“Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind” Film Review
By: Joseph Perry (Twitter)
What do Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson of Rush, Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman of The Guess Who, Anne Murray, and Sarah McLachlan have in common, besides all being renowned musicians who hail from Canada? They are all fans of Gordon Lightfoot, and in the new documentary Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind, those famed stars and others pay homage to the titular music icon. Cowriters/codirectors Martha Kehoe and Joan Tosoni present a fascinating look at the career and life of Lightfoot, who reflects on his past openly.
Loaded with footage of Gordon Lightfoot from his childhood through today, the film touches on how he gave up a promising career in finance to take a chance on becoming a professional musician. Obviously, that gamble paid off handsomely. But before Lightfoot became an international superstar in the 1970s with hits such as “If You Could Read My Mind,” “Sundown,” and “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” he was part of the 1960s folk music scene, on which the film spends a good deal of fascinating time.
Kehoe and Tosoni present Gordon Lightfoot at his most candid, using profanity to describe how and why he dislikes his song “(That’s What You Get) For Lovin’ Me” — which was covered by Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Peter, Paul, and Mary, among others — and reflecting back on his past romantic relationships and days of heavy drinking. While famous folks like the ones mentioned earlier extol his virtues, Lightfoot himself isn’t shy about discussing what he feels are his shortcomings.
A good deal of Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind is spent on Lightfoot discussing his approaches to songwriting and playing. He is a true craftsman and this film shows why.
Gordon Lightfoot is highly revered in his native Canada. "He sent the message to the world that we're not just a bunch of lumberjacks and hockey players up here,” Geddy Lee states in the documentary. “We are capable of sensitivity and poetry." Though Americans know of Lightfoot chiefly through his hit albums and singles, Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind shows how much of a national treasure he is in Canada, and why. The documentary is highly entertaining throughout, and should appeal to both ardent Lightfoot fans and those who only know him from his AM radio hits.
Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind, from Greenwich Entertainment, has its virtual cinema opening on July 29 at The Film Forum in New York, Laemmle in Los Angeles, and additional theaters throughout the United States.
Joseph Perry is one of the hosts of When It Was Cool’s exclusive Uphill Both Ways podcast (whenitwascool.com/up-hill-both-ways-podcast/) and Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror: The Classic Era podcast (decadesofhorror.com/category/classicera/). He also writes for the film websites Diabolique Magazine (diaboliquemagazine.com), Gruesome Magazine (gruesomemagazine.com), The Scariest Things (scariesthings.com), Ghastly Grinning (ghastlygrinning.com), and Horror Fuel (horrorfuel.com), and film magazines Phantom of the Movies’ VideoScope (videoscopemag.com) and Drive-In Asylum (etsy.com/shop/GroovyDoom).
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