Very few songs reach me like this one does.  I think the reason is that hearing it takes me back to the most innocent and youngest days when romance and love was real to me.

I remember being fourteen years old walking down a a dirt path crossing my creek leading back home... "I never thought I could feel this way and I got to say I just don't get it... I don't know where we went wrong but the feelings gone and I just can't get it back."

I'd imagine the singer (Gordon Lightfoot) talking to that woman he loved so dearly but somehow everything they ever felt had somehow vanished.  It seemed impossible to me because the way he sang.. He was still so in love.  There was so much passion and honesty in his voice... and there was also... utter loneliness.  You get overwhelmed by the isolation he projects.    I remember once the day someone took the fun out of being alone.   I remember finally understanding loneliness and not just being alone. 

At the age of 14 who hasn't felt that feeling.  Now.. older.... married and divorced... I sometimes notice while skating in the park.  I'm that boy singing those words.  Every verse now ..."And I will never be set free as long as I'm a ghost that you can't see"  I catch myself and remember where I'm at.   Private moments where private feelings give you away are something you have to rope in quickly.  It's good to know that some songs can still capture your heart and feelings.  For me this is one of them.  I enjoy being that ghost and hero.   Most of all I enjoy knowing that some songs project such imagery that they can take you back in time to a better place where your innocense is still entact.

I think what is most special about this song is that it parallels reality.  For all it's romantic storytelling, those stories end more like what real life is.    While his girl is fond of him and true, you understand that somethings are just not meant to be.  The hero doesn't always get the girl.

If you could read my mind love
What a tale my thoughts could tell
Just like an old time movie
About a ghost from a wishing well
In a castle dark or a fortress strong
With chains upon my feet
You know that ghost is me
And I will never be set free
As long as I'm a ghost that you can't see
If I could read your mind love
What a tale your thoughts could tell
Just like a paperback novel
The kind that drugstores sell
When you reach the part where the heartaches come
The hero would be me
But heroes often fail
And you won't read that book again
Because the endings just too hard to take

I'd walk away like a movie star
Who gets burned in a three way script
Enter number two
A movie queen to play the scene
Of bringing all the good things out in me
But for now love, lets be real
I never thought I could act this way
And I've got to say that I just don't get it
I dont know where we went wrong
But the feelings gone
And I just cant get it back

If you could read my mind love
What a tale my thoughts could tell
Just like an old time movie
About a ghost from a wishing well
In a castle dark or a fortress strong
With chains upon my feet
But the stories always end
And if you read between the lines
You'll know that I'm just tryin to understand
The feelings that you lack
I never thought I could feel this way
And I've got to say that I just to get it
I don't know where we went wrong
But the feelings gone
And I just cant get it back