Four Strong Winds (CBC TV 1986) - YouTube](https://youtu.be/B3m7ckGhnsc?t=186) ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-where-the-love-of-god-goes-rip-gordon-lightfoot-2023-may-1/983445/79 "2023-05-03T20:07:09Z")
That link seems to be miscued, below is the link to the full song. That song is all of the things you said, but it’s also achingly sad. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/B3m7ckGhnsc/hqdefault.jpg "Ian and Sylvia - Four Strong Winds (CBC TV 1986)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3m7ckGhnsc) ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-where-the-love-of-god-goes-rip-gordon-lightfoot-2023-may-1/983445/80 "2023-05-03T20:09:51Z")
> [@robby](#): > > Unfortunately age and hard living had taken a toll on his voice by that time, To be fair, that was after his triple A, he was in a coma for 6 weeks and had a tracheotomy. I’d give you 3 to 1 that had more to do with his voice. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-where-the-love-of-god-goes-rip-gordon-lightfoot-2023-may-1/983445.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-where-the-love-of-god-goes-rip-gordon-lightfoot-2023-may-1/983445.md?page=5)