“My all-time favourite”: the artist Gordon Lightfoot modelled his career on
“I can’t think of any Gordon Lightfoot song I don’t like,” Bob Dylan once said. “Every time I hear a song of his, it’s like I wish it would last forever.”
As we all know by now, it’s not often that you catch Dylan bestowing lavishly high praise on anyone, but Lightfoot has always been the exception. No matter where you go, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone with a criticism of the Canadian songwriting god. He was classed as a national treasure, one of the best to ever do it, and there can’t be anyone who would disagree.
Lightfoot was often unassuming in his ways, but it was precisely this quality that attracted him to Dylan and vice versa…musically, they were hardly similar, but in terms of personality and approach to fame, they had found kindred spirits in each other, and that bedrock of respect then grew to admiration, and eventually blossomed into love.
The pair struck up a prolific relationship over the years, and although this never directly translated into the studio, it was clear that the guiding light shone by Dylan was one that Lightfoot was keen to follow throughout his journey.
“I had a chance one time to talk to Bob, this was early on, about 1968, I think. I sensed in him a drive and a real ‘let’s get the job done’ attitude,” he once said.
There was no understating the significance that this impression had on Lightfoot. “I got my work ethic from him,” he explained. “He’s made a lot of albums, and he’s always writing. He’s learned to thrive and survive and do a good job. He’s probably my all-time favourite. I love his stuff. If he’s working, I’m gonna be there right along with him.”
Indeed, this was a promise they very much made good on as a pair. Lightfoot was one of the acts to feature on Dylan’s 1975 Rolling Thunder Revue, and infamously took the whole cast, including Joni Mitchell and Roger McGuinn, back to his house in Rosedale, Toronto, for a party that would go down in musical history.
Even in their respective later years, Dylan and Lightfoot never did stop backing each other up. The ‘Tambourine Man’ was responsible for inducting his friend into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1986, a move that would enshrine them both with a legacy that could never be forgotten or overlooked, but kept them as an inseparable pair forever.
In fact, you could argue that, further to this, the ethic that Dylan, and in turn Lightfoot, represented was a source of inspiration to all other musicians. They have been nothing but solidly true to themselves, but never once taken their foot off the gas or taken for granted that they are where they are. Neither of them would have it any other way.
And so, as much as Lightfoot cited Dylan as his career model, it was clear that when the latter said he wished all of his songs would last forever, he meant every word of it. The mark of a true friendship is not just people who are like you – it’s the ones who will back you up despite your differences. The bond between Lightfoot and Dylan was absolutely unbreakable.
Never Miss A Tale
The Far Out Bob Dylan Newsletter
All the latest stories about Bob Dylan from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.