TORONTO - Gordon Lightfoot at Massey Hall -- which last night he called "the centre of my universe as a musician" -- is a local spring ritual that dates back nearly 40 years, to 1967.

The traditional Massey Hall Lightfoot run was interrupted for a couple of years, however, when the beloved singer-songwriter suffered complications from an abdominal aneurysm in 2002 and we very nearly lost him.

The narrowness of Lightfoot's escape -- not to mention the sheer determination that brought him back to the stage -- made last night's triumphant return more emotional and joyful than usual. Greeted by a standing ovation, he quipped, "Sorry I'm late," and started right in on Spanish Moss, from 1976's Summertime Dream. Backed by his longtime band -- guitarist Terry Clements, bassist Rick Haynes, keyboardist Mike Heffernan and drummer Barry Keane -- and sounding a tad tentative but pretty hale, Lightfoot pleased his adoring fans with a cross-section of tunes from his vast songbook, from last year's Harmony and Clouds Of Loneliness all the way back to Bitter Green and the show-stopping Canadian Railroad Trilogy. Surprisingly, there was no Early Morning Rain, but he did pull out a bunch of hits, including Beautiful, If You Could Read My Mind, Sundown, Old Dan's Records, The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald and Cotton Jenny.

It was clear that Lightfoot's lung power is not what it used to be, and a few numbers -- like the gorgeous Christian Island -- were unexpectedly abbreviated. But no one seemed disappointed, and why would they be? His intricate, vividly personal songs -- which plumb sources as varied as the '60s folk tradition and traditional seafaring stories and add an unabashed dose of Canadian history -- were presented with simple, tasteful accompaniment and that unforgettable if slightly frail voice.

It's interesting to read between the lines of some of the more reflective songs -- Don Quixote, Minstrel Of The Dawn, I Used To Be A Country Singer and In My Fashion among them -- and see them through the lens of Lightfoot's illness and recovery, as they reveal the difficulties of a performer's life and the qualities he's had to rely on to be successful and to survive this latest crisis. Still, the show's high point was one of the softest, simplest tunes -- the lovely Song For A Winter's Night, which apparently was written "during a thunderstorm in Cleveland." Long may he run.