Sundown (Gordon Lightfoot song)

"Sundown"
Single by Gordon Lightfoot
from the album Sundown
B-side "Too Late for Prayin'"
Released March 25, 1974
Format 7" 45 RPM
Genre Folk rock, country rock
Length 3:37
Label Reprise
Writer(s) Gordon Lightfoot
Producer(s) Lenny Waronker
Certification Gold (RIAA)
Gordon Lightfoot singles chronology
"Can't Depend on Love"
(1973)
"Sundown"
(1974)
"Carefree Highway"
(1974)

"Sundown" is a song by Canadian folk artist Gordon Lightfoot, released as a single in March 1974.

"Sundown" reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and easy listening charts[1] and number thirteen on the Hot Country singles chart,[2] as well as number one in Canada on RPM's national singles chart.[3] It was Lightfoot's only single to reach number one on the Hot 100.

Content

The song's lyrics seem to describe a troubled romantic relationship, with the narrator recounting an affair with a "hard-loving woman [who's] got me feeling mean".

There are rumours that "Sundown" was inspired by Lightfoot's then girlfriend, Cathy Smith, later more infamously known for her involvement in the 1982 drug-related death of actor John Belushi. Lightfoot has commented in interviews that Smith was "the one woman in my life who most hurt me".

Chart performance

Weekly singles charts

Chart (1974) Peak
position
Australian KMR [4] 4
Canadian RPM Top Singles 1
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks 2
Canadian RPM Country Tracks 4
German Singles Chart 30
Irish Singles Chart 14
Netherlands [5] 16
UK Singles Chart 33
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 1
U.S. Billboard Easy Listening 1
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles 13

Year-end charts

Chart (1974) Rank
Australian KMR 35
Canadian RPM Top Singles 3
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 27
U.S. Cashbox Top 100 32

Preceded by
"Band on the Run" by Paul McCartney & Wings
Canadian RPM 100 number-one single
June 15, 1974 – June 29, 1974 (three weeks)
Succeeded by
"Billy Don't Be a Hero" by Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods
Preceded by
"Billy Don't Be a Hero" by Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods
US Billboard Hot 100 number-one single
June 29, 1974 (one week)
Succeeded by
"Rock the Boat" by The Hues Corporation

Other versions

Personnel

Engineered by Lee Herschberg
Recorded at Eastern Sound Studios, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

In other media

See also

References

  1. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits: Eighth Edition. Record Research. p. 368.
  2. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 201.
  3. List of number-one singles of 1974 (Canada)
  4. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  5. http://www.top40.nl/search.aspx?keyword=Gordon%20Lightfoot&jaar=2011&maand=7&week=27
  6. Billboard (selected) Artist Chart History for Elwood
  7. "Soundtrack". IMDb.

External links


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