Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. LVIII--Gordon Lightfoot: Carefree Highway

Must be something about Canada--much like the Barenaked Ladies (though a completely different style of music), Gordon Lightfoot has long been comfort music for me.  Whether it's a good day or a bad day, I can put on his greatest hits and it's always a little bit better of a day.

For those not familiar, Gordon Lightfoot is Canada's Bob Dylan (not an exaggeration--Dylan himself is a big fan as well, once saying that when he listened to Lightfoot he wished his songs would never end).  Throughout the sixties and seventies Lightfoot won sixteen Juno Awards (Canada's equivalent of our Grammy Awards).  He's been inducted into just about every Canadian Hall of Fame that exists, and still tours there extensively.  Now I know this is sounding a bit like one of those "my girlfriend who lives in Canada" stories, but Lightfoot is truly an icon in the Great White North.  He had his heyday here in the states from about the mid sixties to the mid seventies, but had just one single chart on the Billboard Hot 100 since 1978.  He also isn't the most prolific of singer songwriters--in his more than 45 year career he's released just 19 albums--hell, I'd be willing to bet Dylan had nineteen albums released by the time the sixties alone had ended.

The second single from his Sundown LP (the title track--a fine song itself--is Lightfoot's only #1 single in America on the Billboard Hot 100) "Carefree Highway" would hit #10 (with a bullet!), but the really cool thing about the song is that there really is a carefree highway.  Yessir, Arizona State Route 74 is actually called "Carefree Highway" and it provided the title as well as the inspiration for the song.  Having been to Arizona, I can tell you that it's probably not worth a special trip just to see a highway, but if you happen to be in the Phoenix area it might be worth your time to cruise its thirty miles just to say you've known the rock and roll thrill of songwriting inspiration.

And then again, maybe not.

As Lightfoot drove Arizona State Route 74 many moons ago, a woman that he'd once thought was the one but who eventually left him in a "it's been fun, babe!" kind of way came to mind and his thoughts as he drove that night eventually would become "Carefree Highway."  I'd like to tell you there's something earth shattering about the song that made it my favorite Lightfoot song, but the truth is, much like Lightfoot (and I'd be willing to bet, Canada) it's a very workmanlike song.  Lighfoot's vocals have always been perfectly understated and they may be about as breezy as he's going to get here.  The melody is catchy as all hell, and Lightfoot utilizes an absolute emaycee fave, the repetition of the chorus numerous times, to give the song its pop music chops.  The best thing, though, is that every time I hear it it feels like I'm driving down some highway on a warm day, with the windows down and the wind whipping through my hair, alone with my thoughts of yesterday, today, and tomorrow, and even thought there's plenty of sorrow in all three, there's more good and all is right with the world.

Live and learn and all that.

Once again, truer words:  "Carefree highway, let me slip away on you...."

Enjoy:

Peace,
emaycee