If You Could Read My Mind (song)

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"If You Could Read My Mind" is a song by Gordon Lightfoot, his first recording to appear on the American music charts, reaching #5 on the Billboard chart.

This song first appeared on the 1970 album Sit Down Young Stranger, named after another song on the same album. After the surprise success of "If You Could Read My Mind", the album's name was changed to reflect the hit single.

The song has been covered by many artists, including Don McLean, Kalan Porter, Olivia Newton-John, Barbra Streisand, Johnny Cash, Liza Minelli, Glen Campbell, Gene Clark, Viola Wills and techno-dance supergroup Stars on 54.

It was also used in the motion pictures including:

• Paperback Hero (1973), starring Keir Dullea and Elizabeth Ashley
• Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)
• 54 (1998)
• Wonderland (2003)

[edit] Trivia

"If You Could Read My Mind" was once featured on the British comedy sketch show Trigger Happy TV starring Dom Joly where it was used as a backing for Joly pretending to be a street artist sketching fake caricatures of naive tourists. However, according to Joly's audio commentary on the DVD release of Trigger Happy TV, permission to use the track on the DVD release of the show was denied by Lightfoot's record label. Not wanting to give up, Joly forwarded a tape of the show to Lightfoot himself, in the hope that Lightfoot would veto the record label's decision. Joly received a response saying that Lightfoot did not find the show funny, and that permission to use the track was still denied. Because of this, the track, which accompanied the 'Portrait Artist' sketch in the show, was replaced with "My Sweet Prince" by Placebo.

[edit] External links

• Page about song at Canadian Encyclopedia

Gordon Lightfoot discography

Main albums: Lightfoot! (1966) | The Way I Feel (1967) | Did She Mention My Name (1968) | Back Here on Earth (1968) | Sunday Concert (1969) | Sit Down Young Stranger (1970) | Summer Side of Life (1971) | Don Quixote (1972) | Old Dan's Records (1972) | Sundown (1974) | Cold on the Shoulder (1975) | Summertime Dream (1976) | Endless Wire (1978) | Dream Street Rose (1980) | Shadows (1982) | Salute (1983) | East of Midnight (1986) | Waiting for You (1993) | A Painter Passing Through (1998) | Harmony (2004)

Main Compilations: Gord's Gold (1975) | Gord's Gold, Vol. 2 (1988) | Songbook (1999) | Complete Greatest Hits (2002)

Notable Singles: "Canadian Railroad Trilogy" (1967) | "If You Could Read My Mind" (1970) | "Sundown" (1974) | "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" (1976)