House of worship ideal setting for Lightfoot's homecoming
Nathan Taylor
Monday, June 18, 2007 - 09:00
Local News - In his Sunday best, Gordon Lightfoot emerged with his guitar in front of an audience that packed St. Paul's United Church yesterday.
The Orillia folk legend set his guitar on its stand and sat down in an old, familiar spot: the choir section.
"It was really an important part of my development as a singer," Lightfoot said of his boyhood years as a soprano in the St. Paul's choir. "The next thing I knew, I started moving up in the pecking order."
The first song Lightfoot performed was "Sit Down Young Stranger."
Rev. Karen Hilfman Millson and other church members reflected on what the lyrics meant to them.
One of the reverend's favourite lyrics was "I never had a dollar that I didn't earn with pride, 'cause I had a million daydreams to keep me satisfied."
"But they won't pay the bills," Lightfoot quipped.
Lightfoot knew he wanted to be a musician since he was about 11, he told the congregation, crediting the Kiwanis Music Festival and the church choir for his decision to pursue a musical career.
He was 17 when he wrote his first song.
"And I never stopped."
He had an urge to write about the Vietnam War during the conflict, but, being a Canadian citizen and considering the fact Canadian troops weren't involved, he didn't think it was appropriate for him, "as a bystander," to touch on the topic.
However, with Canada now involved militarily in Afghanistan, "Sit Down Young Stranger" can be applied to that situation.
"We've lost 58 (soldiers) since 2003, so I can sing a song like that," he said.
His second and final solo was a cover of Bob Dylan's "Ring Them Bells."
After the service, friends and fans gathered downstairs to chat with and get autographs from Lightfoot.
"It was a challenge met and followed through," Lightfoot told The Packet & Times, referring to his performance. "It's a lot tougher than the real thing (regular concerts)."
Hilfman Millson held a one-on-one with Lightfoot onstage yesterday. "It was just a delight to have him home again, and really fun to have him in the choir and step forward, as he did as a young boy, to do a solo," she said.
ntaylor@orilliapacket.com