song for a winter's night

As we draw closer to the longest night of the year, I have been thinking a lot about how much the essence of winter is in the soul of a Canadian. It seems as though our personal rhythm is tied closely to the seasons. No matter if the coldest months are spent in Florida, winter's weave remains in our fabric. Its in our literature, our movies, our art, and of course our sports. It's in our humour, our perspective, our interests, our pursuits. Heck, it's even in our sex lives.......we have many many babies born from August to November......you do the reverse counting.

It's no surprise then that one of my favourite Canadian love songs is nestled in the lonely yearning of a winter's night..... Written and sung by Gordon Lightfoot. There are other versions, but I prefer Lightfoot's rendition. It was the one playing inside me last night as I stepped outside into a calm wonderland of freshly falling snow.

The lamp is burnin' low upon my table top

The snow is softly falling

The air is still within the silence of my room

I hear your voice softly calling

If I could only have you near

To breathe a sigh or two

I would be happy just to hold the hands I love

Upon this winter night with you

The smoke is rising in the shadows overhead

My glass is almost empty

I read again between the lines upon each page

The words of love you sent me

If I could know within my heart

That you were lonely too

I would be happy just to hold the hands I love

Upon this winter night with you

The fire is dying now, my lamp is growing dim

The shades of night are liftin'

The morning light steals across my windowpane

Where webs of snow are driftin'

If I could only have you near

To breathe a sigh or two

I would be happy just to hold the hands I love

Upon this winter night with you

And to be once again with with you

here is a very young Lightfoot's version...Song for a Winter's Night.