Don Quixote

Futility. . .Gordon's sad outcry for people who want to change the world. Here, he paints the world in black and white, and this idealist who wants to save the world, but "Then in a blaze of tangled hooves, he gallops off across the dusty plain/In vain to search again, where no one will hear." Because no one will care!

This song is kind of like a late-20th-century updating of the novel Don Quixote. It contains several classic references to the book, but also some modern allusions, such as the mention of, "the youth in ghetto black." "The judge upon the bench," "The man who tips the needle," (I assume this is a person addicted to drugs), "The man who buys and sells," (maybe a reference to a drug dealer, or some other unscrupulous buyer/seller of things), and "The man who puts the collar on the ones who dare not tell," (possibly a reference to a slave owner, but more likely just a general reference to a man who limits the freedoms of others), are a mix of classic and modern allusions as well.

The "soldier with his gun who must be dead to be admired" is another modern reference; imo, that particular lyric sounds a lot like a reference to Vietnam veterans, and the way they were basically spat on when they returned home alive. This interpretation would fit, as the song was released in 1972, and the Vietnam War didn't end until '75. Though this may be reaching on my part.

Also, for those who don't know, "Tilting at windmills," is a phrase deriving from an iconic scene in the novel. In this scene, Quixote, a former knight who's gone mad from reading too many tales of chivalry, believes that a bunch of windmills he sees are actually giants, and proceeds to "attack" them. He ends up getting injured by a windmill's sail that hits him off his horse.

Lightfoot describes Quixote as, "Wild, mellow, strong, weak," etc., because, as I previously mentioned, Quixote has gone mad. Though he believes in honorable notions of chivalry and does his best to "right wrongs", these notions are ultimately the delusions of an insane person. Thus, he often ends up hurting innocent people due to his naivete/lack of awareness of common reality. This is a large reason why Miguel Cervantes wrote the book, as he wanted to satirize chivalry with his work.

This is also why there's a sense of hopelessness and futility in this song. In Lightfoot's "version", Quixote believes he can yell across the sea, and that this will somehow change the world. He even "shouts like a prophet bold" and "stands like a preacher" whilst doing so. He truly believes what he is doing will help change things. But in reality, no one can yell across the sea, it is a futile effort, and it wouldn't change the world even if you could. When he is done, he goes "in vain to search again, where no one will hear." Presumably on another ocean shore somewhere.

In addition, I think the Quixote of this song could potentially be a representation for Lightfoot himself. Or an avatar for every musician traveling the world at the time of the song's release, trying to make social changes happen with their music. Given that the title of the album is also Don Quixote, and Lightfoot traveled from shore to shore of Canada while touring (as well as other musicians traveling from shore to shore of various countries while on tour), this interpretation might also make sense. Maybe Lightfoot saw himself, and others like him, as Don Quixotes of a sort, full of idealistic notions, but ultimately unable to effect any real change. It would also fit with the disenchantment expressed by much pop culture of the '70s, driven by realizations that hippie culture couldn't bring utopia, and events such as Watergate. The only thing that makes me doubt this interpretation a bit are the references to the rusty sword, battered book (which I assume is either a Bible, to fit with the priest imagery, or one of Quixote's treasured chivalric novels in Cervantes' book), and tarnished cross that this Quixote carries. However, I think those might just be references to the book/pieces of imagery meant to evoke a particular feeling more so than to be taken literally. If I'm right on this, it'd be yet another example of this song being a late-20th-century update of Cervantes' classic novel.

As far as the tone of the song is concerned, its rather upbeat for the most part, but at times has a sense of melancholy about it, mainly at the parts where Quixote attempts to futilely shout across the sea. This also imitates the tone of the novel to a degree, as Don Quixote is tragi-comic in its cruel absurdity.

Also, I like how Lightfoot switches from a third person perspective of Quixote in the first verse, to Quixote's own point of view in the second, then back to third person for the rest of the song. Lightfoot uses that second verse to have Quixote describe his own past, and also to give us an idea as to the personal motivations behind the character's endeavors. I also appreciate the episodic way Lightfoot writes the song, which is exactly like the book. Lightfoot mentions all kinds of different people, presumably ones that this modern Quixote has met on his travels, but doesn't linger on any one person or their story. He also repeats the chorus about Quixote shouting "across the ocean" as if he is constantly traveling to multiple shores across the world.

Ultimately, not my favorite Lightfoot song, but one that I like, and I very much appreciate its lyrical content. I love these lyrics in particular: "Then in a blaze of tangled hooves,he gallops off across the dusty plain," which is a reference to La Mancha (a dusty, arid area of Spain that the fictional Quixote hails from), and a reference to Quixote's faithful, yet tired, weary, and worn-down old nag Rocinante. I also love this lyric: "See the wise and wicked ones, who feed upon life's sacred fire." Remarkable imagery; you can ascertain several meanings from that one.

P.S. -- In response to John Johnston, I don't think your interpretation of the lyric, "See the drunkard in the tavern, stemming gold to make ends meet," is correct. Your analysis doesn't make any sense in context with the other lyrics. I looked the phrase up on Google last night, and there were a couple posts on Lightfoot-centric forums about it. Apparently, one of those posts was created by a person who recently asked Lightfoot himself, after a concert (nowadays, Lightfoot often comes out and interacts with people who linger for a while after his concerts), what "stemming for gold" means. He responded that "stemming" was slang, similar in meaning to "bumming," as in "bumming for cigarettes." Supposedly, a couple people Lightfoot knew in the '70s used "stemming" as slang a lot, and they would "stem" for cigarettes all the time, so Lightfoot incorporated that bit of slang into the song. I think it makes the most sense, honestly. A drunkard would definitely be the kind of person who'd bum a few gold coins off someone in order to get another beer. And if you wonder why the drunkard would be bumming for "gold coins", I chalk that up as another reference to the book/the time period the book was written in (late 16th century, early 17th), when the Spanish were most likely still using gold coins as currency.

If the internet is to be believed, the "stemming gold" line (which never made sense to me) is a reference to gold smelters (or whatever the name is for someone who extracts gold) "liberating" tiny quantities of gold from their workplace in their pipe-stems.

The "ones who put the collar on the ones who dare not tell" is anyone who has economic, political, or person leverage over another person to get them bent to their own will. The leverage prevents them from telling, I guess, because the common knowledge of the "leverage" would be worst than the collar being imposed on them. Good example is the way businesses control their employees through economic blackmail, e.g. our way or the highway.

I never did manage to "read" cervantes. always got about halfway. But i did get it completed on an audiobook.

I always felt Don Quixote represented society's attitude toward ideals like honour, justice, equality, etc; Basically, you have to be crazy to truly believe such nonsense.

Gordon manages to extend this metaphor. Our more "progressive" society does lip service to some of the afore mentioned ideals, but only really cares about the appearance of such.

As with circle of steel, Gordon does a fantastic job of highlighting the contradictions and hypocrisy of humankind.

The "man who tips the needle" can also be a reference to when goods were purchased by weight using a scale with a needle to indicate balance. The "man who puts the collar on the ones who dare not tell" possibly references priests and confession.