Sundown (Gordon Lightfoot song)

"Sundown"
File:Sundown45.jpg
Single by Gordon Lightfoot
from the album Sundown
B-side	"Too Late for Prayin'"
Released	March 25, 1974
Format	7" 45 RPM
Genre	Folk rock, country rock
Length	3:37
Label	Reprise
Writer(s)	Gordon Lightfoot
Producer(s)	Lenny Waronker
Certification	Gold (RIAA)
Gordon Lightfoot singles chronology
"Can't Depend on Love" (1973) "Sundown" (1974) "Carefree Highway" (1974)

"Sundown" is a song by Canadian folk artist Gordon Lightfoot, released as a single in March 1974.

"Sundown" reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and easy listening charts and number thirteen on the Hot Country singles chart, as well as number one in Canada on RPM's national singles chart. It was Lightfoot's only single to reach number one on the Hot 100.

Content

The song's lyrics seem to describe a troubled romantic relationship, with the narrator recounting an affair with a "hard-loving woman [who's] got me feeling mean".

There are rumours that "Sundown" was inspired by Lightfoot's then girlfriend, Cathy Smith, later more infamously known for her involvement in the 1982 drug-related death of actor John Belushi. Lightfoot has commented in interviews that Smith was "the one woman in my life who most hurt me".

Chart performance

Weekly singles charts

Chart (1974)	Peak position
Australian KMR	4
Canadian RPM Top Singles	1
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks	2
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	4
German Singles Chart	30
Irish Singles Chart	14
Netherlands	16
UK Singles Chart	33
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	1
U.S. Billboard Easy Listening	1
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles	13

Year-end charts

Chart (1974)	Rank
Australian KMR	35
Canadian RPM Top Singles	3
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	27
U.S. Cashbox Top 100	32

Preceded by "Band on the Run" by Paul McCartney & Wings	Canadian RPM 100 number-one single June 15, 1974 – June 29, 1974 (three weeks)	Succeeded by "Billy Don't Be a Hero" by Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods
Preceded by "Billy Don't Be a Hero" by Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods	US Billboard Hot 100 number-one single June 29, 1974 (one week)	Succeeded by "Rock the Boat" by The Hues Corporation

Other versions

• The musical project/collaboration of singer-songwriters Elwood covered the song in 2000. This version peaked (July 8, 2000) at #33 on Billboard's "Modern Rock Tracks' chart.
• American country music singer Deryl Dodd'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 covered this on Beautiful: A Tribute to Gordon Lightfoot (2003)
• Country singer Toby Keith included a live cover version on the deluxe edition of his album Bullets in the Gun (2010).
• Canadian rock musician Luke Doucet covered it on the album Steel City Trawler (2010).
• French singing duo Marie-Ève Janvier and Jean-François Breau 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 covered the song, including it on his greatest hits album

Personnel

Engineered by Lee Herschberg
Recorded at Eastern Sound Studios, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

• Gordon Lightfoot: Vocal, 12-string guitar
• John Stockfish: Bass
• Red Shea: Lead electric guitar
• Terry Clements: Lead acoustic guitar
• Jim Gordon: Drums

In other media

• "Sundown" is the ending song of The Blacklist season 1, episode 13: "The Cyprus Agency (No. 64)" (January 27, 2014).
• 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 Season 10, Episode 5 "Fan Fiction" (November 11, 2014).

See also

• List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1974 (U.S.)
• List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1974 (U.S.)
• List of RPM number-one singles of 1974

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics