About The Song
Sundown is a song by Canadian folk artist Gordon Lightfoot, released as a single on 25 March 1974, taken from the album of the same name. Sundown was Lightfoot’s ninth studio album and had been released a few months earlier in January 1974.
Born in 1938 in Orillia, Ontario, Lightfoot began playing music as a teenager and quickly developed a reputation as an accomplished guitarist and songwriter.
In the 1960s and 70s, Lightfoot enjoyed enormous success, producing hit songs such as The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, If You Could Read My Mind, and of course, Sundown. He was a key figure in the Canadian folk-rock scene and remains one of the most iconic singer-songwriters of his era.
The Sundown album marked the pinnacle of Lightfoot’s acoustic folk-country blend before he embarked on an increasing use of electric instruments, although he did include some electric guitar on the Sundown album as well – notably on the title track.
Lightfoot was at a career peak around this time, but there was more turmoil in his personal life. He had divorced his first wife in 1974 (he was married three times in his life) and was doing a lot of drinking. His struggles often showed up in his songs, but for the most part, he didn’t name names.
When Lightfoot wrote and recorded Sundown, he had just about gotten out of the divorce, and many wondered if his ex-wife was the woman in the song. It was not. Instead, the song came out of his long affair with Cathy Smith, whom he was already involved with at the time of the divorce. Smith was even cited in Lightfoot’s divorce papers, which saw the musician pay what was at the time the most expensive divorce settlement in Canadian history.
Lightfoot and Smith’s relationship wasn’t an easy one. Smith was known as someone who liked hanging around musicians, and Lightfoot was a jealous guy, which led to arguments, fights, and altercations. Allegedly Lightfoot broke her cheekbone during a drunken fight once. There’s also a story about Lightfoot firing an opening act from his tour because he thought they were flirting with Smith.
For years he didn’t say anything specific about the song, but in the documentary Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind, Lightfoot eventually revealed that Sundown is about his stormy relationship with Cathy Smith, which lasted about three years. “It was one of those relationships where you get a feeling of danger,” he said.
On a particular evening, Lightfoot was worrying about his girlfriend, who spent a lot of time in bars while he was at home writing songs. He recalled during a Reddit AMA: “I had this girlfriend one time, and I was at home working, at my desk, working at my songwriting which I had been doing all week since I was on a roll, and my girlfriend was somewhere drinking, drinking somewhere. So I was hoping that no one else would get their hands on her, because she was pretty good lookin’!”
He added, “As a matter of fact, it was written just around sundown, just as the sun was setting, behind the farm I had rented to use as a place to write the album.”
Sundown remains a classic song which fits the soft folk-rock style that characterizes the era. It sounds pleasant on the surface, but is atypical in how the lyrics are anything but soft or fluffy or reassuring. Lightfoot made a lot of beautiful music, but the one time he hit #1, he did it with a song full of uneasy sentiments.
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Lyrics
I can see her lying back in her satin dress
In a room where you do what you don’t confess
Sundown, you better take care
If I find you been creeping ’round my back stairs
Sundown, you better take care
If I find you been creeping ’round my back stairs
She’s been looking like a queen in a sailor’s dream
And she don’t always say what she really means
Sometimes I think it’s a shame
When I get feeling better, when I’m feeling no pain
Sometimes I think it’s a shame
When I get feeling better, when I’m feeling no pain
I can picture every move that a man could make
Getting lost in her loving is your first mistake
Sundown, you better take care
If I find you been creeping ’round my back stairs
Sometimes I think it’s a sin
When I feel like I’m winning, when I’m losing again
I can see her looking fast in her faded jeans
She’s a hard-loving woman, got me feeling mean
Sometimes I think it’s a shame
When I get feeling better, when I’m feeling no pain
Sundown, you better take care
If I find you been creeping ’round my back stairs
Sundown, you better take care
If I find you been creeping ’round my back stairs
Sometimes I think it’s a sin
When I feel like I’m winning, when I’m losing again