Lyrics Gordon Lightfoot - Broken Dreams

Lyrics Gordon Lightfoot - Broken Dreams

Born in the country and I like that country smile
Of the little girls and boys, they remind me of a child
That I knew and a big harvest moon
That shone by supper time in the dusty afternoon
And I need to be there when the autumn wind goes
Singing through the trestle we would climb
Like brave mountaineers
We never were much bothered by time
Born in the country and I like that country song
We played for just a nickel every time we got to town
And I bought you a dime diamond ring
In the hayloft we would play, we were princesses and kings
And I need to be there when the world
Gets too heavy and the shadows cross my mind
Like brave mountaineers
We never were much bothered by time
Born in the country and I like that country way
Of the uncles aunts and cousins, and the card games they would play
While the young ones slept overhead
Beneath the quilts that mother made, when all the prayers were said
And I need to be there when the autumn wind
Goes singing through the trestle we would climb
Like brave mountaineers
We never were much bothered by time
And I need to be there when the world
Gets too heavy and the shadows cross my mind
Like brave mountaineers
We never were much bothered by time

Lyrics Gordon Lightfoot - High And Dry

Lyrics Gordon Lightfoot - High And Dry

With a lady-like devotion
She sails the bitter ocean
If it wasn't for lovesick sailors
There'd be nothin' left but flotsam

Singin' why me oh my
Is there a better man than I
I hope you find your way back home
Before you're lyin' high and dry
I hope you find your way back home
Before you die

Her sails billow like bubbles
While you sip your daily doubles
If she wasn't so fond of the weather
She might give the deckhands trouble

Singin' why me oh my
Is there a better man than I
I hope you find your way back home
Before you're lyin' high and dry
I hope you find your way back home
Before you die

One day when I grew older
I found I could not hold her
She took on a fine young skipper
Who'd sooner ram her up on a boulder

Singin' why me oh my
Is there a better man than I
I hope you find your way back home
Before you're lyin' high and dry
I hope you find your way back home
Before you die

Now the pleasures of the harbor
Don't include a lady barber
If it wasn't for Long John Silver
All of us pirates would've been martyrs

Singin' why me oh my
Is there a better man than I
I hope you find your way back home
Before you're lyin' high and dry
I hope you find your way back home
Before you're lyin' high and dry
I hope you find your way back home
Before you die

Lyrics Gordon Lightfoot - Canadian Railroad Trilogy

Lyrics Gordon Lightfoot - Canadian Railroad Trilogy

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

But time has no beginnings and hist'ry has no bounds
As to this verdant country they came from all around
They sailed upon her waterways and they walked the forests tall
And they built the mines the mills and the factories for the good of us
All

And when the young man's fancy was turnin' to the spring
The railroad men grew restless for to hear the hammers ring
Their minds were overflowing with the visions of their day
And many a fortune lost and won and many a debt to pay

For they looked in the future and what did they see
They saw an iron road runnin' from sea to the sea
Bringin' the goods to a young growin' land
All up through the seaports and into their hands

Look away said they across this mighty land
From the eastern shore to the western strand
Bring in the workers and bring up the rails
We gotta lay down the tracks and tear up the trails
Open 'er heart let the life blood flow
Gotta get on our way 'cause we're movin' too slow

Bring in the workers and bring up the rails
We're gonna lay down the tracks and tear up the trails
Open 'er heart let the life blood flow
Gotta get on our way 'cause we're movin' too slow
Get on our way 'cause we're movin' too slow

Behind the blue Rockies the sun is declinin'
The stars, they come stealin' at the close of the day
Across the wide prairie our loved ones lie sleeping
Beyond the dark oceans in a place far away

We are the navvies who work upon the railway
Swingin' our hammers in the bright blazin' sun
Livin' on stew and drinkin' bad whiskey
Bendin' our old backs 'til the long days are done

We are the navvies who work upon the railway
Swingin' our hammers in the bright blazin' sun
Layin' down track and buildin' the bridges
Bendin' our old backs 'til the railroad is done

So over the mountains and over the plains
Into the muskeg and into the rain
Up the St. Lawrence all the way to Gaspe
Swingin' our hammers and drawin' our pay
Drivin' 'em in and tyin' 'em down
Away to the bunkhouse and into the town
A dollar a day and a place for my head
A drink to the livin' and a toast to the dead

Oh the song of the future has been sung
All the battles have been won
O'er the mountain tops we stand
All the world at our command
We have opened up the soil
With our teardrops and our toil

For 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
When the green dark forest was too silent to be real
And many are the dead men too silent to be real.

Lyrics Gordon Lightfoot - Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues

Lyrics Gordon Lightfoot - Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues

When you're lost in the rain in juarez and it's eastertime too,
And your gravity fails and negativity don't pull you through,
Don't put on any airs when you're down on rue morgue avenue,
They got some hungry women there and they really make a mess outa you!

Sweet melinda, the peasants call her the goddess of doom,
She speaks good english and she invites you up into her room.
And you're so kind, too careful not to go to her too soon,
Then she steals your voice and leaves you howling at the moon!

Up on housing project hill it's either fortune or fame,
You must pick one or the other though neither of them is what they claim,
If you're lookin' to get silly you'd better go back to from where you came,
Because the cops don't need you and man they expect the same!

I started out on burgundy but soon hit the harder stuff,
Everybody said they'd stand behind me when the game got rough,
But the joke was on me - there was nobody there to even call my bluff,
I'm going back to new york city I do believe I've had enough,
I'm going back to new york city I do believe I've had enough!

Lyrics Gordon Lightfoot - Long River

Lyrics Gordon Lightfoot - Long River

Where the long river flows
It flows by my window
Where the tall timber grows
It grows 'round my door
Where the mountains meet the sky
And the white clouds fly
Where the long river flows
By my window

There's a tiny bird that calls
And he calls by my window
There's a lonely tear that falls
And it falls 'round my door
But when the sun is high
There's no time to cry
Where the long river flows
By my window

Now if only you could see
The closin' of the day
If only you could be
Where the dawn breaks away
By the white cascade
Oh down in the glade
Where the long river flows
By my window

Well when this land was made
It was made full of wonder
But one woman's love
I can't understand
And I'd give it all to you
If her love were true
Where the long river flows
By my window
Where the long river flows
By my window

Lyrics Gordon Lightfoot - A Passing Ship

Lyrics Gordon Lightfoot - A Passing Ship

A passing ship
I have found the open ocean
Give me no lip
The waves roll by as I pass on
A sunlit sea
On the first day of April
How fresh the wind
Will you miss me when I'm gone?
How many words
How many songs still unwritten?
How many ships
Of the line have come and gone?
In the good old days
May they never be forgotten
They had heavy wind
Or they had no wind at all
A passing ship
It is midnight on the ocean
Had a real long trip
I have been at sea all winter
When my ship came in
I was givin' up the ghost
I think I should be
Leavin' those passing ships alone
When the sea runs high
The sea runs wild and I'm unsteady
And I think of you
In the warmth of your home and family
When love is true
There is no truer occupation
And may this gale
Blow us to the ones we love
Another day, another ocean
Give me no lip
But stand aside as I pass on
A sunlit sea
On the last day in October
How fresh the wind
Will you miss me from now on?
I guess I should be
Leavin' passing ships alone

Lyrics Gordon Lightfoot - If You Could Read My Mind

Lyrics Gordon Lightfoot - If You Could Read My Mind

If you could read my mind love,
What a tale my thoughts could tell.
Just like an old time movie,
'Bout a ghost from a wishing well.
In a castle dark or a fortress strong
With chains upon my feet.
You know that ghost is me.
And I will never be set free,
As long as I'm a ghost that you can't see.

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 reach the part where the heartaches come,
the hero would be me.
Heroes often fail.
And you won't read that book again
Because the ending's just too hard to take.

I walk away like a movie star
Who gets burned in a three way script.
Enter number two,
A movie queen to play the scene
Of bringing all the good things out in me,
But for now love lets be real.

I never thought I could act this way
And I've got to say that I just don't get it.
I don't know where we went wrong
But the feelings gone and I just can't get it back.

If you could read my mind love,
What a tale my thoughts could tell.
Just like an old time movie
'Bout a ghost from a wishing well.
In a castle dark or a fortress strong
With chains upon my feet,
The story always ends.
If you read between the lines
You'll know that I'm just trying to understand
The feeling that you LACK.

I never thought I could feel this way
And I got to say that I just don't get it.
I don't know where we went wrong
But the feelings gone
And I just can't get it back.

Lyrics Gordon Lightfoot - The House You Live In

Lyrics Gordon Lightfoot - The House You Live In

Go first in the world, go forth with your fears
Remember a price must be paid
Be always too soon, be never too fast
At the time when all bets must be laid
Beware of the darkness, be kind to your children
Remember the woman who waits
And the house you live in will never fall down
If you pity the stranger who stands at your gate

When you're caught by the gale and you're full under sail
Beware of the dangers below
And the song that you sing should not be too sad
And be sure not to sing it too slow
Be calm in the face of all common disgraces
And know what they're doin' it for
And the house you live in will never fall down
If you pity the stranger who stands at your door

When you're out on the road and feelin' quite lost
Consider the burden of fame
And he who is wise will not criticize
When other men fail at the game
Beware of strange faces and dark dingy places
Be careful while bending the law
And the house you live in will never fall down
If you pity the stranger who stands at your door

When you're down in the dumps and not ready to deal
Decide what it is that you need
Is it money or love, is it learnin' to live
Or is it the mouth you must feed
Be known as a man who will always be candid
On questions that do not relate
And the house you live in will never fall down
If you pity the stranger who stands at your gate
And the house you live in will never fall down
If you pity the stranger who stands at your gate

Lyrics Gordon Lightfoot - If You Got It

Lyrics Gordon Lightfoot - If You Got It

If you got it
Don't lose it girl it's got to be
The one creative thing that's left for you and me
If you find it
Don't lose it all the very next day
Lock it in your soul and throw the key away

So, don't you let it go
Let it stay let it grow
Like the snow
Don't let it melt away
If you find it
Then give it girl with all your might
Forget about yourself you're not the losin' kind

If you get it
Then keep it cool don't let it die
You may only see it once don't let it pass you by
So don't you let it go
Let it stay let it grow
Like the snow
Don't let it melt away

If you find it
Then give it girl with all your might
Forget about yourself you're not the losin' kind

If you get it
Then keep it cool don't let it die
You may only see it once don't let it pass you by
Pass you by, don't let it die
Don't let it go

Lyrics Gordon Lightfoot - Sweet Guinevere

Lyrics Gordon Lightfoot - Sweet Guinevere

Sweet Guinevere you're off to the coal town tonight
And your young brother Ernie's up in Pittsburgh PA
You know mother loves you, and dad's in the mine
So don't go to the coal town, Guinevere, if you're kind

She loves a young man and he lives in the town
He leaves the house early for he works underground
He makes a good wage for a coal miner's son
And she's a bit pretty, just turned twenty-one

Sweet Guinevere you're off to the coal town tonight
And your young brother Ernie's up in Pittsburgh PA
You know mother loves you, and dad's in the mine
So don't go to the coal town, Guinevere, shut the blind

She knows her good mother's not feelin' no pain
She remembers an explosion and the black falling rain
She paints her thin lips in her dewy-eyed way
Then she says to the daughter, dear daughter I pray

Sweet Guinevere you're off to the coal town tonight
And your young brother Ernie's up in Pittsburgh PA
You know mother loves you, and dad's in the mine
So don't go to the coal town, Guinevere, if you're kind

Lyrics Gordon Lightfoot - Never Say Trust Me

Lyrics Gordon Lightfoot - Never Say Trust Me

The sky above is filled with stars the road is long - no cars are in sight
With one hand on the wheel I've been driving all day I can drive all night
I'm headed for home with one thing on my mind yeah
Every hotel I have seen has arbor-right chairs, arbor right dreams
Office parties and wedding pals and tacky pictures on the walls

Pretty barmaid to and fro the barman plays the songs we know
She gets into 'twist and shout' and it's boozing time and I'm down and out

That's my second home yeah what more can I say lord

You should never say trust me
It's already been done
It's already been done
Beneath the seas beneath the trees and under the sun

Never say trust me
My faith in you is all you need
Love is all I need

The sky above is filled with stars may god bless you is all I can say
Cats and dogs and baby smiles will drive my loneliness away

What will be will be yeah
That is all that I know girl

You should never say trust me
'Cause I know you'll be there
Yes I know you'll be there

I'll be a right as rain can be
This is our love affair

Never say trust me
My faith in you is all you need
Love is all I need

You should never say trust me
It's already been done
It's already been done
Beneath the seas beneath the trees
And under the sun
And under the sun

Lyrics Gordon Lightfoot - I'll Do Anything

Lyrics Gordon Lightfoot - I'll Do Anything

Down in the warm dark part of my heart you stay
I've been on my own for so long as I stand here today
I'd never leave you, I'll do anything that you say
I've been around some walking on the down the street
Feeling as low as the shoes on the soles of my feet
Taking dead aim on fortune and fame you might say
Playing guitar doesn't make you a star anyway
Many's the time I've wished that I were free
But my love for you was too deep for my eyes to see
I'd never leave you, I'll do anything that you say
Whenever the thought seems better off left alone
I think of you then in a way that is ten times as strong
Taking dead aim on fortune and fame you might say
Playing guitar doesn't make you a star anyway
I'd never leave you, I'll do anything that you say
Try to believe me, I'll do anything that you say
Though it might grieve me, I'll do anything that you say
Please understand me, I'll do anything that you say

Lyrics Gordon Lightfoot - Canary Yellow Canoe

Lyrics Gordon Lightfoot - Canary Yellow Canoe

In my canary yellow canoe - my yellow canoe
I want to go tripping in my canary yellow canoe
The Eastmain, Coppermine, Back River too
In my canary yellow canoe
In my canary yellow canoe - yellow canoe
I want to run rivers in my canary yellow canoe
The Desmoines River, Rupert River, George River too
In my canary yellow canoe

In my canary yellow canoe - mellow yellow canoe
I want to go tripping in my canary yellow canoe
Chebugema, Peace River, Resolute too
In my canary yellow canoe

In my canary yellow canoe - my elephant too
I want to go tripping in my canary yellow canoe
Churchill, Yellowknife, Ross River too
In my canary yellow canoe

Lyrics Gordon Lightfoot - Song For A Winter's Night

Lyrics Gordon Lightfoot - Song For A Winter's Night

The lamp is burnin' low upon my table top
The snow is softly fallin'
The air is still within the silence of my room
I hear your voice softly callin'

If I could only have you near
To breathe a sigh or two
I would be happy just to hold the hands I love
Upon this winter night with you

The smoke is rising in the shadows overhead
My glass is almost empty
I read again between the lines upon the page
The words of love you sent me

If I could know within my heart
That you were lonely too
I would be happy just to hold the hands I love
Upon this winter night with you

The fire is dying now, my lamp is growing dim
The shades of night are liftin'
The mornin' light steals across my windowpane
Where webs of snow are driftin'

If I could only have you near
To breathe a sigh or two
I would be happy just to hold the hands I love
And to be once again with with you
To be once again with with you

Lyrics Gordon Lightfoot - Anything For Love

Lyrics Gordon Lightfoot - Anything For Love

In my life
In my time and in each line I've ever sung
And in my life
Was it my imagination or are you still the one
Who lingers on
I'd do anything for you
You'd do anything for me
We'd do anything for love
Ohh, you'd use any means
And I would try any scheme for love
We'd do anything for love
Once or twice
In my loneliness I watched the world go by
There was I
One too many miles beyond where you might say
Some luck was due, after all
We could have touched the sky
You had no alibi because
We'd do anything for love
Ohh, I would try any means
To have you in all my dreams because
You'd do anything for love
Not long ago as I remember
Once upon a dark and windy day
When love looked like a dying ember
Before you came to call
The beauty of it all, I though I'd lost and yet
'Cause in my life
There in my mind in it now shines
A guiding light
Never again will I lose my way
Ohh, I would not tell a lie and
You had no alibi because
We'd do anything for love
Ohh, you'd use any means
And I would try any scheme for love
Simply anything for love
Ohh, I would do anything
Just about anything because
We'd do anything for love
Anything for love
Anything for love
Anything for love

Lyrics Gordon Lightfoot - My Little Love

Lyrics Gordon Lightfoot - My Little Love

I've got a song that it is my mind
My little love who is never unkind
"I'm a poet and I'm better off dead"
These are the words she said
Down by the breadline, pickin' up dough
Hand me the guitar, there I'll go
I would rather make a living instead
Instead of bein' in the red
My little love from the world outside
Helpin' me keep, turnin' the tide
Come and meet me by the neon light
And I'm hopin' you'll make it alright
I'll do anything you see fit, my little love
My little love movin' in my soul
My little love who will never turn cold
It doesn't matter if I ain't shaved
It doesn't matter if I ain't behaved
My little love you been on my side
Helpin' me keep, turnin' the tide
Havin' a hard time livin' right now
Havin' a fine time showin' you how
My little love from the world out there
Helpin' me keep, a-doin' my share
Come and meet me by the neon light
And I'm hopin' you will make it alright
I'll do anything you see fit, my little love
I've got a song that it is my mind
My little love who is never unkind
"I'm a poet and I'm better off dead"
These are the words she said
Down by the breadline, pickin' up dough
Hand me the guitar, there I'll go
It doesn't matter if I ain't shaved
It don't matter if I ain't behaved
I got a light that is in my soul
I got a love that'll never turn cold
Come and meet me by the neon tonight
And I'm hopin' you'll make it alright
I'll do anything you see fit, my little love
I'll do anything you see fit, my little love

Lyrics Gordon Lightfoot - Blackberry Wine

Lyrics Gordon Lightfoot - Blackberry Wine

There's a south wind risin' and
The moon shines on my window sill
I've got a feeling I might walk on over the hill
I'm bent but not broken, all I need is some rest
And a bottle of your very best
Blackberry wine

There's a new moon risin' and
The wind sings its old song
Pass it on over it's a sin to be sober too long
I'm bent but not broken, all I need is my share
Of a bottle of that very rare
Blackberry wine

My old gal's got a new dress on five and dime
Try as she will she can't get me
To come home on time
But I'd never cheat her
Or mistreat her you know
As over the mountain I go
Blackberry wine

I'll be soft spoken
All I need is my rest
And a bottle of your very best
Blackberry wine

Now my days are numbered
And one more heel's been killed
Blackberry John left me
His old recipe in his will
I'm bent but not broken,
All I need is some time
And a bottle of your very fine
Blackberry wine

Blackberry wine,
You know that I'm quite dry without you
Blackberry wine

Lyrics Gordon Lightfoot - Ribbon Of Darkness

Lyrics Gordon Lightfoot - Ribbon Of Darkness

Ribbon of darkness over me
Since my true love walked out the door
Tears I never had before
Ribbon of darkness over me

Clouds a-atherin' o'er my head
That kill the day and hide the sun
That shroud the night when day is done
Ribbon of darkness over me

Rain is falling on the meadow
Where once my love and I did lie
Now she is gone from the meadow
My love goodbye

Ribbon of darkness over me
Where once the world was young as spring
Where flowers did bloom and birds did sing
Ribbon of darkness over me

Here in this cold room lyin'
Don't want to see no one but you
Lord I wish I could be dyin'
To forget you

Oh how I wish your heart could see
How mine just aches and breaks all day
Come on home and take away
This ribbon of darkness over me

Lyrics Gordon Lightfoot - Go Go Round

Lyrics Gordon Lightfoot - Go Go Round

Alone upon the sidewalks of despair, 'twas there she wandered with her
suitcase in her hand.
Her fate she pondered, only a go-go girl in love with someone who didn't care.
She met him on a night so rare when her friends were there and the band was
grooving.
When he gave a glance that said how much he would like to meet her,
How was she to know at the time he would mistreat her?

In her case she danced for him although a hundred eyes were turned her way,
And before the set was through he knew she would be his loved one.
Only a go-go girl in love with someone who didn't care,
Only twenty-one, she was a young girl just in from somewhere.

He's playing up in Michigan with a group they call The Intended,
With a kiss, and a promise, he was gone, the song was ended.
But as she walks, she waits for him, the pavement is a shoulder for her tears,
But in her heart, she knows there is no way she can hope to change him.

Only a go-go girl in love with someone who didn't care,
Only twenty-one, she was a young girl just in from somewhere,
Only a go-go girl in love with someone who didn't care, a go-go girl in love.

Lyrics Gordon Lightfoot - Miguel

Lyrics Gordon Lightfoot - Miguel

Never had much to say, he traveled alone with no friends
Like a shadowy ghost at dawn he came and he went
Through the woodland swiftly gliding, to the young maid he came gliding
Where she'd run to meet him, by the garden wall
Oh my sweet Miguel, I will never tell
No one will ever know, what I know too well
And he'd smile and lay his head on her breast and he'd say I have no fear
They're waiting for me to cross the border, to swim the river
'Cause I've done that before
To see my true loves smiling face
A hundred times or more
Oh my sweet Miguel she cried
I'll love you till I die
He was born to the south in Mexico they say
The child of a man who had soon gone away
But his mother loved him dearly and she would take him yearly
To the great Cathedral in St. Augustine
Oh my young Miguel, listen to the bell
Of my poverty you must never tell
And he cried himself to sleep in the night
And he vowed to make things right
So he took the gun down from the wall and he paid a call
He knew she'd understand
A lawman came to capture him
The gun jumped in his hand
Oh Miguel the mother cried
You must run son or you'll die
So the story is told of his true love cross the line
As strong as the oak and as sweet as the vine
And the child she bore him, came on the fateful mornin'
When they sent him to his final rest
Oh my sweet Miguel listen to the bell
No one will ever know, of what I know too well
Then she'd smile and lay the child on her breast
And she'd say I have no fear
I'm waiting for you to cross the border, to swim the river
'Cause you've done that before
To see your true loves smiling face
A hundred times or more
Oh my sweet Miguel she cried
I'll love you till I die