Canadian Music Hall of Fame

• What does Gordon Lightfoot’s musical legacy mean for Canadians and for the history of Canadian music?
• In the wake of the singer-songwriter’s death on May 1, it has been hard to answer this question.

A powerful nostalgia

• Lightfoot’s voice is undeniably recognizable to many Canadians, and the cluster of songs that have enjoyed a long life on Canadian radio — and therefore in the Canadian consciousness — obviously engender a powerful nostalgia for an earlier time.
• With his death, he seems to have been canonized in the same vein as Gord Downie, lead singer of the band The Tragically Hip.

Nationalistic hot takes

• How, then, did Lightfoot suddenly become Canada’s greatest musical treasure?
• It’s not really so sudden, if we recognize that Lightfoot was a very popular singer-songwriter in his heyday in both Canada and the United States.
• He enjoyed middling success with his earliest albums in the 1960s, but then broke out with several key albums on Reprise Records in the following decade.

Chart singles

• A series of well-known singles were chart-topping hits in Canada and the U.S.: “If You Could Read my Mind” (1970), “Carefree Highway,” “Sundown” (1974), “Rainy Day People” (1975) and “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” (1976).
• These helped to established Lightfoot as an international name in the world of folk and country music.

Types of nostalgia

• I would argue that contrasting types of nostalgia are at the root of this evaluation of Lightfoot and his oeuvre.
• The Russian philosopher and cultural theorist Svetlana Boym famously identified two distinct — but not necessarily mutually exclusive — types of nostalgia: restorative and reflective.
• Reflective nostalgia, by contrast, does not revel in the past nor attempt to recover it.

A reflective nostalgia

• At their best, Lightfoot’s songs — ranging from folksy, rambling tunes about riding the rails to tender ballads recounting love and loss to epic narratives about ships and sailors lost in storms — invoke a reflective nostalgia.
• His fluid, gentle vocal delivery and simple, direct sentiments lean strongly towards “human longing and belonging,” much more so than they paint a compelling or accurate portrait of Canada.

• ET on CBC Gem , CBCMusic.ca/junos and on CBC Music's Facebook and YouTube pages.
• Legendary Canadian artists, Jann Arden and Ranee Lee will be among the presenters of the prestigious plaques.
• Three of this year's inductees – Diane Dufresne, Terri Clark and Trooper – will grace the stage to perform the music that defines their decades-long careers.
• Ranee Lee and Robi Botos will perform a harmonious tribute to Dr. Jones, who will also be joining the festivities in person.

• Bright Horizons, a leading education and care company, today announced the launch of its new podcast, The Work-Life Equation , featuring candid conversations, and stories from corporate leaders, public figures and everyday people who are balancing life, careers and caregiving.
• Additional guests this season include recording artist Deborah Cox and civil rights leader Alanah Odoms.
• “Finding the balance between being a caregiver, finding personal happiness and having success in the workplace is a struggle for many,” said Priya Krishnan, Bright Horizons’ Chief Transformation Officer.
• Bright Horizons knows that caregiving doesn’t come with a user’s manual.

• For the first time in 19 years, The JUNO Awards will return to the province's capital city for the 52nd iteration of the annual ceremony.
• The show, produced by Insight Productions, will broadcast and stream live across Canada at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on CBC TV, CBC Gem, CBC Radio One, CBC Music, CBC Listen, and globally at CBCMusic.ca/junos and CBC Music's Facebook , YouTube and Twitter pages.
• Fan favourite JUNO Week events including JUNO Fan Fare, JUNO Cup Presented by CBC Sports and JUNO Songwriters' Circle Presented by SOCAN, in association with Music Publishers Canada, will also be making a return in 2023.
• Tickets to The 2023 JUNO Awards go on sale to the general public on November 18.