Song of the Day 11/20: Gordon Lightfoot, “Sundown”

Most of what Trump does would be considered “erratic behavior” in other adults, even members of Congress, but it’s all normal for him. He’s acted this way for years, so though he has clearly deteriorated, the thinking goes, the substrate of vengeance and self-aggrandizement was always close to the surface, it’s just showing through more often. But his increasingly rambling public statements, like his absurdly vituperative screeds against late-night talk show hosts, have people talking about “sundowning,” the tendency of dementia patients to grow increasingly confused at the edge of night.

Gordon Lightfoot is best remembered today for “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” his tribute to the ore freighter that sank on Lake Superior 50 years this month. But his best-selling single, the only one to reach No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100, was “Sundown,” the title track of his 1974 LP. The lead guitarist is Red Shea, Lightfoot’s longtime sideman. Lightfoot wrote it about his girlfriend at the time, Cathy Smith, later famous for her role in John Belushi’s death.