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"Song for a Winter's Night" | |
---|---|
Song by Gordon Lightfoot | |
from the album The Way I Feel | |
Released | 1967 |
Genre | Folk |
Length | 3:01 |
Label | United Artists |
Songwriter(s) | Gordon Lightfoot |
Producer(s) | John Court |
"Song for a Winter's Night" is a song written by Gordon Lightfoot, and first recorded for his album The Way I Feel (1967). Lightfoot recorded another version of the song for Gord's Gold (1975), a greatest hits compilation on which other re-recordings also appeared.
The song was written on a hot summer night in Cleveland while Lightfoot was performing there. He was missing his wife of the time, Brita Ingegerd Olaisson, and his thoughts turned to winter. [1]
Sarah McLachlan covered the song for the soundtrack to the 1994 film Miracle on 34th Street ; her rendition also appears on her 1996 compilation album Rarities, B-Sides and Other Stuff , on her 2006 Christmas album Wintersong , and in the soundtrack for the TV series Due South .
Other artists who have covered the song include The Raftsmen (who retitled it "The Hands I Love"), on their 1967 album On Target; Harry Belafonte, on his 1967 album "Belafonte on Campus" (under the title "The Hands I Love"); Kenny Rankin, on his 1967 album Mind-Dusters; Catherine McKinnon, on her 1969 album Everybody's Talkin' ; Nana Mouskouri in French on her 1968 album Je Me Souviens and English on the 1969 album The Exquisite; Tony Rice, on his 1986 album Me & My Guitar ; Schooner Fare, on their 1987 album Home for the Holidays; Quartette, on their 2003 album Beautiful: A Tribute to Gordon Lightfoot; Tommy Fleming, on his 2009 album Song for a Winter's Night; Reid Jamieson, on his 2012 album Songs for a Winter's Night; Sanna Nielsen on her 2013 Christmas album Min jul .; [2] Blue Rodeo, on their 2014 album A Merrie Christmas to You; Goodnight, Sunrise as a standalone 2018 single; and Glass Tiger on their 2020 album "Songs For A Winter's Night". In December 2023, Folk Country artist Bedford Bells released his version of the song as a single.
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