Do you remember Christmas 1976?
by chuckofish
For some undefinable reason, I remember it as a particularly happy one, maybe because I associate it with one of the presents I got that year
Gordon Lightfoot's Don Quixote
and particularly, with the song, from which the album took its name, Don Quixote. I’ve been listening to it recently and it has stood the test of time really well. Here are the lyrics:
Through the woodland, through the valley
Comes a horseman wild and free
Tilting at the windmills passing
Who can the brave young horseman be
He is wild but he is mellow
He is strong but he is weak
He is cruel but he is gentle
He is wise but he is meek
Reaching for his saddlebag
He takes a battered book into his hand
Standing like a prophet bold
He shouts across the ocean to the shore
Till he can shout no moreI have come o’er moor and mountain
Like the hawk upon the wing
I was once a shining knight
Who was the guardian of a king
I have searched the whole world over
Looking for a place to sleep
I have seen the strong survive
And I have seen the lean grown weakSee the children of the earth
Who wake to find the table bare
See the gentry in the country
Riding off to take the airReaching for his saddlebag
He takes a rusty sword into his hand
Then striking up a knightly pose
He shouts across the ocean to the shore
Till he can shout no moreSee the jailor with his key
Who locks away all trace of sin
See the judge upon the bench
Who tries the case as best he can
See the wise and wicked ones
Who feed upon life’s sacred fire
See the soldier with his gun
Who must be dead to be admiredSee the man who tips the needle
See the man who buys and sells
See the man who puts the collar
On the ones who dare not tell
See the drunkard in the tavern
Stemming gold to make ends meet
See the youth in ghetto black
Condemned to life upon the streetReaching for his saddlebag
He takes a tarnished cross into his hand
Then standing like a preacher now
He shouts across the ocean to the shore
Then in a blaze of tangled hooves
He gallops off across the dusty plain
In vain to search again
Where no one will hearThrough the woodland, through the valley
Comes a horseman wild and free
Tilting at the windmills passing
Who can the brave young horseman be
He is wild but he is mellow
He is strong but he is weak
He is cruel but he is gentle
He is wise but he is meek
I’m sure the song is on youtube and I would have embedded a video, but I’m not that techno-savvy. What’s your favorite Gordon Lightfoot song?
dual personalities 
All hale Gordon! He was the music of my teenhood. And unlike James Taylor and Paul Simon, other artists who brought/bring me joy, I can actually play Gordon’s stuff on the guitar. I don’t think I could name a favorite song, but I can name a favorite time playing and singing his stuff: Sitting in a soft bed of pine needles, high in the Canadian Rockies outside Banff. The sun was shining, the river was rushing…perfection.
Wonderful Banff — what a place. Do you remember seeing Gordon in concert in Illinois? And when he forgot the words to a song he said, “I feel lower than whale shit in a wagon rut…” Good times.
I remember that Christmas because I was home from my junior year at Williams and a very happy camper. As for Gordon, he is one of the few performers I have seen in concert twice. It is too hard to pick a favorite song or even a favorite album, but I have a soft spot in my heart for “The Way I Feel” (1967)–which features “Canadian Railroad Trilogy”. I also love “For Lovin’ Me” which was also covered by Johnny Cash.
I say, you are tech-savvy enough to use the word embedded!!
Well, I’ve learned a few things from visiting your blog!
I googled “Lower than whale shit in a wagon rut Gordon Lightfoot” and this was the top hit. How about that?