"Affair on 8th Avenue" by Gordon Lightfoot (cover)

[Glennwillow]

This is my cover of Gordon Lightfoot's "Affair on 8th Avenue." I was looking for something new this week, and I have always been attracted to this song. So I decided to look this song up and give it a try. I found that the guitar part for this is quite simple, aside from the unusual chord at the song's introduction which is a variation of Em. The song is in 3/4 time; perhaps that might be a challenge for some. https://www.lightfoot.ca/affair8.htm

And because the song tells a pretty compelling story, I found the words very easy to memorize quickly. And like so many mysterious women memorialized in song, this lady must have been a very interesting and intelligent person.

It's interesting to look back at Gordon Lightfoot's songs and see how little time he spent in the "That's What You Get for Lovin' Me," and "I'm Not Saying" phase of his outlook on the opposite sex vs his transition to much more thoughtful and cautious songs such as "Affair on 8th Ave" or "Softly."

I hope you like this -- thanks so much for listening!!

- Glenn

[cefobe]

Great song and vocal and nice playing

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by cefobe

Great song and vocal and nice playing

Thank you very much Marcus! I appreciate your listening and commenting!

- Glenn

[TBman]

Really nice Glenn, great playing and performance. Well done.

[superbitterdave]

Nicely done - you conveyed the nostalgic longing well (in addition to the expected flawless guitar). Cheers! Dave

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by TBman

Really nice Glenn, great playing and performance. Well done.

Thanks Barry!

Nice to know you are listening; I appreciate the comments -- I'm very glad you enjoyed this!

- Glenn

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by superbitterdave

Nicely done - you conveyed the nostalgic longing well (in addition to the expected flawless guitar). Cheers! Dave

Thank you Dave,

I appreciate the comments! So pleased that you like this...

I agree, there certainly is longing in this song! I think Gordon Lightfoot did such a great job of building that longing into the song.

- Glenn

[skim500]

Nice job Glenn.

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by skim500

Nice job Glenn.

Thank you skim!

I appreciate that you are watching and value your comments!

- Glenn

[ITB]

Nailed it Glenn!

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by ITB

Nailed it Glenn!

Thank very much, John!

How nice of you to take the time to listen and comment -- much appreciated!

- Glenn

[Kerbie]

Beautiful, Glenn! As much as I like Lightfoot himself, I think you perform his songs better than he did.

Lovely Olson too... very rich. I was always intrigued by the use of 3/4 time in rock. You don't see it very often, but when it works, it's great! I don't write rock music, but I would think it would be a challenge to pull off well.

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by Kerbie

Beautiful, Glenn! As much as I like Lightfoot himself, I think you perform his songs better than he did.

Lovely Olson too... very rich. I was always intrigued by the use of 3/4 time in rock. You don't see it very often, but when it works, it's great! I don't write rock music, but I would think it would be a challenge to pull off well.

Hi Kerbie,

Thank you so much for listening, for your generous comments and kind words, and also for your observations about 3/4 time.

I agree with you on 3/4 time. It's not used very often in rock or pop music, and when it is, it too often sounds as if it's being played like a Strauss waltz. I worked out over some years how to finger pick 3/4 time so that I could play this time scheme a little smoother, perhaps closer to 6/8 time, so that it seemed to sound a little more natural, at least to me. I didn't want to be left with the vision of rabbits with their hands held behind their backs, skating on an ice covered pond, as if in some Disney movie of our childhood.

Thanks so much for taking the time to listen and comment from your very busy schedule!

- Glenn

[islandguitar]

Very beautifully done, Glenn! I had not known this song....it's quite amazing!!

Thanks also for your thoughts on the 3/4 time signature. Very helpful as I'm working on an original instrumental right now with that and trying to get the "feel" of it.....waltz, or, not....but still 3/4 time and how best to work out the pace and flow of it all! Hope to record it in the next few months.

Thanks again....keep 'em coming!
Fred

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by islandguitar

Very beautifully done, Glenn! I had not known this song....it's quite amazing!!

Thanks also for your thoughts on the 3/4 time signature. Very helpful as I'm working on an original instrumental right now with that and trying to get the "feel" of it.....waltz, or, not....but still 3/4 time and how best to work out the pace and flow of it all! Hope to record it in the next few months.

Thanks again....keep 'em coming!
Fred

Thanks Fred!

Thank you for listening and commenting!

I don't think this is one of Gordon Lightfoot's better known songs, so it may well be new to a lot of people. Most of my GL albums are on vinyl so in recent years I bought a collection of GL CDs, and on the CD collection is "Affair on 8th Avenue." I have probably heard this song before, but now that I have listened to it multiple times, it has grown on me. I have been thinking about learning to play this for some time. This week I had a break where I could record it.

I spent 19 years leading church music with the guitar and my wife on a keyboard, and in that experience, I was exposed to many songs in 3/4 time. So from that experience, I learned how to handle that time scheme while finger picking. I really think that before that time, I really didn't have a good handle on this time signature.

There are some other well known songs in 3/4 -- "Sweet Baby James," "Pussywillows, Cattails" come to mind. But when I was learning to play way back, I don't think I ever encountered any songs in 3/4 time.

Thanks for taking the time to comment, Fred! Best of luck on the composition you are working on!

- Glenn