RIP Gordon Lightfoot. Vocal ANALYSIS of "If You Could Read My Mind"
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ก.ย. 2024
- In memory of Gordon Lightfoot's passing, I decided to do a deep dive into his work to truly understand what this world had lost. His songwriting has impacted so many other artists, and I am grateful for the opportunity to analyze "If You Could Read My Mind" along with you.
Join professional opera singer Elizabeth Zharoff, as she analyzes to Gordon Lightfoot for the first time, performing "If You Could Read My Mind”.
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Written and Performed by Gordon Lightfoot
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I definitely recommend watching the original video without interruptions. Here's the link: • Gordon Lightfoot - "If...
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Elizabeth Zharoff is an international opera singer and voice coach, with 3 degrees in voice, opera, and music production. She's performed in 18 languages throughout major venues in Europe, America, and Asia. Currently based somewhere between Los Angeles and Tucson, Arizona, Elizabeth spends her days researching voice, singing, teaching, writing music, and recording TONS. She also plays Diablo and Dungeons & Dragons.
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Gordon Lightfoot's passing left a hole in my life. His music and voice are part of what it means to be Canadian. Thank you for paying tribute to him and hoping that everyone can appreciate this truly astonishing musician
Gordon Lightfoot, Oscar Peterson, Glenn Gould, Joni Mitchell; ya'll northern folk gave us some gems!
@@pdexBigTeacher Glen Gould was a bit strange, but yea, I agree with your comment. Please add Neil Young and Buffy Saint-Marie to your list.
The Canadian Troubadour! Much loved and respected…as is the Canadian Songbird ❤️
Same. I haven't lived in Saskatchewan for 30 years - music has always been my strongest connection to where I came from & who I am. All I have to say is the soundtrack of my childhood was Gord, Neil, & Joni- any Canadian would know who & what I mean.
Every time we lose one of the singer-songwriters from the 70's, something in me dies a bit too, but sometimes it just feels more acute. I'm just so grateful that we have Gord's music.
People toss around terms like the best or the GOAT. Gordon Lightfoot is incomparable.
@@goreyfantod5213 I think Anne Murray has to be on that list also…
As a Canadian, Gordon was always a presence in my life and in the fabric of our country. Canadian Railway Trilogy should be our National Anthem
Definitely and we won't need to keep changing the lyrics every 15 years.
It would have to be either Railway Trilogy or Northwest Passage by Stan Rogers. Two brilliant Canadian folk songs. I sometimes wonder what Stan Rogers might have done if he'd lived as long as good old Gordon...
My dad introduced me to Gordon Lightfoot's music when I was little and that one was always one of my favorites. I made a set of stamped copper cuff bracelets recently that read "There was a time in this fair land when the railroad did not run" Planning on making another with a line from Northwest Passage. Not Canadian, but a Michigander with a deep love of nature. I love Gordon Lightfoot.
And to top it all off, he's playing the guitar beautifully.
I'm glad SOMEBODY else commented on that. Playing fingerstyle guitar takes a tremendous amount of focused attention, even discounting finger memory. But as good a guitar player as he was, with Lightfoot it was ALWAYS about the song, the storyline first and foremost, and the vocal delivery of same. The seeming "clipped" vocal sound bits, imo, are deliberately placed and spaced and syncopated so as not to collide with or muffle the individual arpeggiated guitar string notes.
And then there's Red Rhoades on the second guitar.
Yes, this song IS a masterpiece, on multiple levels.
Wasn’t it Red Shea playing second guitar?
@@doughartley3513Red Shea was lead for Gordon until the mid seventies, so probably him. Terry Clements played lead guitar after for Gordon until Terry died. But I pretty sure this song is from early seventies.
The first live concert I saw was Gordon Lightfoot. How's that for a metal-head's confession? Gordon Lightfoot is one of the best singer/songwriters the world has ever produced. It blows my mind and breaks my heart that he's not a thousand times more popular than he is.
All these decades later and this song never fails to break my heart. I sit here with tears on my cheeks and my eyes won't stop welling. There's just something about his delivery as well as his poetry that slays me.
I react the same way, every time
As do I. The words, the lyrics and his voice just grabs my heart and shatters it. Every time. My favourite song.
Same here. Tears every time.
You know a person has fulfilled their destiny when they effect others like he does us. There are many of his songs that touch my heart. His voice really does it for me. Simply beautiful.✨️🥀💫
Lad, lady, it don't matter. This is a beautiful tune 😢
A gifted musician and storyteller extraordinaire. RIP Gordon Lightfoot.
Gordon is considered by many (rightly so) the finest lyricist and storyteller in music history. His songs never fail to reach down a touch a part of you.
Harry Chaplain, and , Jim Croce , are up there
My boy john prine?
@@justayankhouston741 I understand his intent: he likes GL but that statement is a little over-the-top.
@@TheJhtlag Not really. Ask any competent song writer what they think of Gordon and it would be almost unanimous in terms of reverence. As Bob Dylan said he never wrote a bad song. If not the finest he is definitely one of them, which means not "over-the-top".
@@bocephus1911 - Harry CHAPIN?
I know why you prefer live performances, but the studio version of this is an all-time masterwork. Worth a separate listen.
Agree, it has more depth and power to it. Millions of ppl have told sum1 " I don't know where we went wrong............". Haunting in his delivery
Totally recommend Rick Beato's video on why this song is great. Breaks it down note by note because, well, every note in this song matters.
@@justayankhouston741I disagree. Don't get me wrong, the studio version is excellent, but in this version, he is so emotional, it's almost like he is fighting back the tears.
Studio is better for sure 👍
The violins in the studio version add a lot.
I am so glad I was a child in the 70's when singer-songwriters actually got played on the radio. This style of music more than anything else is why I started loving music; Gordon, James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell, etc. You can even throw Elton John and Fleetwood Mac in this category as well.
Jim Croce, Harry Chapin, Cat Stevens, Billy Joel, Van Morrison, Paul Simon…
And for those on the wilder side, Warren Zevon.
We really did grow up with the absolute best most diverse music. Everything from folk to metal was played. My mother had a Gordon Lightfoot album with this song, and I know I must of nearly worn it out. I find it just as hauntingly beautiful at 61 as I did at 14 or 15.
@@reneeeiier4818 And there were fewer radio stations; they weren't as specialized and played a wider range of music, as I recall.
Carole King
Yes, l have tears every time l hear his song and think about my divorce and lm 67yrs old . R.I.P Great man
Gordon has long been a favorite for me since i was a kid back in the 70s/80s. #RIP
That is my favourite Gordon Lightfoot song.
My wife and I saw him in concert in Victoria, British Columbia about 25 years ago. A legend and master story teller. You don't just hear the music, you become the person in the song. It brings tears to my eyes.
A master class in song writing. As Dylan said, Lightfoot's never written a bad song.
Bob also said when listening to Gordon you don't want the song to end!!
We will never have another gordon Lightfoot
Exactly
DYLAN,DYLAN,DYLAN isnt time for some Bob!!!!! A perfect follow for Mr Lightfoot. "Idiot Wind" live in 76 would be a great Bob song to do
That's actually super true super influential when I was young.
Many comments rightfully extolling Gordon Lightfoot, but listen to the analysis: a true masterclass in itself. A worthy tribute to the man.
For years listening to this song... I always imagined Lightfoot's continuous phonation in speech-like singing was like his way of intimately getting confessional words off his chest at a point where he exhausts breath. Gordon Lightfoot: The Last Troubadour is a wonderful exposé on his life. RIP 😢
His voice is like a well used and loved blanket. Not soft and silky smooth but is sure wraps you in cozy warmth.
Gordon Lightfoot - the master of understatement.
When i was a very small girl (in 77 or 78) i remember hearing this on the radio and just crying my 3 year old little heart out. I didnt know what the somg was about all i knew was that it hurt so bad.. i felt that pain in his chords and his voice.. there will never be another gordon lightfoot. Thank you for doin an analysis of one of his amazing songs
I think you REALLY enjoyed that! This man had a tremendous impact on my life during my formative years in the 1970s. His music still brings me great peace and fulfillment. Your review of his style, form, and vocal ability was just perfect. Thank you, again!
Brings back such great childhood/ memories of innocence, etc
My uncle competed against Gordon Lightfoot at several Kiwanis festivals in Toronto in the 1950's, always a very talented singer. Thanks for the enjoyable analysis of this great song. I thoroughly enjoy your content.
I'm 56 and first heard GL as a child. I've always loved his music, but *this* is my fav version of my fav song by him! It's the one I posted when he passed. I'm so fortunate I saw him sing this live in 2010. It brings me to tears every single time, including now. It's so poignant and the emotion in his voice (and guitar) is truly haunting. RIP Gordon 🖤
He was my dad's favorite singer ... I got to know his songs by heart becuz he was playing Lightfoot's recods non stop ... and especially growing up in Michigan , the song "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" struck me ... because we would goto that very lake shore during summers ......
When I did , I did remember the lyrics and had a moment for the 26 men that lost their lives in the tragic accident ......
Years later when I finally got that exact vinyl in my collection I felt like my childhood was fullfilled ... after coming back and living in Seoul ...... //-_-
This is a great song of course but I hope you do any song from "Summer time dream" album ... it's a masterpiece full of GREAT songs all throughout the album ... Especially "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" is a 1 melody - 1 riff song but it will leave you in AWE ......
Thank you for this Lady Charisma for another great review/reaction ......
R.I.P. : Gordon Lightfoot ......
Canada should erect his statue at the shore of the north side of that lake ... with the detailed 12 string guitar ......
|m|_ //-_- _|m/
...... ...... ......
"And I will never be set free, as long as I'm a ghost that you can't see.." Is just such a haunting (pun intended) line! Thank you for taking time to address this timeless genius! RIP Troubadour! 😢
The heartbreak is evident in both his lyrics and your reaction to them (mine as well). Thank you for being vulnerable enough to share that emotion with us. It shows your authenticity.
My dad first introduced me to this song when I was in high school. Even as a younger man I've always appreciated this song because it's real, raw, and relevant. Alot of us have felt this way in our lives. Not only that but alot of us have experienced the heartbreak of seeing our parents divorce for reasons perhaps lightfoot expresses here.
I have heard this song thousands of times over 50 years, and yet I always stop and listen when it comes on. It’s perfection, and I am always so pleased when younger generations “discover” him.❤
Yes to the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald!!!! Also to "Canadian Railroad Trilogy".
It's not that vinyl was better; it's that the music was better. R.I.P. Gordon. Thank You. We were blessed to have lived in your time.😊
Ive heard this song all my life as a Canadian born in 76, always found it sooo sad yet sooo good. RIP Mr Lightfoot
This song is one of the best classic love songs ever. It still touches me the same as it did over 50 years ago. The words, music, and his voice just perfect... and who can't relate to this story.
The man sure was channeling something magnificent... every time it touches you, it hurts. Ah, Gordon...
The dulcet tones hitting your ears at 4:00 A.M. as he would sing a little song.
R.I.P. Gordon and the Matador, you will be forever in our hearts.
I have loved this song since it was first released, but you are AMAZING how you are able to dissect his singing and how he was able to capture feelings for decades. He will be missed 😢. Love from Michigan
I had always been aware of Gordon Lightfoot, as a proud Canadian, and have heard many of his songs many times. It was not until his passing that I really listened and now I understand just how good of a song writer he was. When other top artist point to him as inspiration, you know he had something that was just right.
R.I.P. Gordon! I wish I had known you better.
I love watching Elizabeth’s face when she sees/hears those beautiful legato lines…
This has always been one of my all-time favorite songs and performances…”superb”, is a total understatement.
RIP Gordon. His hometown Orillia, Ontario is right in my neck of the woods. As a guitarist and singer myself I LOVE to play this song. The guitar work in this song is beautiful as is the vocal and the lyrics are relatable and so powerful. Thanks for writing this masterpiece Gordon.
Among my earliest memories is riding in the back seat of a car when Gordon's song "Sundown" starting coming out of the speakers. I can't remember the car, who was driving, where we were going, but that song stuck with me from that moment forward, instantly making me a Lightfoot fan for life. Thank you for sharing this with us. RIP Gordo
Not sure if it's been brought up, but he was extremely gifted musically. Gord not only wrote all of the music, but also wrote all of the vocal leadsheets.
Its almost stimulating waching you get excited over the greatnest of this Canadian boy's talent
It's almost as if he sings through his teeth and only his lips move. It's odd that if you try to read his lips while listening it's actually hard to make out what he's saying but if you look away you can make out every single word. I miss him. I'd love to see you do more on him.
I'm from the city of Liverpool, a great seaport and Gordon is loved here and few can tell you a story like this great man
Every songwriter that I know worships Gordon Lightfoot. "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" is another great song of his. No lesser a songwriting light than John Prine was in awe of Gordan Lightfoot. That's quite a compliment!
I can't wait for this one, my dad used to play this album on 8track in the car when I was a kid
Listening to your analysis gives me an appreciation of an artist and song I always liked, but never truly appreciated in a way that I do now. Keeps happening every time I watch a new analysis. Next!
The blacklist features this and more of his songs. Such an iconic voice
Good afternoon my friends
I was born in 1955 to
I grew up listening to this great angel voice to
Today's music 🎶🎵 is like garbage to
RIP Gordon Lightfoot a true canadian to
Am still listening to this music in august of 2024 to
Gordon Lightfoot thanks for the music to
Gordon Lightfoot has been able to make me cry since I was little- and now I know why and how. It doesn't stop the tears, though.
Another one of those "sountrack of my life" songs. Just brings back happy memories of the 70"s.
Mr. Lightfoot has a special place in my heart; not only for the music he wrote and sang (introduced to me by my uncle who is named Dan (Old Dan's Records :P) but because my father had a good friend who was on the Fitz when it went down. Thank you for this.
Thanks Elizabeth for the analysis! After listening to Lightfoot all my life you made me hear him again for the first time. Now I have to go back and review his albums that I own! Keep up the great work!!!!
Such a detailed and honest breakdown. Your descriptions are so spot on. Thanks. LEGATO!!!!!!!
Thank you for showcasing another great Canadian entertainer.
Wow. Thank you. You verbally expressed exactly how this has made me feel over the decades, down to the subtlety of sound and potency of lyric.
The characteristic that absolutely identifies his voice for me is his unique use of vibrato. It's as though he has a Wurlitzer Spectratone in his throat injecting vibrato from the onset of the note, holding it throughout.
This song came out in 1971, college graduation, and I had just said goodbye to the love of my life who, unfortunately, had never felt the same. I knew I'd never see her again, but in the 50+ years since I have dreamed of her at least once a week, even through two marriages. Tough song to listen to.
What a devastating song. Thank you for helping me see all the songcraft that went into it.
I'd never heard of Lightfoot until I heard him on the TV show The Blacklist. I fell in love with his music instantly.
Gordon Lightfoot, Steve Goodman,and Marty Robbin's. They tell stories, pictures in your mind. Magical.
I probably only understand 10% of what you are explaining but it's your enthusiasm that I really enjoy.
One of my all-time favorite songwriters/story tellers. Love Gord. Had the honor to see him in Vancouver, BC in 1985. So many masterpieces. Among them are: Affair on 8th Ave, Circle of Steel, Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, Carefree Highways and Song for a Winter's Night.
The loss of this balladeer actually hurt inside... in a world of scum, the musical vacuum really makes me feel my country is lesser for it. He was here long before I came about, his music will be here long after I’m gone, and yes Canada was built up by his lyrics and personality. He helped make us who we are.
Love his music! I'm saddened to hear the he passed away this year. RIP Gordon.
Thank you for your infectious joy.
Still melts you so enjoy a true bard
The story, Gordon is one of the best story tellers in music, a true modern day master bard.
Tears. My mother's generation, but I loved Gordon so much that I locked myself indoors during university to try to play and sing his tunes.....Gordon is an Admiral for Canada. Thank you for covering. And Dylan was right.
This was a huge hit. His songs have an elegance and beauty that holds up today. He was my ex's favorite, but I don't hold that against him.
An incredibly detailed breakdown/analysis of the incomparable Gordon Lightfoot. I learned so much just by viewing this video. I love hearing your appreciation and admiration for the genius Gordon is/was. Thank you, Elizabeth. ❤
What a great time to experience youth, love and musical expressions
Mr Lightfoot was a fav of mine since the 70s. My wife and I had a singer friend of ours play and sing his song “Beautiful” for our last dance at our wedding. We were fortunate enough to see Gordon live multiple times. He will most certainly be missed, but never forgotten.
I know absolutely NOTHING about singing/vocals/pitch and your videos are really enlightening and educational. Thx 😊
Their will never be another Gordon Lightfoot.
Fabulous guitar playing, epic performance, glorious song.
A staple of my childhood. He was magnificent.
The poetry of the lyrics is really exceptional. Ms. Zharoff's analysis is fantastic, as always. There are some unusual things about Gordon Lightfoot's enunciation, with some consonants hit hard and others quashed, places with syllables dropped ("because the ending just too hard to take") and other places with every syllable emphasized ("and if you read between the lines you'll know that I'm just trying to understand").
It was an epic failure on the part of the Recording Academy at the 2024 Grammy Awards to have barely a passing mention of the passing of Gordon Lightfoot...(Same for Jimmy Buffet.) Two men who had immense and highly successful bodies of work. They earned a lot of money for the Suits who run the business....Shameful.....😢😢😢
Thank you Elizabeth,, I absolutely love your passion for explaining the vocal nuances in songs. This being one of my favourites.🤗😘🤗🎉
My dad introduced me to Gordon Lightfoot at an early age and I've always enjoyed listening to him. Personal favorites are Early Morning Rain, I'd Do It Again, Steel Rail Blues, and Carefree Highway. Plus there is the Edmund Fitzgerald of course but also the Canadian Railroad Trilogy. So much good stuff.
As a life-long Gordon Lightfoot fan, I return often to his discography. My best memory of this song comes from the early 1970s on a summer evening. I was enjoying time with friends, driving around our local area in Atlantic Canada. When this song came on the Radio, it seems I was the only passenger in the car who'd never heard it. I've heard it hundreds of times since that evening and it always evokes such sadness in me. What I particularly love about your analysis and reaction are your facial expressions; like Gordon is reaching inside your psyche and touching your emotions.
in 1970 I was a college freshman who had just broken up with a girl whose name i have forgotten, I heard this play. I instantly became a fan and have been since.
This video should be watched with rick beato's breakdown of the guitar and the arrangement. I really appreciate you breaking down this masterpiece.
This is my favorite Gordon song. It just has so much feel. It is nothing that could be analyzed, because it is in all the emotion he makes you feel through his lyrics.
Fantastic song, and excellent vocal analysis. One thing about this song that I have always noticed is that Lightfoot deliberately changes the tempo of the song through the three stanzas; with each stanza representing a stage of his ultimately failed relationship. In the first stanza the tempo is upbeat. He’s capturing the energy that went into building the early romance; then in the second stanza the tempo is a little bit slower, and a little more somber, reflecting the relationship’s slow degradation, and then in the third stanza, he deliberately re-uses the same lyric from the first stanza, but he delivers it with a much more labored tempo, as if to imply that he is trying to put the energy into attempting to save what he ultimately knows is a relationship doomed to fail; until finally, the song (like the relationship) simply ends abruptly… It is a master work of lyrical poetry, and tragedy…
Oh, thank you! When I was very young, and WPAT would play this song fairly often, the way Lightfoot would sing "You won't read that book agennn becuz the ennnding's just too hard to take" always, always struck me and I was never sure why until just now.
When he gets to "And if you read between the lines ..." he isn't just singing legato. The melody also keeps going to the same note, so it enhances the legato feel - like a constant stream of lyric, melody and performance.
A great review of a great song. And a difficult time to hear it. My wife left me 2 months ago. There is no better song to describe how I feel, and no better person to point out all the nuances that make this song so good. I think I am going to go and have a good cry now.
My favorite song. Thank you
One of his best (of so many) songs is "The Last time I saw her face"...it'll melt you you... And by the way, your hair is GORGEOUS!!!
I have done this with a number of guitar pupils over the years. Beautiful song but no one could deliver like that. So precise and so clear, the guy has an outrageous back catalogue.
I think that Canadian restraint and honesty is so beautiful, we see it in Mitchell and Young too.
You do such interesting reviews!!! I loved learning about the special italian nmb note! Love it!
Gordon Lightfoot was the only music my father and I had in common. I remember listening to him as a child in the '60's. Another Canadian I would love to see you do a video on is k.d. lang. Her version of Hallelujah is spectacular.
So glad you decided to do this one. GL was such an amazing songwriter, and had such a lovely voice (before the tracheotomy damaged his vocal chords so much)
It is in-depth analysis like this that has you my number one reaction video host. I feel like I'm attending a master class every time I listen to you. I have made many changes in my voice as a result of you analyzing other people, and I feel like I am a better singer for having met you.
I don't think I have ever loved watching someone enjoy and respect someone else as much as you did with Gordan Lightfoot, and this song!
A great tribute to a legend.
Gordon Lightfoot was a poet with a guitar, his music is timeless, moving and evokes passion in the listener with subtle ease.
Gordon was a treasure, we are losing all the great singer/songwriters. He wrote and charted all his own music. We were blessed to have him
The "Ghost in a Wishing Well" reference was an old movie called Topper. Starring Cary Grant (1937).
This song was the only song that would calm my son down when he first came home with us from the hospital. It will always always make me cry
What a Master songwriter! And performer. Effortless perfection
I love your channel and I'm so glad you took the time to do this song and artist. Like you, my parents used to listen to a lot of Gordon Lightfoot, but I never appreciated his music until I was older. This song just breaks my heart. The strings in the album version really do me in. I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on another Canadian artist - kd lang. Specifically her version of "Crying" on MTV Unplugged. It's sublime and I think you'd love it.