November 10, 1975, the SS Edmund Fitzgerald was lost with all hands on deck in a fierce November storm on Lake Superior. The younger ones probably haven't even heard this song, but it was a staple of AM radio in the late 70s. It's a great, moving song--give it a listen.
Definitely heard the song before, good tune. Never knew the back story, nor the lyrics, but I'm not much of a lyric guy usually anyway. :)
GJ said about 16 hours later
In that case, you're probably allergic to Death Cab for Cutie. :)
Geoff said about 18 hours later
My words exactly Marc. Very good song, never understood a word he said or what it meant.
GJ said about 20 hours later
Must be his Canadian accent. ROTFLMAO. I'm in one of those moods, sorry. :)
GJ said about 20 hours later
For those lyrically challenged, here you go:
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy.
With a load of iron ore - 26,000 tons more
Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty
That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
When the gales of November came early
The ship was the pride of the American side
Coming back from some mill in Wisconson
As the big freighters go it was bigger than most
With a crew and the Captain well seasoned.
Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
When they left fully loaded for Cleveland
And later that night when the ships bell rang
Could it be the North Wind they'd been feeling.
The wind in the wires made a tattletale sound
And a wave broke over the railing
And every man knew, as the Captain did, too,
T'was the witch of November come stealing.
The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
When the gales of November came slashing
When afternoon came it was freezing rain
In the face of a hurricane West Wind
When supper time came the old cook came on deck
Saying fellows it's too rough to feed ya
At 7PM a main hatchway caved in
He said fellas it's been good to know ya.
The Captain wired in he had water coming in
And the good ship and crew was in peril
And later that night when his lights went out of sight
Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
Does anyone know where the love of God goes
When the words turn the minutes to hours
The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
If they'd fifteen more miles behind her.
They might have split up or they might have capsized
They may have broke deep and took water
And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters.
Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
In the ruins of her ice water mansion
Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams,
The islands and bays are for sportsmen.
And farther below Lake Ontario
Takes in what Lake Erie can send her
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
With the gales of November remembered.
In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed
In the Maritime Sailors' Cathedral
The church bell chimed, 'til it rang 29 times
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
Superior, they say, never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early.
Steve said 2 days later
I'm very surprised I never heard this song on the radio on Tuesday. One of these years, I'm going to go down for the ceremony they hold every November 10th to commemorate all the sailors lost on the great lakes.
Steve said 2 days later
oh, and I have touched the anchor of the Edmund Fitzgerald. It's at the Great Lakes Maritime Museum at Belle Isle in Detroit.
GJ said 2 days later
Cool, didn't know they brought that back up to the surface.
Steve said 3 days later
The bell from the Edmund Fitzgerald is at the Mariner's Church in Detroit too.
