What Makes This Song Great

Gordon Lightfoot’s song “If You Could Read My Mind” was always one of my favorites, but I never had the musical knowledge to understand why I liked it so much, even over and above the great lyrics. Rick Beato’s musical breakdown of the arrangement and production of the music of Lightfoot’s recording is just wonderful. His discourse on the song not only makes me feel smarter, but much more to the point, makes me hear things in the recording that I had never consciously heard before. (Headphones recommended).

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If You Could Read My Mind: Gordon Lightfoot

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Gordon Lightfoot has decades of great singing and songwriting behind him, but I most enjoyed his songs from the early 1970s. Here’s a performance from a BBC special in 1972 where he sings one of his best, “If You Could Read My Mind.”