“The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale 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 suppertime came, the old cook came on deck saying
‘Fellas, it’s too rough to feed you.’
At seven pm a main hatchway caved in, he said
‘Fellas, it’s been good to know you.’
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.”
Gordon Lightfoot, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
What a great song, but so sad because you know they all died.
Chilling. At around age 14 , this was my favorite song. Still love to hear it today.
Thank you Youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vST6hVRj2A
The Ship of State perhaps?
You knew it was officially fall in November, when the first major rain/wind storm was forecast, and the local radio station played this song!
As a life long Michigan resident this song has some special meaning. First off, my wife and I met about a week after the sinking of the Fitz. She was a Freshman, I a Sophmore. We were in college. It sank on November 10th, 1975 and we met a few days later. It was very much in the news. I remember it quite well.
We travel up to Whitefish Point every year and visit the Lighthouse that sits on the shore of Lake Superior. They play a documentary about The Edmund Fitzgerald in one of the old buildings that is used as a theatre. It’s extremely interesting and we seem to never get tired watching it. You can walk along the shore for quite a ways in either direction. It’s a lovely walk and we make a point of visiting whenever we go North. A little east of Whitefish Point is “the Soo”(Sault Ste. Marie). Accross the International Bridge lies Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. A much bigger town than her sister in Michigan. On the Michigan side there is an old Freighter named The SS Valley Camp. Inside there is an extensive museum. One of the exhibits is a lifeboat from the Fitzgerald that washed up on shore after its sinking. It’s both eerie and amazing what the waves and rocks did to this lifeboat. The bow is split in two and the whole thing is just a twisted mess. The bell from the Fitzgerald is also on display, along with photographs of the ship sitting on the bottom of Lake Superior.
If traveling through the Upper Penisula of Michigan, it would be worthwhile to stop at Whitefish Point and Sault Ste. Marie and visit. Especially if you’re interested in freighters and the Edmund Fitzgerald.