If You Could Read My Mind#Stars on 54 version

Lightfoot cited his divorce for inspiring the lyrics,[http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20001204/NEWS/312049924&cid=sitesearch "Gordon Lightfoot 'still out there'"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213072223/http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20001204/NEWS/312049924&cid=sitesearch |date=December 13, 2013 }} South Coast Today (Martin Griffith, Associated Press) December 4, 2000 which came to him as he was sitting in a vacant Toronto house one summer.{{cite web |url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/music/article/758999--how-gordon-lightfoot-wrote-if-you-could-read-my-mind |title=How Gordon Lightfoot wrote 'If You Could Read My Mind'|publisher=Toronto Star|access-date=February 3, 2010|date= February 2, 2010|author= Victoria Ahearn}} The song compares events in his relationship to a ghost movie and a paperback romance novel. The lyrics include the words: "I don't know where we went wrong. But the feeling's gone and I just can't get it back."

At the request of his daughter Ingrid, he performed the lyrics with a slight change: the line "I'm just trying to understand the feelings that you lack" is altered to "I'm just trying to understand the feelings that we lack." Lightfoot said in an interview that the difficulty with writing songs inspired by personal stories is that there is not always the emotional distance and clarity to make lyrical improvements such as the one his daughter suggested.{{cite web |url=http://www.performingsongwriter.com/gordon-lightfoot|title=Happy Birthday, Gordon Lightfoot | access-date=August 5, 2016 | date=November 17, 2012 | author=Lydia Hutchinson | publisher=Performing Songwriter Magazine}}

File:GordonLightfoot Interlochen.jpg

The song was produced by Lenny Waronker and Joe Wissert at Sunwest Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California,Production credit for the album 'Sit Down Young Stranger' (Reprise Records, 1969). with strings arranged by Nick DeCaro.Production credits on 'If You Could Read My Mind', single (Reprise Records 1970).

The song is in A major and uses the subtonic chord.Stephenson, Ken (2002). What to Listen for in Rock: A Stylistic Analysis, p.92. {{ISBN|978-0-300-09239-4}}.

According to Duran Duran lead singer Simon Le Bon, the chorus of their song "Save a Prayer" was based on "If You Could Read My Mind".

This song first appeared on Lightfoot's 1970 album Sit Down Young Stranger, later renamed If You Could Read My Mind following the song's success.{{citation needed|date=March 2020}}

On release, the song reached No. 1 on the Canadian Singles Chart and was his first recording to appear in the U.S., reaching No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in February 1971. Later in the year, it reached No. 27 on the Australian singles chart and No. 30 on the United Kingdom's singles chart. The song also reached No. 1 for one week on the Billboard Easy Listening chart, and was the first of four Lightfoot releases to reach No. 1.

In 1987, Lightfoot filed a lawsuit against Michael Masser, the composer of Whitney Houston's hit "The Greatest Love of All", alleging plagiarism of 24 bars of "If You Could Read My Mind"; the transitional section that begins "I decided long ago never to walk in anyone's shadow" of the Masser song has the same melody as "I never thought I could act this way and I got to say that I just don't get it; I don't know where we went wrong but the feeling's gone and I just can't get it back" of Lightfoot's song.

Lightfoot stated that he dropped the lawsuit when he felt it was having a negative effect on the singer Houston because the lawsuit was about the writer and not her.{{cite web|last1=Wake|first1=Matt|title=Gordon Lightfoot on Elvis, Dylan covering his songs, not suing Whitney over 'The Greatest Love of All'|url=http://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2015/02/gordon_lightfoot_talks_elvis_a.html|website=AL.com|date=February 17, 2015|access-date=July 26, 2015}} He also said that he did not want people to think that he had stolen his melody from Masser.{{cite web|author=Florian BODENSEHER |url=http://www.corfid.com/gl/biography.htm |title=Gordon Lightfoot – Biography |publisher=Corfid.com |access-date=April 19, 2014}} The case was settled out of court, and Masser issued a public apology.{{cite web|url=http://storyofsongs.blogspot.com/2009/08/greatest-love.html |title=Greatest Love |website=Storyofsongs.blogspot.com|date=August 29, 2009 |access-date=May 5, 2019}}

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{{Infobox song

| name = If You Could Read My Mind

| cover = Stars on 54.jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Stars on 54

| album = 54: Music from the Miramax Motion Picture, Volume 2

| released = 1998

| recorded =

| studio =

| venue =

| genre = Dance-pop

| length = 3:26

| label = Tommy Boy Music (UK)

| writer = Gordon Lightfoot

| chronology = Amber

| prev_title = One More Night

| prev_year = 1997

| next_title = Sexual (Li Da Di)

| next_year = 1999

| misc = {{Extra chronology

| artist = Jocelyn Enriquez

| type = single

| prev_title = Get Into the Rhythm

| prev_year = 1998

| title = If You Could Read My Mind

| year = 1998

| next_title = When I Get Close to You

| next_year = 2000

}}

{{Extra chronology

| artist = Ultra Naté

| type = single

| prev_title = Release the Pressure

| prev_year = 1997

| title = If You Could Read My Mind

| year = 1998

| next_title = Desire

| next_year = 2000

}}

{{External music video|{{YouTube|ujPza2jSUtQ|"If You Could Read My Mind"}}}}

}}

House music collective Stars on 54—consisting of Amber, Jocelyn Enriquez, and Ultra Naté—recorded a version of the song for the 1998 film 54, reaching No. 3 on Australia's ARIA Singles Chart and Canada's RPM 100 Hit Tracks chart, as well as No. 6 in New Zealand and No. 10 in Spain. Australian music channel Max included this version of "If You Could Read My Mind" in its list of the "1000 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2012.{{cite web |title= TOP 1000 GREATEST SONGS OF ALL TIME – 2012 |publisher= Max |date= 2012 |access-date= April 26, 2020 |url= https://www.maxtv.com.au/top-1000-greatest-songs-of-all-time-2 |archive-date= April 25, 2020 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200425172245/https://www.maxtv.com.au/top-1000-greatest-songs-of-all-time-2 |url-status= dead }}

{{Quote box|width=22%|align=right|quote="Our favourite production during the '90s was the song "If You Could Read My Mind" by the group Stars on 54. (...) It featured Ultra Nate (to date, our favourite female singer), as well as Amber and Jocelyn Enriquez. Except for the short (but intense) "discussion" between the three performers about who would get the first verse, it was an amazing session. In the end, the film company Miramax re-shot the conclusion of the movie and had the group perform the track. That's how much they loved the song."|source=—Producers the Berman Brothers talking about the song.{{cite book|last=Arena|first=James|title=Stars of 90's Dance Pop: 29 Hitmakers Discuss Their Careers|year=2017|publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc.|location=Jefferson, North Carolina}}}}

Can't Stop the Pop called "If You Could Read My Mind" "one of the most mind-bogglingly brilliant cover versions of the ‘90s", adding that it "remains a deeply fabulous single" and "a proudly ‘90s homage to disco that is as uplifting and joyous as there could be – and can now be rightly enjoyed as a triumphant celebration of everything that 54 represents."{{cite web|url= https://www.cantstopthepop.com/2020/11/16/stars-on-54-if-you-could-read-my-mind/ |title= Stars On 54 – If You Could Read My Mind |publisher= Can't Stop the Pop |date= November 16, 2020 |accessdate= July 11, 2021}}

A music video was made to accompany the single release. It pays homage to aspects of the disco-era presented through a 1990s lens. Amber and Ultra Naté perform in a room where every surface is covered in LED dancefloor tiles. Jocelyn Enriquez is swinging on a giant disco ball. In the end, the singers performs together on the stage in a night club, all three dressed in red outfits. In between these scenes, several clips from the movie 54 are shown.

{{Track listing

| headline = UK 12-inch vinyl (1998){{cite AV media notes|title=If You Could Read My Mind|author=Stars on 54|year=1998|type=UK 12-inch vinyl disc|publisher=Tommy Boy Records|id=TB 497}}

| total_length = 30:41

| title1 = If You Could Read My Mind

| note1 = Hex Hector Club Mix

| length1 = 9:30

| title2 = If You Could Read My Mind

| note2 = original club mix

| length2 = 6:11

| title3 = If You Could Read My Mind

| note3 = Hex Hector Dub Mix

| length3 = 7:00

| title4 = If You Could Read My Mind

| note4 = The Shark Dub Mix

| length4 = 8:00

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = European CD single (1998){{cite AV media notes|title=If You Could Read My Mind|author=Stars on 54|year=1998|type=European CD single liner notes|publisher=Tommy Boy Records|id=TBCD 7497}}

| total_length = 17:25

| title1 = If You Could Read My Mind

| note1 = original edit

| length1 = 3:27

| title2 = If You Could Read My Mind

| note2 = Hex Hector Club Mix

| length2 = 7:48

| title3 = If You Could Read My Mind

| note3 = original club mix

| length3 = 6:10

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = US cassette single (1998){{cite AV media notes|title=If You Could Read My Mind|author=Stars on 54|year=1998|type=US cassette single sleeve|publisher=Tommy Boy Records|id=TBC 7497}}

| title1 = If You Could Read My Mind

| note1 = album version

| title2 = If You Could Read My Mind

| note2 = instrumental

}}

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{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Australia|type=single|award=Gold|relyear=1998|certyear=1998|access-date=October 8, 2020}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true}}

{{Infobox song

| name = If You Could Read My Mind (25th Anniversary Edition)

| cover =

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Stars on 54

| album = 54: Music from the Miramax Motion Picture, Volume 2

| released = July 14, 2023

| recorded =

| studio =

| venue =

| genre = Dance-pop

| label = Tommy Boy Records (Reservoir Media)

| writer = Gordon Lightfoot

| chronology = Amber

| prev_title = This is Your Night (Special Edition)

| prev_year = 2023

| next_title = Being With You (Remixes)

| next_year = 2023

| misc =

{{External music video|{{YouTube|wtwYTtDyqN0|"If You Could Read My Mind"}}}}

}}

On July 14, 2023, Tommy Boy Records (Reservoir Media) issued the 16-track digital album "[https://music.apple.com/us/album/if-you-could-read-my-mind-remixes/1693414947 If You Could Read My Mind (25th Anniversary Edition)]" by Stars on 54 to celebrate the quarter-century anniversary of the original single. This marked the first time that many of the versions were made available on digital platforms.

{{Track listing

| headline = If You Could Read My Mind 25th Anniversary Edition (2023)

| title1 = If You Could Read My Mind

| note1 =

| length1 = 3:27

| title2 = If You Could Read My Mind

| note2 = Instrumental

| length2 = 3:36

| title3 = If You Could Read My Mind

| note3 = Original Club Mix

| length3 = 6:09

| title4 = If You Could Read My Mind

| note4 = Hex Hector Remix

| length4 = 3:35

| title5 = If You Could Read My Mind

| note5 = Hex Hector Remix - Extended

| length5 = 9:33

| title6 = If You Could Read My Mind

| note6 = Hex Hector Epic Piano Mix

| length6 = 4:13

| title7 = If You Could Read My Mind

| note7 = Hex Hector Dub Mix

| length7 = 7:04

| title8 = If You Could Read My Mind

| note8 = Hex Hector 12 Inch Raw Remix

| length8 = 7:38

| title9 = If You Could Read My Mind

| note9 = Hex Hector 12 Inch Raw Instrumental

| length9 = 7:38

| title10 = If You Could Read My Mind

| note10 = Silk's Uplifting Mix

| length10 = 10:15

| title11 = If You Could Read My Mind

| note11 = Silk's Uplifting Vocal

| length11 = 9:22

| title12 = If You Could Read My Mind

| note12 = Silk's Uplifting Reprise Version 1

| length12 = 7:05

| title13 = If You Could Read My Mind

| note13 = Silk's Uplifting Reprise Version 2

| length13 = 7:44

| title14 = If You Could Read My Mind

| note14 = Silk's House on 54 Mix

| length14 = 9:45

| title15 = If You Could Read My Mind

| note15 = Silk's House on 54 - Part 1 & 2

| length15 = 13:37

| title16 = If You Could Read My Mind

| note16 = Silk's Anthem Mix

| length16 = 9:10

}}

American singer Barbra Streisand covered the song on her 1971 album, Stoney End. A 1980 cover by Viola Wills peaked at No. 2 for five weeks on the dance/disco charts with a dance version of the song{{cite book |title= Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page =281}} and at No. 80 in Australia.{{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6|page=340}} Duane Steele reached No. 32 on the Canadian country charts with his version in 1998.{{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.3644.pdf| title=RPM Country 100 - August 3, 1998|website=Collectionscanada.gc.ca}} Johnny Cash also recorded a version of the song that was released posthumously on his 2006 album American V: A Hundred Highways, which topped the Billboard 200.{{cite magazine |title=Johnny Cash Chart History |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/Johnny-Cash/chart-history/TLP |magazine=Billboard |access-date=2 May 2023}}

• List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1971 (U.S.)

{{Reflist}}

• [http://gordonlightfoot.com/ifyoucouldreadmymind.shtml Lyrics of this song]
• [https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/quotif-you-could-read-my-mindquot-emc Page about song at Canadian Encyclopedia]

{{Lightfoot}}

{{Ultra Naté}}

{{Steve "Silk" Hurley credits}}

{{Duane Steele}}

{{Jocelyn Enriquez}}

{{Colleen Hewett}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1970 singles

Category:1971 singles

Category:1970 songs

Category:1974 singles

Category:1998 singles

Category:Amber (singer) songs

Category:Barbra Streisand songs

Category:Colleen Hewett songs

Category:Duane Steele songs

Category:Glen Campbell songs

Category:Gordon Lightfoot songs

Category:Jocelyn Enriquez songs

Category:Pop ballads

Category:Reprise Records singles

Category:Song recordings produced by Lenny Waronker

Category:Songs written by Gordon Lightfoot

Category:Tommy Boy Records singles

Category:Ultra Naté songs

Category:Viola Wills songs