“I’m Not Sayin’” is an early song by the Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot, written and recorded in the mid-1960s as he was beginning his career. It appeared on his 1966 debut album and was an early single, reaching the Canadian charts.
The lyric is a frank and unsentimental kind of love song: rather than promising eternal devotion, the singer offers only that he will try — he is “not saying” he can love or be true forever, just that he means to make the attempt. That honesty set it apart from the era’s more conventional romantic songs.
The song was recorded by a range of artists, including the German singer Nico in a version featuring a young Jimmy Page on guitar. Its plain melody and acoustic feel made it well suited to bluegrass.
