You can’t ask the woman to be faithful if you’re not going to be faithful to her.

The Best of Gordon Lightfoot! You know how excited I get about a Gord album! This one I already had and my lovely father in law contributed it to my Xmas package (see Mommy in law spins the hits category). So I am choosing the one with best quality to keep. I also notice that like many Gord albums, they are released on two different labels but the same songs and year. It falls under folk, Canadian, the hits & mommy in law spins the hits. If you’ve been reading my record blog you already know: Gordon Meredith Lightfoot, Jr. CC OOnt (born November 17, 1938) is a Canadian singer-songwriter who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music, and has been credited for helping define the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and 1970s. He has been referred to as Canada‘s greatest songwriter  and internationally as a folk-rock legend. ‘

And that he’s one of the Canadian people I’d invite to dinner.

On fidelity:

When you’re away from the woman, continually confronted by other women, you suddenly find yourself in a weak moment. Then you’ve gone and stepped over the traces and you gotta go home and confront your old lady. It’s a two-way street. You’re going to have to offer her the same deal. You can’t ask the woman to be faithful if you’re not going to be faithful to her. That’s where it’s broken down for me twice.

The song “If You Could Read My Mind” was written in reflection upon his disintegrating marriage. At the request of his daughter, Ingrid, he performs the lyrics with a slight change now: the line “I’m just trying to understand the feelings that you lack” is altered to “I’m just trying to understand the feelings that we lack.” He has said in an interview that the difficulty with writing songs inspired by personal stories is that there is not always the emotional distance and clarity to make lyrical improvements such as the one his daughter suggested.     After being alone for 16 years between marriages, he married Elizabeth Moon in 1989. They have two children: Miles and Meredith.     He has played with some of his band members for more than 40 years.

Here’s a 1969 concert from his 1970 best of album.

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