That very likely affected his voice, yes. But hard living (and hard drinking) was also part of his life. In his younger days Lightfoot quite strongly resembled a very good friend of mine, with that same sort of genial shaggy appearance (ironically, my shaggy friend, although he did once play in a band, was actually an insurance executive!). But in later life Lightfoot deteriorated markedly in physical appearance, looking much older than he was. By the time he hit 80 he looked like he had one foot in the grave.
By the time a man is 80, half of them have both feet in the grave. He was doing (slightly) better than average at that point simply by being warm and above ground. 
But yeah, your real point that hard living ages a body is for sure.
And with his appearance. 6 weeks of muscle wasting away is a lot.
(Referring to the song “For Lovin’ Me”)
Until I saw that documentary, I’d always thought the singer was supposed to be a self-unaware asshole. I had no idea Lightfoot was singing it straight.
I just want to say that I’ve spent hours and hours now reliving Gord’s music while sitting at the computer. I’ll never regret my impulsive but expensive purchase of Boston Acoustics MediaTheater computer speakers with virtual surround. Besides fantastic sound enhanced by an excellent subwoofer, they have spatial visualization like I’ve never experienced before with any other speakers. As I sit here Gord’s voice is literally coming out of the exact center of my screen, with instrumentals all around. And I’m being drawn back into my past.
As I was reading articles and info I think I saw that comment of his too. That song was from the NY Times list, from an article link someone provided upthread. Your comments would explain why that song is not on the list of 9 songs he said that he always played at concerts.
It would be interesting to get a list of all the lyric changes. When I looked for them on a cursory Google check, I could only find the original lyrics.
Whenever I drive, I’m glad Jan & Dean aren’t making music anymore.
Rick Beato has done a beautiful tribute to Gord at this link - Gordon Lightfoot 1938-2023 R.I.P. - YouTube
Having lunch in the neighbourhood pub and « Sundown » just came on.
He was largely before my time. But what a lyricist! Until reading this thread I did not fully appreciate that.
When my brother and I had our boat we complied a mix tape of nautical songs. We would always play one of Gordon’s lesser known works, while coming in to Erie harbor the incredibly haunting Ghosts of Cape Horn.
I too am new to Gordon Lightfoot’s works, like another poster upthread, and am fascinated by his lyrics. Here is a version with the lyrics to that song: Gordon Lightfoot: The Ghosts of Cape Horn - YouTube
Kickin’ around youtube I rediscovered this tune, which hasn’t been mentioned, yet. I’d known it from an old forgotten mix tape.
(apparently I can’t embed media items anymore, for some reason)
Thanks to this thread, I’ve had Gordon Lightfoot earworms for days now. Not any one song, but a sort of random rotation. He was not only a great lyricist, he sure knew how to compose a tune.
There’s an ATMB thread about the error and workaround.
You can if you play around with it a bit using the workarounds in the thread mentioned above:
I don’t think the workaround are platform-specific.
Bumping this topic just to say that I recently watched the documentary below, and it rekindled all the old nostalgic memories, and the time I saw him once in concert in my university years (right on campus, yet!). He was of course a great Canadian music icon, but there were a few things about him that I hadn’t known. One was just how big a success he was as a performer, and how consummately Canadian he really was. The US music biz helped him greatly, and he spent some time in LA, but unlike Leonard Cohen and other notable Canadian successes, he turned down generous offers to remain there and returned to his true love: the Toronto music scene, and the Canadian northland where he loved to sail and canoe. I also had not realized that he was close friends with Bob Dylan, and the two admired each other’s work.
RIP, Gordon. You were one of a kind.
Also, despite being a devoted fan, I somehow had never heard this song before, which I tracked down after hearing it in the movie:
Thanks for this. I never heard it before either, but it’s going on my Gordon playlist.
