Gordon Lightfoot
We were sad to learn that Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot (born November 17, 1938 – May 1, 2023) passed away yesterday at the age of 84. He is credited with helping to define the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and 1970s.
Here are the lyrics of one of his more well-known songs:
"Early Morning Rain” appears on his 1966 debut album Lightfoot! and, in a re-recorded version, on the 1975 compilation Gord's Gold.
Lightfoot wrote and composed the song in 1964, but its genesis took root during his 1960 sojourn in Westlake, Los Angeles. Throughout this time, Lightfoot sometimes became homesick and would go out to the Los Angeles International Airport on rainy days to watch the approaching aircraft.
The imagery of the flights taking off into the overcast sky was still with him when, in 1964, he was caring for his 5-month-old baby son and he thought, "I’ll put him over here in his crib, and I’ll write myself a tune." "Early Morning Rain" was the result.
The lyrics suggest someone down on his luck, standing at an airport fence and observing the thunderous takeoff of a Boeing 707 jetliner.
The general narrative of the song can be taken as a jet-age musical allegory to a hobo of yesteryear lurking around a railroad yard attempting to surreptitiously board and ride a freight train to get home. Lightfoot reflects that being able to capture this narrative was due to his steady improvement as a songwriter.
Click on the following link to see Gordon Lightfoot sing Early Morning Rain:
Early Morning Rain
In the early morning rain
With a dollar in my hand
With an aching in my heart
And my pockets full of sand
I'm a long way from home
Lord I miss my loved ones so
In the early morning rain
With no place to go
Out on runway number nine
Big 707's set to go
And I'm stuck here in the grass
With a pain that ever grows
Now the liquor tasted good
And the women all were fast
Well, there she goes, my friend
She'll be rolling down at last
Hear the mighty engines roar
See the silver wing on high
She's away and westward bound
Far above the clouds she'll fly
Where the morning rain don't fall
And the sun always shines
She'll be flying o'er my home
In about three hours time
This old airport's got me down
It's no earthly good to me
And I'm stuck here on the ground
As cold and drunk as I can be
You can't jump a jet plane
Like you can a freight train
So I'd best be on my way
In the early morning rain
You can't jump a jet plane
Like you can a freight train
So I'd best be on my way
In the early morning rain
--Gordon Lightfoot