CD1
- (Remember Me) I'm the One 2:20
- It's Too Late, He Wins 2:30
- For Lovin' Me 2:27
- Early Morning Rain 3:06
- The Way I Feel 3:45
- Steel Rail Blues 2:50
- A Message to the Wind 3:08
- Song for a Winter's Night 2:57
- Canadian Railroad Trilogy 6:21
- Go-Go Round 2:40
- Crossroads 2:58
- You'll Still Be Needing Me 2:57
- The Mountains and Maryann 3:36
- The Last Time I Saw Her 5:12
- Did She Mention My Name 2:29
- Pussywillows, Cat-Tails 2:50
- Boss Man 2:11
- Something Very Special 3:22
- Bitter Green 2:43
- Affair on 8th Avenue 3:28
- I'm Not Sayin' - Ribbon of Darkness 2:53
- Softly 3:17
- Mama Said 2:34
- Station Master 2:58
CD2
- Sit Down Young Stranger 3:24
- If You Could Read My Mind 3:48
- Poor Little Allison 2:29
- The Pony Man 3:31
- Cobwebs & Dust 3:22
- Too Much to Lose 2:38
- Summer Side of Life 4:04
- Cotton Jenny 3:24
- 10 Degrees & Getting Colder 2:42
- Nous Vivons Ensemble 3:41
- Same Old Loverman 3:21
- Heaven Don't Deserve Me 2:58
- Don Quixote 3:39
- Alberta Bound 3:05
- Beautiful 3:22
- Ode to Big Blue 4:47
- Stone Cold Sober 3:32
- Old Dan's Records 3:03
- That Same Old Obsession 3:44
- Lazy Mornin' 3:42
- Hi'way Songs 3:37
- Can't Depend on Love 3:10
CD3
- Sundown 3:33
- Carefree Highway 3:43
- Seven Island Suite 6:00
- Borderline 3:39
- Cold on the Sholder 3:00
- Now and Then 3:09
- Rainy Day People 2:48
- Fine as Fine Can Be 2:59
- All the Lovely Ladies 3:36
- Summertime Dream 2:28
- The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald 6:28
- Never Too Close 3:03
- Betty Called Me In 3:07
- Endless Wire 4:05
- The Circle is Small 4:01
- Sea of Tranquility 3:15
- Make Way for the Lady 3:40
- Dream Sweet Rose 2:55
- Ghosts of Cape Horn 4:06
- Keep on Yearnin' 3:38
- Canary Yellow Canoe 2:54
CD4
- Shadows 2:59
- She's not the Same 3:08
- 14 Karat 3:51
- Baby Step Back 3:55
- In My Fashion 2:59
- Never Say Trust Me 3:36
- Why Should I Feel Blue? 3:30
- Someone to Believe In 3:33
- Romance 3:32
- Broken Dreams 4:03
- Always on the Bright Side 3:52
- Forgive Me Lord 3:45
- Lifeline 4:07
- East of Midnight 3:57
- Morning Glory 3:24
- A Lesson in Love 4:04
- A Passing Ship 3:57
- Waiting for You 3:35
- Drink yer Glasses Empty 3:16
- I'll Prove My Love 3:10
- A Painter Passing Through 3:53
Notes
Gordon Lightfoot's Songbook is a career-spanning, four-CD, 88-song box set with a pretty chronologically even balance of material from the mid-'60s through 1998. It also has 15 previously unreleased cuts, as well as his 1962 debut single, "(Remember Me) I'm the One"/"It's Too Late, He Wins" (which is lame MOR Nashville country). One could quibble with the song selection ("Black Day in July" is missing, for instance) and the relatively light attention to his 1960s work (which is limited to disc one); an opportunity was also missed to include a rarity by excluding his mid-'60s single of Bob Dylan's "Just Like Tom Thumb Blues." But generally it's a representative sampling of his most meaningful, or commercially successful, recordings. As for the previously unreleased songs, it's a tribute to Lightfoot's consistency that these don't sound out of step with the rest of the program, but also true that none of these are particularly exceptional or interesting. The following is true of so many box sets of this type that it feels like a cliché to point this out once again, but by giving equal space to various phases of his career, the music starts to go downhill steeply at around the middle of disc three, marking Lightfoot's descent (more graceful than some) into adult contemporary office music. There are extensive liner notes in the enclosed hardbound book, along with comments on each song by Lightfoot himself. Unless you're a Lightfoot obsessive, though, The United Artists Collection (with the bulk of his 1960s recordings) and Gord's Gold will cover just about everything you would want.