13 Reasons Why‘s fourth and final season on Netflix gave us a lot of answers to questions from seasons past but also opened up new questions. One question we had from this season was why do the students at Liberty High keep talking about someone named Gordon Lightfoot? Who even is he? We kinda figure out the whole story by the time the finale credits roll, but if you missed it, here’s everything you need to know.
During this season, those in the core friend group start to use a code word to text each other because they think their parents are tapping their devices. The code word is Gordon Lightfoot. The first time we hear it mentioned it is in episode seven when Justin (Brandon Flynn) storms into a classroom to tell Zach (Ross Butler), “I texted you twice. Gordon Lightfoot. Urgent.” So now we know the friends have chosen to use Gordon Lightfoot as a code word for each other that means they need to talk or get together to discuss something that they don’t want to discuss over their devices.
Clay (Dylan Minnette) and Justin realize that their phones are, in fact, tapped, when Clay’s parents tell the boys that they heard there’s a Gordon Lightfoot concert coming to town soon, and they know how much the kids like the singer. Knowing they hadn’t really spoken out loud about Gordon Lightfoot around Clay’s parents, the two teens get extra suspicious. Clay’s dad even breaks into a Gordon Lightfoot song, “Sundown,” at the dinner table, leaving the boys clueless as to what he’s even talking about.
The two come clean to Clay’s parents about some of their lies in an effort to get the parents to help the school still hold prom, and it’s when Clay and Justin are opening up that they tell them they aren’t actually Gordon Lightfoot fans. They say that it was Alex’s (Miles Heizer) idea to use his name, because he’s a big fan of the song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.” The show ends the 10th episode with all the remaining friends in the group burying Hannah’s old tapes for good. It’s here where Tyler (Devin Druid) tells them all, “If anyone ever needs any help, any time, any place, just send a group text. Say Gordon Lightfoot.”
The real Gordon Lightfoot is a Canadian singer who has been making folk and country music for decades. Listen to his song that Alex is such a huge fan of below.