Gordon Lightfoot — Sundown
Album: SundownAvg rating:
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Total ratings: 1777
Length: 3:29
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I can see her lying back in her satin dress
In a room where you do what you don't confess
Sundown, you better take care
If I find you been creeping 'round my back stairs
Sundown, you better take care
If I find you been creeping 'round my back stairs
She's been looking like a queen in a sailor's dream
And she don't always say what she really means
Sometimes I think it's a shame
When I get feeling better when I'm feeling no pain
Sometimes I think it's a shame
When I get feeling better when I'm feeling no pain
I can picture every move that a man could make
Getting lost in her loving is your first mistake
Sundown, you better take care
If I find you been creeping 'round my back stairs
Sometimes I think it's a sin
When I feel like I'm winning when I'm losing again
I can see her looking fast in her faded jeans
She's a hard loving woman, got me feeling mean
Sometimes I think it's a shame
When I get feeling better when I'm feeling no pain
Sundown, you better take care
If I find you been creeping 'round my back stairs
Sundown, you better take care
If I find you been creeping 'round my back stairs
Sometimes I think it's a sin
When I feel like I'm winning when I'm losing again
In a room where you do what you don't confess
Sundown, you better take care
If I find you been creeping 'round my back stairs
Sundown, you better take care
If I find you been creeping 'round my back stairs
She's been looking like a queen in a sailor's dream
And she don't always say what she really means
Sometimes I think it's a shame
When I get feeling better when I'm feeling no pain
Sometimes I think it's a shame
When I get feeling better when I'm feeling no pain
I can picture every move that a man could make
Getting lost in her loving is your first mistake
Sundown, you better take care
If I find you been creeping 'round my back stairs
Sometimes I think it's a sin
When I feel like I'm winning when I'm losing again
I can see her looking fast in her faded jeans
She's a hard loving woman, got me feeling mean
Sometimes I think it's a shame
When I get feeling better when I'm feeling no pain
Sundown, you better take care
If I find you been creeping 'round my back stairs
Sundown, you better take care
If I find you been creeping 'round my back stairs
Sometimes I think it's a sin
When I feel like I'm winning when I'm losing again
Comments (67)add comment
Oh, I just miss this man so much! What a talent: what a writer, what a song/story teller...
GingerandMe wrote:
I will second your WOW
i really enjoyed reading about the story behind this one. changes everything for me. but not in a bad way.
I will second your WOW
i really enjoyed reading about the story behind this one. changes everything for me. but not in a bad way.
This song touches a nerve somewhere deep inside me. What a song and what a singer. Thank you again RP for introducing me to another great artist
GingerandMe wrote:
I will second your WOW
Is it too late to third the WOW??
I will second your WOW
Is it too late to third the WOW??
lily34 wrote:
WOW.
I will second your WOW
WOW.
I will second your WOW
This song gives me the warm and fuzzies.
Grammarcop wrote:
WOW.
I just learned that this song is about Gord's relationship with an old girlfriend, a woman named Cathy Smith. If the name rings a bell -- yes, it's the same Cathy Smith who would later inject John Belushi with his fatal speedball.
The anger you might feel in the lyrics is real. Lightfoot wrote this after discovering Smith was surreptitiously sleeping with other members of his band while claiming to be Gord's girl.
WOW.
Brings back back the memories of a youth well spent...
RIP
RIP
This came up right after Tragically Hip “New Orleans Is Sinking” in the rotation.
🇨🇦
Of blessed memory..
What a gem. What a radio station. 13 years of listening and musical surprises every day. We love you!
Farewell Gordon.
RIP Gordon. What a luminous career. Defined my country and my youth. Working the dam sites in Northern Ontario with the radio playing and Gordon writing our song list. Heaven.
RIP Mr. Lightfoot!! Your songwriting is unparalleled and your songs are all beautiful and perfect. You're missed already.
Long Live RP and memories of Gordon Lightfoot!!
Long Live RP and memories of Gordon Lightfoot!!
I still remember summer 1974 hearing this song coming out of the little purple transistor radio I had while I was playing in my room. Then it would go on to the next song, like "It Never Rains In Southern California".
Gord....Is gold!!!
I have always loved this song, it has such a vibe to it.
Lazarus wrote:
Now that's a presidential campaign I can support!
Now that's a presidential campaign I can support!
Yes it's kindo of schmaltzy but it's got a great groove and harmonies and I love it. He was at the top of his game in this period. I saw him in concert la few years ater and he seemed impaired and was surly with the crowd. But that doesn't change that this is a great tune. So smooth! And he used 12-string guitar sometimes so I gotta love that. He was also a prolific songwriter. Here's more info.
Proclivities wrote:
Hmm...
I've always liked this song - I'm not sure why. I wonder if it will ever get played here.
Hmm...
One of the favourites of my youth, I got to perform with him a number of times in the 80s and 90s. What a great gent to work with! The last time I saw him in performance he had been ill coming into the show and sounded weak at first, but then the music took over. I swear in his old age he is just turning into music...
principekd wrote:
How about instead of simply petering out, you capped it with a final, a capella, harmonized refrain? Fans'll go wild, I'm certain.
Or you could watch any number of Gordon Lightfoot's live performances on YouTube and hear how he liked to end it live.
(but I think principekd's idea is better if your band has the vocal chops to pull it off)
How about instead of simply petering out, you capped it with a final, a capella, harmonized refrain? Fans'll go wild, I'm certain.
Or you could watch any number of Gordon Lightfoot's live performances on YouTube and hear how he liked to end it live.
(but I think principekd's idea is better if your band has the vocal chops to pull it off)
Another great songwriter on RP. I wonder if you could play something from his Summer Side of Life LP?
brillo wrote:
Oh hell yes
10+
Oh hell yes
AM radio in your parents station wagon circa 1976. Anyone else? Good times...
At tis point I have twenty-seven favorite songs from Gordon! Yer basic national treasure! Yes, I am Canadian!
I just learned that this song is about Gord's relationship with an old girlfriend, a woman named Cathy Smith. If the name rings a bell -- yes, it's the same Cathy Smith who would later inject John Belushi with his fatal speedball.
The anger you might feel in the lyrics is real. Lightfoot wrote this after discovering Smith was surreptitiously sleeping with other members of his band while claiming to be Gord's girl.
The anger you might feel in the lyrics is real. Lightfoot wrote this after discovering Smith was surreptitiously sleeping with other members of his band while claiming to be Gord's girl.
brillo wrote:
Yup,
10+
Yup,
Lazarus wrote:
I thought there were 430,001!
I thought there were 430,001!
10+
Haunting top 40 hit from 1974 remains most outstanding "9"...
RoundT wrote:
How about instead of simply petering out, you capped it with a final, a capella, harmonized refrain? Fans'll go wild, I'm certain.
Loved this song the moment i heard it and we instantly put it in my band's playlist. The problem was we could never come up with a good way to end it. Tried several things, we were never happy with any of them, so we just kept petering out at the end. After a while we dropped it simply because we couldn't figure out a live ending. Still a great song!
How about instead of simply petering out, you capped it with a final, a capella, harmonized refrain? Fans'll go wild, I'm certain.
Loved this song the moment i heard it and we instantly put it in my band's playlist. The problem was we could never come up with a good way to end it. Tried several things, we were never happy with any of them, so we just kept petering out at the end. After a while we dropped it simply because we couldn't figure out a live ending. Still a great song!
BCarn wrote:
Whatever you're trying to say failed.
Thanks BCarn....sometimes words used correctly for the context sound funny...kinda why I wrote it that way.
Also funny how many comments don't make sense here when the OP's comment isn't 'replied' to.
And one minor Covid casualty was the cancellation of the trip this May. 2021 here we come!! LLRP
Whatever you're trying to say failed.
Thanks BCarn....sometimes words used correctly for the context sound funny...kinda why I wrote it that way.
Also funny how many comments don't make sense here when the OP's comment isn't 'replied' to.
And one minor Covid casualty was the cancellation of the trip this May. 2021 here we come!! LLRP
Lazarus wrote:
...right, next to WWOZ !
...right, next to WWOZ !
lizardking wrote:
"...with sobriety left at home..." Funny! Brings back memories of our all-boys Catholic high school once-a-year reunion/getaway called The Toilet Bowl. Always on Washington's Birthday weekend for long forgotten reasons. Persisted for nineteen years, with music a prominent feature.
Picture a group of 10 guys at the annual Alta Lake camping trip (tradition states this MUST happen the weekend after Mother's Day) with sobriety left at home and steaks/brats/wings whatever on the grill, cans of bud chilling in the cooler, and the haphazard tent erection of us 'getting drunk soon' guys and wait...you want to listen to country, you want hip/hop, what to do?
Play this song at full volume for all the campers to enjoy...that's what. It's a 9 at least.
Long Live RP!!
Play this song at full volume for all the campers to enjoy...that's what. It's a 9 at least.
Long Live RP!!
"...with sobriety left at home..." Funny! Brings back memories of our all-boys Catholic high school once-a-year reunion/getaway called The Toilet Bowl. Always on Washington's Birthday weekend for long forgotten reasons. Persisted for nineteen years, with music a prominent feature.
I was first aware of this song on the radio in my dad's car in the summer of '74 when I was 9 years of age. Back then, I didn't understand what the lyrics meant - I just loved the whole vibe of the song.
Now, many, many years later, my love for this tune has blossomed and matured... just as I didn't!
Now, many, many years later, my love for this tune has blossomed and matured... just as I didn't!
This song, along with Rolling Stones' Ruby Tuesday, are the very first songs I remember hearing as a toddler (probably because Dad played them over, and over).
An extraordinary song catalog. The "hits" like this are only the beginning.
Talk about painting a picture with words.
the perfect song in the morning when you wake up ;-)
admascott wrote:
Whatever you're trying to say failed.
Do we want to know what a haphazard tent erection is on a dude camping trip. I don’t think I do
Whatever you're trying to say failed.
Do we want to know what a haphazard tent erection is on a dude camping trip. I don’t think I do
Picture a group of 10 guys at the annual Alta Lake camping trip (tradition states this MUST happen the weekend after Mother's Day) with sobriety left at home and steaks/brats/wings whatever on the grill, cans of bud chilling in the cooler, and the haphazard tent erection of us 'getting drunk soon' guys and wait...you want to listen to country, you want hip/hop, what to do?
Play this song at full volume for all the campers to enjoy...that's what. It's a 9 at least.
Long Live RP!!
Play this song at full volume for all the campers to enjoy...that's what. It's a 9 at least.
Long Live RP!!
He's the man! I saw him here in San Jose a couple weeks ago. He stood through a 2 hour show! Impressive.
I remember when I was a kid hearing this song -- I really wanted to meet Sundown!
I remember when I was a kid hearing this song -- I really wanted to meet Sundown!
How lovely to hear Gord Lightfoot on RP. He is a legend. Saw him when I was a boy at a concert at the QE Playhouse in Vancouver, BC. Very mellow sound. I spent a lot of dimes on the jukebox listening to this when I was away fishing up the coast. 
I grew up listening to Gordon Lightfoot and this was always one of my faves even though my stepdad liked it. Today I still rate it high. 8
Lazarus wrote:
Yes AMEN - a word that means-" Oh Yes - I so agree"
Yes AMEN - a word that means-" Oh Yes - I so agree"
It is just one of those songs. Just takes over whatever you were doing and resets everything, In a good way.
10
10
Sundown, you better take care
If I find you been creeping 'round in your underwear.
If I find you been creeping 'round in your underwear.
One of the very best...ever!
Grammarcop wrote:
Yes.....More GOD please!
More Gord, please!
Yes.....More GOD please!
More Gord, please!
Never heard of this guy before and that was a true gap in my culture. One more time, thanks RP.
Lovely song from my early teenage years which I recall fondly. Lovely to hear it here, too. Thanks Mr & Mrs G.
One of his best albums.
zesty ! got overplayed in the day but zesty none the lessWow...at last Gordon Lightfoot, a 
Canadian icon - merci!
Canadian icon - merci!Icon
Amen, Laz!
I've always liked this song - I'm not sure why. I wonder if it will ever get played here.
This great song perfectly conveys the emotional turmoil of peoples' dangerous liasions in less than 4 minutes.
One of his best albums.
This was the album that made me finally go out and buy my 12-string, which I still have. My mother thought I'd lost my mind, as $225. was a lot of money for a guitar in 1974. But it was well worth it. Rest In Peace, Mr. Lightfoot.