"If You Could Read My Mind"

"If You Could Read My Mind." Song by Gordon Lightfoot. Written in 1969, "catches the cadences of a hurt lover unused to words that cut too close" (Maclean's, 1 May 1978). The song has been recorded more than 100 times, first in 1969 by the composer for his LP Sit Down Young Stranger. Released as a single (Rep 0974), the song was an international hit in 1971 and was used in the Canadian feature film Paperback Hero in 1975. Other recordings include those by Carroll Baker, The Bells, Glen Campbell, Johnny Mathis, Liza Minelli, Barbra Streisand, the Travellers, and Andy Williams. Lightfoot himself re-recorded the song for the album Gord's Gold in 1975. Instrumental arrangements have been recorded by Herb Alpert, John Arpin, the Boss Brass, James Last, Sounds Orchestra, and others. "If You Could Read My Mind" was copyrighted in 1969 and 1970 by Lightfoot's own Early Morning Music and has been included in the folios Gord's Gold and Gordon Lightfoot Anthology Volume II, published by Warner.