A Seafaring Mood
Wayne Francis
Lightfoot has throughout his songwriting history, been drawn to themes
concerning ships and the sea. He rarely goes more than an album or two,
without returning to a song of this kind. Here is a list of seafaring
songs and some thoughts about them.
Now there are countlesss Lightfoot songs that contain references to the
sea or to ships, but these are the songs I came up with that deal with
the subject exclusively.
BALLAD OF THE YARMOUTH CASTLE
Although this song did not appear until the Sunday Concert album in 1969,
the song was originally written in 1966. It chronicles the true story of
the sinking of the Yarmouth Castle off Miami in 1965. The song is carried
along by a very memorable melody and Lightfoot's lyrics hit the mark. You
can't help but feel the tradgedy when he sings, "And the captain in his
lifeboat is a-leavin'". Surely one of Lightfoot's great seafaring epics!
MARIE CHRISTINE
This song was written during Lightfoot's 1968 songwriting trip to England.
It seems to have a very English flavour to me and I used to think that even
before I knew it was written over there. Lyrically it seems almost a
precursor to High And Dry, although I think it can be taken more literal,
as High And Dry is very metaphorical.
CHRISTIAN ISLAND
A very autobiographical tale of the contentment and peace Lightfoot found
sailing the waters of Georgian Bay. The melody gently rolls along just like
you would expect the "Silver Heels" of the song to sail over the waves.
Nick Decaro's accordion adds som nice flovor to the original, while Terry
Clements' tremelo solo on acoustic guitar is a show-stopper when performed
live.
HIGH AND DRY
This song, at least for me, uses nautical settings as a metaphor for a
tempestuous relationship. The fact that Cathy Smith, Lightfoot's girlfriend
at the time, sang background vocals on the track against Lightfoot's wishes,
adds even more poignancy to the song.
THE WRECK OF THE EDMUND FITZGERALD
What more can be said about this masterpiece? Probably one of the greatest
marriages of words and music in all of contemporary music. A powerful
statement and a fitting testament. Lightfoot wrote this song all through one
day and night and went into the studio to record it soon after. He tried
recording it a few more times, but stuck with one of the earliest takes.
Hard to argue with the results!
GHOSTS OF CAPE HORN
Lightfoot was commissioned to write this song for a film of the same name,
about the tall ships that used to make the passage around Cape Horn. Once
again Lightfoot hits his target directly. This song just exudes the
atmosphere and resonance of these sailing ships. The arrangement compliments
the song beautifully and as Noel Coppage commented, it's as if you can hear
the chains clanking and the wood creaking when you listen to the record. A
modern day sea shanty that rivals any from days gone by.
TRIANGLE
Lightfoot has some fun with this song. The lyrics are very captivating and
the melody is one of Lightfoot's most natural sounding and infectuous. Again
Noel Coppage said it best in his review when he said it's impossible not to
go back and play this one again and again, over and over. One helping is
just never enough. The recording on Shadows is a first take!
A PASSING SHIP
This song seems to have metaphorical implications just like High And Dry. It
also contains one of Lightfoot's all time great lines in my books, "When
love is true, there is no truer occupation". The setting here is the
southern ocean, down Australia way perhaps. This track highlights one of
Barry Keane's great performances too. This is Lightfoot's last 12-string
song on record, to date. Hopefully that will soon be rectified with the
upcoming album.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wayne
Chris Klug
In article <4sg6af$i...@bud.peinet.pe.ca>, wfra...@peinet.pe.ca (Wayne
Francis) wrote:
> HIGH AND DRY
> This song, at least for me, uses nautical settings as a metaphor for a
> tempestuous relationship. The fact that Cathy Smith, Lightfoot's girlfriend
> at the time, sang background vocals on the track against Lightfoot's wishes,
> adds even more poignancy to the song.
>
How could she have sang background vocals against his wishes?
Chris Klug
Chris Klug
> THE WRECK OF THE EDMUND FITZGERALD
...He tried
> recording it a few more times, but stuck with one of the earliest takes.
> Hard to argue with the results!
>
I assume you mean after he started working on it, because I have on tape
from on concert in NYC the first attempt at Edmund Fitzgerald about a week
or so after the tragedy occurred. He said he had been working on it a
little. The very short version that I heard then was similar in tone,
lyric and direction to what ended up on record. But it seems to me that he
didn't start from 'scratch' and work straight through.
Chris
Wayne Francis
In article <cklug-16079...@pool020.max9.newark.nj.dynip.alter.net>,
ck...@earthlink.net (Chris Klug) wrote:
>In article <4sg6af$i...@bud.peinet.pe.ca>, wfra...@peinet.pe.ca (Wayne
>Francis) wrote:
>
>>The fact that Cathy Smith, Lightfoot's girlfriend
>> at the time, sang background vocals on the track against Lightfoot's
wishes,
>> adds even more poignancy to the song.
>>
>How could she have sang background vocals against his wishes?
Check the producer credit on the album.
Wayne
Wayne Francis
In article <cklug-16079...@pool020.max9.newark.nj.dynip.alter.net>,
ck...@earthlink.net (Chris Klug) wrote:
>didn't start from 'scratch' and work straight through.
According to Lightfoot's own words, he did do it from scratch and work
it straight through. Here's what he told Bob Claypool of the Houston Post in
1978:
"I'd first read the story in Newsweek in November of '75 and I was busy
writing songs at the time anyway. So, I sat down and worked on it for three
days and then went right into the studio and recorded it. Simple."
From Lightfoot's account, I would say the song was recorded by the time you
saw him in New York. You obviously heard the first public performance of the
song, which may explain the abbreviated version. He probably didn't know all
of the words yet!
Lightfoot did not perform between November 9-21 that year, which gave him
the window to write and record the song, as he describes.
Wayne