GORDON LIGHTFOOT: IF YOU COULD READ
MY MIND (2019) ¢ ¢ ¢ 1/2
D: Martha Kehoe, Joan Tesoni
Gordon Lightfoot, pushing 80 and looking skeletal, talks about his life and career, while film clips and concert footage document what he's talking about, and others testify to his stature in music and Canadian culture. Lightfoot was still performing when these interviews took place, and it's striking how many refer to his work in the past tense. The movie opens with several minutes devoted to an early Lightfoot tune, "For Lovin' Me", till he finally gets fed up.
"I hate this fuckin' song," he declares, and it sounds like he means it. Yet everybody from Dylan on down defers to his skills as a songwriter. "Everything I've done has been basically a figment of the imagination," he says late in the film. "You just want to make sure it rhymes."
Gordon Lightfoot
(1938-2023)
