Since Gordon Light died about ten days ago, there have been plenty of tributes flowing from not just throughout Canada but around the world. With the focus on Lightfoot’s legacy, there’s been plenty of talk about cover versions by other artists. Bob Dylan, Sarah McLachlan, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Barbra Streisand, Neil Young, Glen Campbell, The Grateful Dead, Nico, Olivia Newton-John, Jimmy Buffet, John Mellencamp, Johnny Mathis, Paul Weller, The Tragically Hip, Jim Croce, and a ton of others all recorded Lightfoot songs.
With that in mind, I direct you to 2000 when Elwood (full name: Prince Elwood Strickland III of North Carolina) covered Lightfoot’s 1974 hit Sundown for his one-and-only (I think) album entitled The Parlance of Our Time. He dressed the song up in hip-hop and had something of a radio hit with it in North America and Australia.
This again proves that a great song can be interpreted in any way and still be great.