About The Song
The heartfelt song stormed to the top of the charts in 1971, earning Lightfoot a gold record and his first No. 1 hit in the U.S. For Lightfoot, who had written the entire album in an empty Toronto house, working seven days a week, 12 hours a day for a month, the success was well deserved. Lightfoot had just been released from United Artists and signed to Warner’s Reprise label, later explaining, “I was inspired to write a lot of new tunes at the time. I had a new record contract.” He completed the hit song in one short afternoon.
Lightfoot recorded If You Could Read My Mind in Los Angeles with producers Lenny Waronker and Joe Wissert, and Red Shea on guitar, for the album “Sit Down Young Stranger.” His compositional skills, honed at Hollywood’s Westlake College of Modern Music, and his poetic skill combined to create what Waronker called “a highly sophisticated, beautiful song.”
Despite the producer’s enthusiasm, the label instead released Me and Bobby McGee (written by Kris Kristofferson) as the first single from “Sit Down Young Stranger.” It wasn’t until several months later that Seattle’s KJR Radio began playing If You Could Read My Mind. Their disc jockey was inspired by the poignant melody and imagery-rich lyrics exposing the songwriter’s emotions regarding the failure of his marriage, in the now-famous line:
“I don’t know where we went wrong
But the feeling’s gone and I just can’t get it back.”
Listeners responded with requests and other radio stations followed. As Waronker explained, “It became our unexpected hit, and a very pleasant surprise.” Warner immediately released the song as a single (Reprise 0974), and reissued the album under the new title “If You Could Read My Mind.” The rerelease quickly went gold, catapulting Lightfoot onto the international scene.
In February 1971, Lightfoot’s single became Billboard’s No. 1 Adult Contemporary hit and the Hot 100’s No. 5. In Canada, it was No. 1 on RPM’s Top 100, and CHUM Radio’s No. 6. Lightfoot captured the 1971 Juno for top male vocalist and a Grammy nomination for best male pop vocal performance (James Taylor was the eventual winner).
If You Could Read My Mind has been declared a SOCAN Classic, having earned over 100,000 radio plays.
Video
Lyric
🎵 Let’s sing along with the lyrics! 🎤
If you could read my mind, love
What a tale my thoughts could tell
Just like an old-time movie
‘Bout a ghost from a wishin’ well
In a castle dark or a fortress strong
With chains upon my feet
You know that ghost is me
And I will never be set free
As long as I’m a ghost that you can’t seeIf I could read your mind, love
What a tale your thoughts could tell
Just like a paperback novel
The kind the drugstores sell
When you reach the part where the heartaches come
The hero would be me
But heroes often fail
And you won’t read that book again
Because the ending’s just too hard to takeI’d walk away like a movie star
Who gets burned in a three-way script
Enter number two
A movie queen to play the scene
Of bringing all the good things out in me
But for now love, let’s be real
I never thought I could act this way
And I’ve got to say that I just don’t get it
I don’t know where we went wrong
But the feeling’s gone and I just can’t get it backIf you could read my mind, love
What a tale my thoughts could tell
Just like an old-time movie
‘Bout a ghost from a wishin’ well
In a castle dark or a fortress strong
With chains upon my feet
But stories always end
And if you read between the lines
You’ll know that I’m just tryin’ to understand
The feelings that you lack
I never thought I could feel this way
And I’ve got to say that I just don’t get it
I don’t know where we went wrong
But the feeling’s gone and I just can’t get it back