![]() "Our favourite production during the '90s was the song "If You Could Read My Mind" by the group Stars on 54. Australian music channel Max included this version of "If You Could Read My Mind" in its list of 1000 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2012. 3 on Australia's ARIA Singles Chart and Canada's RPM Singles Chart, as well as No. The house music collective Stars on 54-consisting of Amber, Jocelyn Enriquez, and Ultra Naté-recorded a version of the song for the 1998 film 54, reaching No. Stars on 54 version "If You Could Read My Mind"įrom the album 54: Music from the Miramax Motion Picture, Volume 2 The case was settled out of court, and Masser issued a public apology. He also said that he did not want people to think that he had stolen his melody from Masser. Lightfoot has stated that he dropped the lawsuit when he felt it was having a negative effect on the singer Houston because the lawsuit was about the writer and not her. In 1987, Lightfoot filed a lawsuit against Michael Masser, the composer of Whitney Houston's hit " The Greatest Love of All", alleging plagiarism of 24 bars of "If You Could Read My Mind" the transitional section that begins "I decided long ago never to walk in anyone's shadow" of the Masser song has the same melody as "I never thought I could act this way and I got to say that I just don't get it I don't know where we went wrong but the feeling's gone and I just can't get it back" of Lightfoot's song. 1 for one week on the Billboard Easy Listening chart, and was the first of four Lightfoot releases to reach No. 30 on the United Kingdom's singles chart. 27 on the Australian singles chart and No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in February 1971. 1 on the Canadian Singles Chart and was his first recording to appear in the U.S., reaching No. This song first appeared on Lightfoot's 1970 album Sit Down Young Stranger, later renamed If You Could Read My Mind following the song's success. Īccording to Duran Duran lead singer Simon Le Bon, the chorus of their song " Save a Prayer" was based on "If You Could Read My Mind". The song is in A major and uses the subtonic chord. The song was produced by Lenny Waronker and Joe Wissert at Sunwest Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California, with strings arranged by Nick DeCaro. Gordon Lightfoot (pictured in 2009) wrote and originally recorded the song. At the request of his daughter Ingrid, he performs the lyrics with a slight change: The line "I'm just trying to understand the feelings that you lack" is altered to "I'm just trying to understand the feelings that we lack." He has said in an interview that the difficulty with writing songs inspired by personal stories is that there is not always the emotional distance and clarity to make lyrical improvements such as the one his daughter suggested. Even so, the music here is timeless, still feeling and sounding great many years after its release.Lightfoot has cited his divorce for inspiring the lyrics, saying they came to him as he was sitting in a vacant Toronto house one summer. ![]() This album fits in very well with the acoustic-based music being made at the turn of the '70s. In addition, there are subtle string arrangements by Randy Newman on two tracks, Nick DeCaro on three. This trio is expanded on several cuts with Warner/Reprise labelmates Ry Cooder on bottleneck guitar and mandolin, John Sebastian on autoharp, harmonica, and electric guitar, and Van Dyke Parks on harmonium. Lightfoot is accompanied here by his regular band of the time, Red Shea on guitar and Rick Haynes on bass. The entire album is rich in the simple beauty of its folky melodies and personal lyrics. "If You Could Read My Mind" was not the first track released as a single from this album Lightfoot's recording of Kris Kristofferson's soon-to-be-classic "Me and Bobby McGee," the only non-original in this collection, preceded it but barely dented the charts. Its appeal crossed genres and age groups, and its simplicity and acoustic arrangement fit in nicely with the burgeoning singer/songwriter scene then storming the airwaves and record stores. It seemed as though "If You Could Read My Mind" was everywhere in the early months of 1971. The single peaked at number five, while the album reached number 12. Originally released as Sit Down Young Stranger in the summer of 1970, this album was reissued under this name a few months later, as the song "If You Could Read My Mind" began its climb up the pop chart.
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