(Wix isn't letting me post with the single cover picture today for some stupid reason. I don't know why.)
(The Hit Hammer is where I'm reviewing each #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. Starting from when the chart started in 1958 and eventually working my way to the present. To see my inspiration and more information about this blog, please CLICK HERE)
Gordon Lightfoot - "Sundown"
Hit Number 1: June 29, 1974
Stay at Number 1: 1 Week
Imagine yourself sitting at home, by yourself. You're a singer/songwriter, and your girlfriend is out at a bar. She's been gone a while, and you're just wondering to yourself what the hell she's been doing this whole time at this bar. You start writing some songs, and one of those songs is a scathing tune about a relationship that's going south. If you're like Gordon Lightfoot, you might've written something like "Sundown". "Sundown" is a song that might seem pretty complex at first, just like a lot of Gordon Lightfoot songs, but behind every song by him, there's a pretty deep meaning. There have been a countless amount of failing love songs, but there's not a single one that's quite like "Sundown".
The best example, perhaps, of Lightfoot's unmatched songwriting abilities is "If You Can Read My Mind". That song seems like a bunch of nonsense at first about ghosts in wishing wells and paperback novels, but all of those lyrics form the story about another failing love. The guy in "If You Could Read My Mind" is sad that it's failing though, and he really wants the feelings back, but just can't do it. The song's even said to be inspired by Lightfoot's real-life divorce. ("If You Could Read My Mind" peaked at #5 in 1971. It's a 9) The similarities between "Sundown" and "If You Could Read My Mind" are plenty. After all, both songs are deep songs about a failing love, but where the narrator is sad in "If You Could Read My Mind", he's a lot more fired up in "Sundown". I'd even go as far as to say he's pissed off.
Lightfoot doesn't seem to remember when exactly when he wrote "Sundown". He just knew it was around the time he was in a relationship where he'd often sit at home while his girlfriend would be drinking all night at the bar. He'd often worry about some other guy trying to get with her, and maybe even succeeding. and "Sundown" ended up being born. It's worth noting that there's a theory floating around out there that the girlfriend in question was Cathy Smith, who's probably best known as being the one to give comedian John Belushi his lethal does of heroin. Lightfoot's never confirmed if that's correct or not, but if it is, it would make "Sundown" even more haunting.
Of course, "Sundown" is haunting enough as it is. The song's filled of some strange, cryptic lyrics such as "I can see her lying back in her satin dress/In a room where you do what you won't confess", but once you get a better idea on what Lightfoot's going for, you know that's just his way of saying he's onto this girl. He knows she's out doing crap she shouldn't be doing. There's also some scathingly savage lyrics in the song like "I can picture every move that a man could make/Getting lost in her lovin' is your first mistake." Ouch. There's some lyrics in the song that cut deep, but Lightfoot still finds the most subtle approach to deliver the lines. Somehow, that makes those words cut even deeper. That's part of what makes "Sundown" an awesome song.
One of the words I've already said here is probably the best word to describe "Sundown": cryptic. The song has some intriguing mystery to it, and its generic message is masked by the complex lyrics, as well as the overall sound of the song. The slick guitar intro immediately hooks you, and it just keeps going from there. Lightfoot double-tracks his vocal in his lines like: "Sundown you better take care if I find you been creeping 'round my back stairs." It's another nice touch to what's already a great song. I also love the sweeping guitar solo in the middle of the song. Nothing really jumps out, but there's a bunch of quality things that team up together to form something unforgettable. That's how you make a song. "Sundown" is a perfect song.
"Sundown" remains as Lightfoot's lone #1 hit, but he's been close to doing it again. He almost made it to #1 in 1976 with the amazing story song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald", a song that's based on the real-life shipwreck. (It made it to #2. It's a 10) A bunch of #1 hits doesn't dictate whether you're a legend or not. Lighfoot only made it there once, but he still remains a music legend today. He's 82 years old, and still going at it. I bet "Sundown" still kicks ass in his live shows.
GRADE: 10/10
IN POP CULTURE:
Here's a rather fitting scene in the show Supernatural where "Sundown" plays in the background.
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