[edgoffin]

I continue to be amazed that he could forget, like, ALL the lyrics, and yet remember melodies and timing with seemingly little trouble at all.

The John Mann Spirit of the West documentary on his battle with Alzheimer's highlighted something similar. Similarly he can recall the timing and melody for songs, but the words are gone. There's a section with one of the doctor's where he explains part of his study is trying to figure out how the different parts of the brain work together. I thought Gord had less trouble with Secret Path songs, though they pre-dated the MMP songs. Just based on the show at the NAC in Ottawa, he appeared to use the monitor less (though it may have been stage placement of the monitor).

Gord did use monitors on the FC tour (at least that was the first time I noticed them), I wonder if there was some memory issue that was an early sign of a larger concern? I saw a few shows that tour, and I recall a train wreck of Poets (that he pulled back on the rails in a funny way). At the time it struck me as odd, Gord messing up lyrics has happened since the early days, but he really botched it.