Issue 123 – May 2023
Five ways to touch hearts by following the songwriter’s lead
“His melodies and words were an inspiration to all writers who listened to his music.” – Neil Young, about Gordon Lightfoot
A legend on the Canadian music scene died May 1 at the age of 84, and tributes flooded in. Many mentioned Gordon Lightfoot’s songwriting abilities and ballads that brought Canadian stories to the world.
"A songwriter without parallel, his melodies and words were an inspiration to all writers who listened to his music,” wrote singer/songwriter Neil Young.
“I just loved how perfectly concise it [Rainy Day People] was,” tweeted Ron Sexsmith, another singer/songwriter. “I loved the melody and how he would use similar language in each verse and of course the conversational phrasing he put to good use in all his music.”
You don’t have to be a songwriter to be inspired by Gordon Lightfoot. Many of his expressive lyrics touch hearts by calling on classic writer’s tools you can use, too:
1. Use metaphors and similes
“Upon the bitter green she walked / the hills above the town / echoed to her footsteps / soft as eiderdown" – Bitter Green
“The first time ever I kissed your mouth / I felt the earth turn in my hand / like the trembling heart of a captive bird” – The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
2. Draw on the senses
“The lamp is burnin' low upon my table top / The snow is softly falling / The air is still within the silence of my room / I hear your voice softly calling” – Song for a Winter’s Night
“Pussywillows, cat-tails, soft winds and roses / Rainbows in the woodland, water to my knees / Shivering, quivering, the warm breath of spring” – Pussywillows, Cat Tails
3. Use rhyme and rhythm
“There was a time in this fair land when the railroad did not run / When the wild majestic mountains stood alone against the sun / Long before the white man and long before the wheel / When the green dark forest was too silent to be real” – Canadian Railroad Trilogy
“Rainy day people always seem to know when you‘re feelin‘ blue / High stepping strutters, who land in the gutters, sometimes need one too / Take it or leave it or try to believe it, if you've been down too long / Rainy day lovers don’t hide love inside, they just pass it on” – Rainy Day People
4. Tell a story
“The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound / And a wave broke over the railing / And every man knew, as the captain did too / ’Twas the witch of November come stealin’” – The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
“It‘s so nice to meet an old friend and pass the time of day / And talk about the home town a million miles away / Is the ice still in the river, are the old folks still the same / And by the way, did she mention my name” – Did She Mention My Name
5. Write from the heart and express emotion
“If I could read your mind, love / What a tale your thoughts could tell / Just like a paperback novel / The kind the drugstores sell. / When you reached the part where the heartaches come / The hero would be me. / But heroes often fail / And you won‘t read that book again / Because the ending‘s just too hard to take” – If You Could Read My Mind
“In the early morning rain, with a dollar in my hand / With an aching in my heart and my pockets full of sand” – Early Morning Rain
When you’re looking for writing inspiration, you can’t go wrong listening to your favourite musicians.
If you’re a Gordon Lightfoot fan, which of his songs speak to you? My fave is the gentle Song for a Winter’s Night.
Related reading:
Iconic opening lyrics to 46 songs, including the quirky Werewolves of London
Top 100 “greatest song lyrics” (debatable) from Sputnik Music
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