Gordon Lightfoot - Black Day In July

It was two weeks after Thanksgiving when we were all at my aunt's house, about to bring my brother back to Toronto to get on a bus, when we were playing with her old record player.  Usually my sister and I try to put on Jay-Z's The Black Album which one of my cousins have on vinyl, but it seems that we've been forbidden from playing gangster rap at family gatherings.  A shame.  That day, we decided on some classic Gordon Lightfoot and eventually, "Black Day In July" was stuck in my head, and remained there for quite a bit of time.  Hell, it's still on repeat somewhere in there.

My dad's the one that told me "Black Day In July" was about the 1967 Detroit Riot, which is pretty obvious when you give it a listen (I just got the chorus stuck in my head, of course).  Socially charged songs are either good or awkward, but Gordy makes "Black Day In July" anything but dark and dreary.  It's almost peppy-sounding.  Huh.  At least it doesn't bring you down, it just tells the truth.  As a whole song, "Black Day In July" is solid classic rock track, and I am in love with the guitar work here.  Now give yourself a history lesson and listen to this one.