Gordon Lightfoot RIP

So many thoughts about Gordon Lightfoot ...

• "If You Could Read My Mind" just may be the greatest song ever written, and if it's not, it must be the most perfect song ever written.  There's not one iota of detail about it that you could dream of changing.  The melody, arrangement, vocal delivery, and lyrics are all impeccable.
• Some context regarding this famous, yet brutally awkward clip of Bob Dylan inducting him into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.  Viewed in isolation, it might appear as though Dylan was confused and/or stoned and/or half-assing it on some low-budget Canadian awards show that he was reduced to appearing on during the nadir of his commercial and critical fame.  In fact, Dylan was never comfortable at award shows, he always appeared nervous, unrehearsed, and would stumble to find his words.  Eventually stopped going to these ceremonies altogether -- remember, he skipped his own Nobel Prize ceremony.  Nearly every Lightfoot obituary in the MSM contains at least one Dylan quote, his esteem for Lightfoot can't be questioned.  Dylan showed up in person to a ceremony not to receive an honour, but to honour someone else, this was a special moment and it speaks volumes about how Dylan felt about him.  
• I grew up seeing the mustachioed Lightfoot of the 70's and 80's, I think that it still most people's first association of him, since it coincides with his commercial peak.  But Young Lightfoot was suave and charismatic, with pop star good looks that could have translated to any era.  
• Who is the better lyricist, Dylan or Lightfoot?  They are often compared with each other, even though their styles are so different.  Dylan is a vocabulary wizard, his twisted turns of phrases and colourful imagery are uncopyable.  But Lightfoot was the master of capturing the feels, he could articulate nearly any human emotion and craft the experience into something more haunting and real than anything you have felt in your entire life.
• An underrated aspect of Lightfoot's lyrics: he could do both sides of heartbreak better than anyone.  Plenty of artists can write about getting one's heart broken, but Lightfoot could also write about those who break hearts ("For Lovin Me", "Go Go Round").
• I think Lightfoot reached his creative peak in the early 70's, as evidence, check out this 1972 performance on the BBC.  There has never been a better acoustic folk troubadour than early 70's Lightfoot.  But my first association with his music is symbolized by "Carefree Highway", for me, it's the sound of late 70's FM-ready soft rock in a nutshell.