The Watchman's Gone - Gordon Lightfoot (Vinyl Restoration)

From The Album Sundown 1974
Recorded 24bit/48khz

[angelmatos]

His songs were like reflective discussions of which you never tire. 😎

[Me-gsuu]

Just like birds of a feather
We too have followed the golden sun
It feels so good,
Knowin' the watchman's gone

If I give you a rose, buddy
Would you please bury it in the fields?
I seen a rose
Watchin' it all fold out

There's a train down at the station
It's come to carry my bones away
Two engines on
Twenty-one coaches long
End to end
Twenty-one coaches bend
The watchman's out
Kickin' the bums about

If I wait for the right moment
You can bet I'll climb aboard unseen
I've done it before
I know I can do it in my sleep

The watchman's out
Kickin'the bums about
The watchman's out
Kickin' your dreams about

As I leave you in the sunset
Got one more nothin' I'd like to say
"You don't know me
A son of the sea am I"
As I say to you, my brother
If you live to follow the golden sun
You better beware
Knowin' the watchman's always there

If you find me feedin' daisies
Please turn my face up to the sky
And leave me be
Watchin' the moon roll by
Whatever I was
You know it was all because
I've been on the town
Washin' the bullshit down

The watchman's out
Kickin' your dreams about
It feels so good
Knowin' the watchman's gone
It's like a song
Knowin' the watchman's gone

[rubyheart]

This could be my favorite song of Gordon’s. It depends on the day. RIP, knowing that you’re loved and appreciated.

[lisagermann-williams]

This is and has been my favorite Gordon Lightfoot song since I was a kid about 10 or so. Love all his music but this one the most.

[stevestruthers]

Wow. I'm hearing details in this song that I've never heard before in either the original vinyl LP copy of Sundown I owned in 1977, nor in the subsequent CD I purchased many years later, nor in any other digital renderings. The tempo in this song is slightly slower, too. The LP version sounds a little faster, and I don't know whether that was due to the turntable I used to listen to this song, or whether the final master was sped up a little to make sure all of the music could fit on both sides of the disc.

The stereo separation is also huge on this restoration. Even though I can't hear out of my left ear, I can still sense a bit of a sound stage effect.

Nice job.

[Fuzzybeanerizer]

I was in the Army for 4 years in the 1980's. I never had to go to war, but there was always a tenseness to military life... aside from the possibility of war, you never knew when you'd go on sudden alert for training purposes, or your name would come up on some unpleasant guard duty roster, or there'd be a "health & welfare" inspection nosing around in your personal belongings in the barracks, or you'd get transferred to some undesirable duty station,  or, if you had any rank, you might get put in charge of a bunch of irresponsible drunken privates and be blamed for all their screw-ups. There was a lot of good things about military life too, a lot of job security for one thing, but when my time was up in early 1988 I was determined to get out and enjoy my freedom. I went home to Michigan and stayed at my parents' house, as they were retired and in Florida for the winter. Bored there, I was digging through my mom's old vinyl records and came across this song. It sure struck a chord with me at that moment... it felt so good to know I'd done my time and to have that lack of privacy and lack of control over my own life lifted off my shoulders.

[rpd]

Thanks, and good job, vinyl is head and shoulders above digital! Sounds Great!!