"Sundown" is a song by Canadian

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

artist

Gordon Lightfoot Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. (born November 17, 1938) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music. He is credited with helping to define the folk-pop sound of the 1960 ...

, from the titular album, released as a single in March 1974. "Sundown" reached No. 1 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...

charts and No. 13 on the

Hot Country singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart, as well as No. 1 in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

on ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

''s national singles chart. It was Lightfoot's only single to reach No. 1 on the Hot 100.

Content

The song's lyrics seem to describe a troubled romantic relationship (often cited as

Cathy Smith Catherine Evelyn Smith (25 April 1947 – 16 August 2020) was a Canadian occasional backup singer, rock groupie, drug dealer, and legal secretary. Smith served 15 months in the California state prison system for injecting original ''Satur ...

), with the narrator recounting an affair with a "hard-loving woman ho'sgot me feeling mean". In a 2008 interview, Lightfoot said:

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Other versions

* Scott Walker covered the song on his 1974 album ''

We Had It All ''We Had It All'' is the tenth studio album by the American solo artist Scott Walker. It was released in August 1974 but was unsuccessful on the music charts. It was Walker's final solo album for ten years; in the interim Walker reformed The Wal ...

''. *

Nana Mouskouri Ioanna "Nana" Mouskouri ( el, Ιωάννα "Νάνα" Μούσχουρη ) (born 13 October 1934) is a Greek singer. Over the span of her career, she has released over 200 albums in at least twelve languages, including Greek, French, English, Ger ...

recorded a French version, "L'Amour, c'est comme l'été", on her 1974 album ''Que Je Sois Un Ange''. * Los Angeles alternative hard rock band Claw Hammer covered the song on its 1990 self-titled album. * The musical project/collaboration of singer-songwriters Elwood covered the song in 2000. This version peaked at No. 33 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' Modern Rock Tracks chart on July 8, 2000. * American country music singer

Deryl Dodd Deryl Dwaine Dodd (born April 12, 1964) is an American Texas country music artist. Originally a regular on the Texas club circuit, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, soon finding work as a lead guitar player, background vocalist and songwriter. A ...

's version of the song peaked at #59 on ''Billboard''s Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in 1999. It was later included on his album, ''Pearl Snaps'' (2002). * American-Canadian country artist

Jesse Winchester James Ridout "Jesse" Winchester Jr. (May 17, 1944 – April 11, 2014) was an American-Canadian musician and songwriter. He was born and raised in the southern United States. Opposed to the Vietnam War, he moved to Canada in 1967 to avoid b ...

covered this on '' Beautiful: A Tribute to Gordon Lightfoot'' (2003). * Country singer

Toby Keith Toby Keith Covel (born July 8, 1961), known professionally as Toby Keith, is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and record producer. He released his first four studio albums—1993's ''Toby Keith'', 1994's ''Boomtown'', 1996' ...

included a live cover version on the deluxe edition of his album ''

Bullets in the Gun ''Bullets in the Gun'' is the fourteenth studio album by American country music artist Toby Keith. It was released on October 5, 2010 by Show Dog-Universal Music. The album produced three singles with "Trailerhood", the title track, and " Somewhe ...

'' (2010). * Canadian rock musician

Luke Doucet Luke Doucet (born June 9, 1973) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist. He has written and performed as a solo artist and as a member of the indie rock band Veal and the folk rock band Whitehorse. In 2006 and 2011, Doucet was nominated f ...

covered it on the album '' Steel City Trawler'' (2010). * French singing duo

Marie-Ève Janvier Marie-Ève Janvier is a Canadian singer from Quebec, born in 1984 in Roxton Pond, Estrie, Quebec. Biography After taking part in the musical comedy ''Notre-Dame-de-Paris'' created by Luc Plamondon and Richard Cocciante when she was just 14, she ...

and

Jean-François Breau Jean-François Breau (born 29 July 1978 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian singer-songwriter of Acadian origin. Biography Born in Hamilton, Ontario of an Acadian father from Tracadie–Sheila and a mother from Matane, Breau grew up in ...

covered the song in French as "L'amour c'est comme l'été", on the compilation album ''Quand le country dit bonjour...'' (2012). *

Ed Kuepper Edmund "Ed" Kuepper (born 20 December 1955) is a German-born Australian guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. He co-founded the punk band The Saints (1973–78), the experimental post-punk group Laughing Clowns (1979–85) and the grunge-like Th ...

covered the song, including it on his greatest hits album.

Personnel

Engineered by Lee Herschberg
Recorded at Eastern Sound Studios,

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. *Gordon Lightfoot: Lead and background vocals, 12-string guitar *

Red Shea Patrick Henry "Red" Shea (November 29, 1898 – November 17, 1981) was a Major League Baseball pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each p ...

: Lead electric guitar *Terry Clements: Lead acoustic guitar *John Stockfish: Bass * Jim Gordon: Drums

In other media

*"Sundown" is featured in the movies ''

Knives Out ''Knives Out'' is a 2019 American mystery film written, directed, and co-produced by Rian Johnson. It follows a master detective, Benoit Blanc, investigating the death of the patriarch of a wealthy, dysfunctional family. The film stars an ensem ...

'' and ''

The Beach Bum ''The Beach Bum'' is a 2019 American stoner comedy film written and directed by Harmony Korine and starring Matthew McConaughey, Snoop Dogg, Isla Fisher, Jimmy Buffett, with Zac Efron, Martin Lawrence, and Jonah Hill. The plot follows the ad ...

''. *"Sundown" is featured in the '' Mission Hill'' episode "Unemployment Part 1 (or Brother's Big Boner)". *"Sundown" is the ending song of ''

The Blacklist ''The Blacklist'' is an American crime thriller television series that premiered on NBC on September 23, 2013. The show follows Raymond "Red" Reddington (James Spader), a former U.S. Navy officer turned high-profile criminal who voluntarily s ...

'' season 1, episode 13: " The Cyprus Agency (No. 64)" (January 27, 2014). It also appears in the season 4 episode, "Philomena." *The song entered the Amazon UK chart at number 97 on 18 March 2014, after ''The Blacklist'' episode, "The Cypress Agency (No. 64)" was shown on UK television. *"Sundown" is featured after the opening credits of ''

Supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

'' Season 10, Episode 5 "Fan Fiction" (November 11, 2014). *The lyrics of "Sundown" were referenced in the

Strong Bad Email ''Homestar Runner'' is an American Flash animation, Flash animated comedy web series and website created by Mike and Matt Chapman, known collectively as The Brothers Chaps. The series centers on the adventures of a large and diverse cast of chara ...

episode "army" where, after unsuccessfully trying to enlist

Strong Bad Strong Bad is a fictional character from ''Homestar Runner'', a series of animated Flash videos, who is inspired by "The Strong Bads" from the video game '' Tag Team Wrestling''. He is voiced by Matt Chapman, the principal voice actor and co-cre ...

in the Homestarmy,

Homestar Runner ''Homestar Runner'' is an American Flash animated comedy web series and website created by Mike and Matt Chapman, known collectively as The Brothers Chaps. The series centers on the adventures of a large and diverse cast of characters, headed by ...

remarks "we'll see if those trees you're always hugging save you when Gordon Lightfoot's creeping round your back stair."

References

External links

* 1974 songs 1974 singles Gordon Lightfoot songs Deryl Dodd songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Reprise Records singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles Number-one singles in South Africa Song recordings produced by Lenny Waronker Songs written by Gordon Lightfoot {{1970s-single-stub