2 May 2023 - An "If You Could Read My Mind" Special

Sadly, it is usually the passing of an artist that gets me off my ass to write on this blog.   

Gordon Lightfoot's passing was enough to do that.  I know I have twice featured covers of arguably his best known song, but there are so many other great tributes. 

I want to open this with a personal note: the original version of this song absolutely blows me away with emotion.  I find it very hard to listen to, but at the same time, it is a fabulous song.   

The late Glen Campbell, a fellow storyteller himself, paid great tribute to Lightfoot's worldwide #1 - arguably the greatest breakup song every written.  

I almost left this abomination off, but I didn't.

House music collective Stars on 54 did an electronic cover of this song that was a hit in 1998.  

You can skip this one.  Or don't  It's nothing if not interesting. 

A more surprisinging rich version was done in 2019 by former Go-Go Belinda Carlisle.  It's rich and beautiful - her raspy voice bringing serious gravitas to the already deep song.   

She also paid great tribute to Lightfoot on Twitter.  I'll let her say it best.  

In 2019, I recorded a cover of Gordon Lightfoot's haunting "If You Could Read My Mind" for my Runaway Horses 30th Anniversary box set. https://t.co/ACT4InvEJt
It's one of my favorite songs.
RIP #gordonlightfoot pic.twitter.com/s6cRWFh9Jx

— Belinda Carlisle 💙 (@belindacarlisle) May 2, 2023

There are so many great covers of this song, I could not include them all without being here all day writing.  I wanted to include one more.

The greatest tribute I can think of with which to end this post is one Canadian legend covering another Canadian legend, and with that, I bring you Neil Young.