Gordon Lightfoot - Don Quixote (1972)

The image of Gordon Lightfoot on the cover of his Don Quixote album is that of the masculine troubadour, tassel-haired and bearded and looking confidently into the camera lens, as if he were posing for a cigarette ad.  Lightfoot presents himself, with guitar in hand, as a musician who is confident in his abilities as a singer and as a songwriter, someone who can stand his ground yet still display vulnerability.  

The songs on Don Quixote mirror the pose.  Lightfoot opens with a title song celebrating the impractical Spanish nobleman who upholds the virtues of honor and bravery, the taut guitar adding extra tension, and he then proceeds with adventures of his own, through love, life and loss.  Songs such as "Christian Island (Georgian Bay)" and "Alberta Bound" paint loving portraits of Lightfoot's homeland of Canada,  while personal confessions such as "Looking At the Rain" and "Ordinary Man" display a sensible self-awareness of his feelings. 

The music throughout Don Quixote works to Lightfoot's advantage, with the arrangements centered around acoustic guitars and a light, subtle string section.  (And no drums.)  Together, they produce a low-key sound that brings out the nuances of each note and complement Lightfoot's assured vocals.  A romantic himself like Don Quixote, Lightfoot is not a hopeless one; his delivery is refreshingly devoid of sentiment, and he brings an unvarnished honesty to every lyric he sings, whether he's singing about family memories in the sprightly "Brave Mountaineers" or the evils of whaling in the somber "Ode To Big Blue."  It's that quality that allows him to sing ballads with the same sincerity as in his topical songs.  Who else but Lightfoot could sing a tender ballad like "Beautiful" without sounding mawkish?  Only Jim Croce could come close, but Lightfoot had the stronger voice between them.

Don Quixote closes with a song challenging the romanticism that permeates the album.  "The Patriot's Dream" is an epic antiwar song that reduces the enthusiasm of serving one's country in wartime to the bitter, shattered dreams of the dead and their survivors.  More like a call to conscientiously object to fighting than to join the charge, it turns the glory of war on its end and leaves the listener thinking about just how fragile self-confidence and romantic aspirations can be.  Unlike Cervantes' self-appointed knight, this Don Quixote sees the world as it is, and Lightfoot reacts accordingly.  Chivalrous and strong though he may be, Lightfoot presents a vision in which even the bravest acknowledge their frailties and fears.