Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind

Perhaps my reaction springs from my age (almost 72) but I loved this. So many songs that were part of the soundtrack of my life. I'd really forgotten just how pure his voice was. And the Canadian Railway Trilogy - of all the things - is the one that brings me to tears.

You know those Heritage Minutes about Canadian history? This felt like that but drawn out over a feature length documentary. Talking heads, over and over, about how Lightfoot was great. Yes, he was a great songwriter and musician. I think you can understand that by listening to a couple of his best songs. You don't need that over and over again from different people in a feature length documentary, though. It was cool to see Rush come in, and also Neil Young, but WHY was Alec Baldwin in this so much? He just seemed a bit random and out of place. Is he just a Lightfoot fan? OK, but that could have been explained somehow. Context is good.

Look, a great documentary should have some drama to it, some mystery, some narrative drive. This doc is more of a straightforward retelling of Lightfoot's career, song by song, and talking about the mechanics of the songwriting. This could be of interest to musicians, perhaps, but not most moviegoers. There isn't enough intrigue here.

Singer/songwriter, Gordon Lightfoot (born 1938) is definitely one of my very favorite Canadian musicians of his generation, bar none.

There are so many of Lightfoot's songs that I enjoy listening to on a regular basis. I have the greatest respect for this man and his music.

Through stills, archival footage, and interviews (including those with Lightfoot) - This informative bio-documentary takes a close-up look at the life and career of a true Canadian icon, Gordon Lightfoot.

Very easy to forget Lightfoot's contribution to popular music. One masterpiece after another. Very much worth watching, particularly if you have never made an acquaintance with his music (in which case, you may discover that you know more than you thought).

Having grown up listening to Gordon Lightfoot and then playing and singing his music on guitar, I'm partial to the wealth and blunt honesty of his songs. There was always a hidden emotional quality to his performances. He was no skilled emoter but oddly, it was all the better. By stepping back, his smooth, rhythmic baritone, his carefully crafted ingenious melodies, lyrics, and arrangements gave you the space to fill in with your feelings, memories and heartbreak.

Just as well, this movie flows along highlighting his great ups and great downs and the "in between" without getting fancy or soppy and without apologies in respecting a true artist. Hid music will be discovered and re-discovered. Canada and the world are better for it.