Gordon Lightfoot Quotes

When a little more than a teenager, I was a piano-bar pianist in the land where I was born and raised, Tuscany.

My mother had a lot of parties when I was a child. There'd always be a moment when she would place me on the upright piano and have me sing Somewhere 'Over the Rainbow'.

I was champion soprano of Sussex when I was 16!

I had always sung in choirs. Even when it was something to be laughed at or made fun of, you know, in school. And I was always the kid who was picked at the Christmas concert to sing the solo, you know, while the other kids snickered in the front few rows.

I wrote my first song when I was four, and I played it at my piano recital.

I sang in the glee club and church choir, but I never sang a solo. I never thought of myself as a singer, and that might have crossed your mind, too.

I had always been singing, all of my life, but it wasn't until I got out of high school and was on my own that I didn't have any accompaniment.

From an early age I've written songs and played the piano.

I started writing songs in high school and always wanted to have a band, and eventually my creative endeavors developed into Theocracy. So in some ways, you could say the vision has been there since I started writing songs.

The first song I ever learned to sing and play on the piano was 'I Remember Sky' when I was 10 years old. I remember thinking, This is the most beautiful song I will ever hear. And that remains true for me to this day. His music is the sole reason I wanted to be on Broadway. I wanted to sing music that transports us to the most important place one can travel, our hearts.

I've been doing that song ["Live Wire"] on my own for years, so no, I'm not worried about [high notes] at all.

I did take composition lessons when I was in high school, so I wrote piano pieces. I wrote some chamber music. I don't think any of that was particularly interesting.

I remember there was a little organ which I'd tap my fingers on all the time. My interest in the instrument was so obvious, one day I got home from school and there was a real piano in my bedroom.

I have no idea how I do anything. I never have. You know I just started playing guitar and started singing and started working on this act that I would call "Don McLean" when I was probably in high school. And I have been doing this for 40 years, adding songs and writing things, cobbling together albums, doing live things, you know, albums and tours. And then I have records on the charts. I have no idea how this happened.

I've been singing my whole life. I'd randomly sing in the hallways at high school, and all my friends would be like, 'You should sing on 'Canadian Idol'!" It definitely gassed me!

I used to be a folk singer, but I was... dreadful. I had a voice like a goose farting in the fog.

We've been touring for so long and people ask me every once in a while, "What's it like working with your brothers?" and I go, "What's it like not?" Our first paying performance, I was 6 years old, you know? I almost don't know anything else, so I guess it feels pretty normal to me.

Since I was three I've been playing the piano. I've been onstage.

When I was young, I was interested more in (singing the songs). ... I can't say I'm enjoying it more now than I did before, because I loved it when I first sang in Wales, in a pub or a club. I loved it then, getting up and singing. Or as a kid in school, I've always loved to sing. But I think when you've been around a long time, it's even more satisfying to think that people are listening to me now, and I've been in the business for a long time.

At a very early age I began to thump on the piano alone, and it was not long before I was able to pick out a few tunes? I also learned the names of the notes in both clefs, but I preferred not be hampered by notes.

I didn't know what I was gonna get the first time I sat down at a piano, but I loved it and it became my playmate for life.

Celine Dion is one of my heroes. The first song I learned was "My Heart Will Go On." And we sang "Because You Loved Me" for my mom which was a huge deal for me.

First of all, I'm not a heartthrob. If you saw me in high school, you wouldn't say I'm a heartthrob. Having a hit song, the minute you're famous, you're a heartthrob. I know you don't believe me, but I honestly don't consider myself a heartthrob.

I was homeschooled growing up, and we fantasized about high school, about what that experience was going to be like.

By the time I was eight I was taking classical piano lessons and I wanted to be a concert pianist. But that didn't work out. I graduated from high school and my formal education ended.