“Summer Side of Life” is the lead-off song from a 1972 Gordon Lightfoot concert in London, England. The song kept rolling around in my head until I decided to learn it and post it here.
Ostensibly, the song is about a young man who returns from the Vietnam War and mourns a lost love and possibly his war experiences. It’s a song about before and after, and maybe two sides of life. After the first two verses, I find the lyrics to be somewhat impenetrable. So, I can’t say for sure what the song is about, but it speaks to me about the difference between youth and old age.
I’d love to have my youth back with my current perspective and the freedom to follow my bliss, as Joseph Campbell says. Wouldn’t it be lovely to have decades to develop ourselves and our abilities without the distraction of economic necessity? Ahhh…if it could only be so.
It’s been fun learning this song. I hope you enjoy it.
Did they really make a Canadian stamp imprinted with a portrait of GL as a young man?
Heart Banter by David Gittlin 
2 replies on “The Summer Side of Life”
“Wouldn’t it be lovely to have decades to develop ourselves and our abilities without the distraction of economic necessity?” I couldn’t agree more, David! I am listening now and enjoying your cover of this song.
I love all of GLs music. I think my all time favorite is “Pussywillows Cattails”.
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[…] are those who did make it big in the sixties, like two of my folk/pop favorites: Jackson Browne and Gordon Lightfoot. Still, Gillette has left us with a number of original and memorable songs. “Back On The […]
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