One of Lightfoot's most personal songs, "If You Could Read My Mind" is about the breakup of his first marriage - a common theme in many of his songs. In the liner notes of his boxed set Songbook, he describes it as "a song about the failure of marriage."

Lightfoot acknowledged that his infidelity doomed his first marriage, which offers some insight into this song. The lyrics are vivid, likening his story to a paperback novel or an old-time movie - lots of drama!

It's clear that he's tormented by the breakdown but carries the weight of empathy for his first wife, Brita.

Lightfoot's first hit as a songwriter was "For Lovin' Me," which went to #30 in 1965 for Peter, Paul & Mary. In that one, which Lightfoot also recorded himself, he warns of his philandering, telling the lady, "That's what you get for lovin' me."

That song, written while he was still married to Brita, includes these lines:

I've got a hundred more like you
So don't be blue
I'll have a thousand before I'm through

"For Lovin' Me" can be seen as a precursor to "If You Could Read My Mind," with Lightfoot dealing with the fallout from his infidelity.

Lightfoot had two children with his first wife, Ingrid and Fred. Ingrid later convinced him to change a line in this song when he performed it, altering "You'll know that I'm just trying to understand the feeling that you lack" to "the feeling that we lack," an acknowledgment that he shared the blame.

Gordon Lightfoot had some hits in his native Canada in the '60s, but "If You Could Read My Mind" was his breakthrough in America, where it went to #5 on the Hot 100 and topped the Adult Contemporary chart. He had some minor hits in the next few years before landing a #1 with "Sundown" in 1974.