if you could read my mind

no thread on this song? discuss. what are the best versions? why is this song so great?

This song is so great because it is about a ghost from a wishing well.

This song so great, but not because it is about a ghost from a wishing well.

(And I ruined it by leaving out "is." Nicely done.)

Try to see an obscure mid-'70s Canadian film called Paperback Hero with Keir Dullea. (It's not that obscure here, where it won some awards.) Besides taking its title from Lightfoot's lyrics, there's a scene of Dullea driving around in a field of wheat--yes, really, a field of wheat--as the song plays. I think it's a slightly different version done for the film. Anyway, an all-time favorite.

For some reason, I strongly associate this song (maybe even the Streisand version?) with roadside diners in middle-of-nowhere Ontario towns from childhood road trips.

I never really knew what all the lyrics were until now. They're kind of brilliant. The tune might run the risk of being maudlin otherwise but the combination is devastating.

"heroes often fail" is such a great lyric

I kind of want to make a CD80 of songs with this lyrical theme - you've lost that lovin feeling, if you could read my mind, what else?

Worth mentioning: Marcus includes this in his Stranded discography.

This is one of my favourite songs ever. There are plenty of breakup songs that are beautiful/sad, but how many are also mythic/romantic? Lightfoot is a genius.

mythic mythical

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8UJG-mmoOo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=em4rAzFxyMQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLoFdLuD7Js

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26kqgyMjyKM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8dR-CxYtwg&feature=related