Yes, Lightfoot recorded it. In fact, he had been performing it live for more than a decade. It was always an audience favorite.

And yes, he recorded mostly his own songs, as do Dylan and Simon as other examples, but they also occasionally recorded someone else's song. On Lightfoot's first (official) album, he had three covers (First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (Ewan MacColl), Changes (Phil Ochs) and Pride of Man (Hamilton Camp). Over the years, he recorded maybe a half dozen other covers scattered over several different albums.

As for the lyrics, a couple of friends tried to transcribe Lightfoot's version; they are available on the Dream Street Rose album page on my web site at gordonlightfoot.com. He has an auction call at the start, and there are probably some differences scattered throughout the song. One of these days I'll have to compare the lyrics here with what my friends came up with.