Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

To: Stonewall Jackson
I always felt it was a "noble" song.... kind of a tribute to men that faced danger bravely.....

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.

17 posted on 11/18/2006 7:10:28 AM PST by Dick Vomer (liberals suck......... but it depends on what your definition of the word "suck" is.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies ]


To: Dick Vomer
Several years ago, I went to Canada with my Boy Scout troop. We went out onto Lake Superior on a tour boat and passed near the Edmond Fitzgerald's grave. The wind was up that day, so the surface was rather choppy, but one of the crewmen on the tour boat told us that on a calm day you can see a brownish tinge to the water around the gravesite due to all of the iron ore still inside the ship.
19 posted on 11/18/2006 7:21:26 AM PST by Stonewall Jackson ("I see storms on the horizon.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies ]

To: Dick Vomer

If you read the history of the Lake Superior/Edmund Fitzgerald,
Witch of November thing it is just beautiful the way
Lightfoot put it all together, and the eerie, ethereal
guitar sounds just make the right "ambience" for the
drama he was describing...i.e. sailors getting caught in
the lore of the Lake, and about to face eternity
just doing their work.....a masterful job by Lightfoot.
But I have to apologize, I really appreciate his composing skills.


22 posted on 11/18/2006 7:32:15 AM PST by Getready (Truth and wisdom are more elusive, and valuable, than gold and diamonds)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies ]

To: Dick Vomer

Lightfoot has done a lot of songs with a nautical theme, and IMHO "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" is one of the weaker ones. I like "Ghosts of Cape Horn", "Triangle", "Christian Island", and "High and Dry" a bet better.


25 posted on 11/18/2006 7:39:14 AM PST by Non-Sequitur
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies ]

To: Dick Vomer

I Like:

"Sundown ya better take care if I find you 'been sneakin' 'round my back stair!"


30 posted on 11/18/2006 8:01:41 AM PST by BombHollywood
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies ]

To: Dick Vomer

..And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters..

Great song. Thanks for the post.

48 posted on 11/18/2006 9:40:11 AM PST by MrNatural ("...You want the truth!?...")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies ]

To: Dick Vomer

"Sundown" is a great song.


66 posted on 11/18/2006 5:45:21 PM PST by dfwgator
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson