Posted on 11/10/2005 1:43:45 PM PST by apackof2
DETROIT (AP) — It has been described in many ways: Haunting. Comforting. Powerful. Educational.
But one thing is certain. Gordon Lightfoot's song, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," has kept alive the memory of 29 men who lost their lives on Nov. 10, 1975 when the ore carrier plunged to the bottom of Lake Superior during a nasty storm.
"In large measure, his song is the reason we remember the Edmund Fitzgerald," said maritime historian Frederick Stonehouse. "That single ballad has made such a powerful contribution to the legend of the Great Lakes."
Three decades after the tragedy, the Fitzgerald remains the most famous of the 6,000 ships that have gone down on the Great Lakes.
Many owe their awareness of the Fitzgerald's fate to Lightfoot, whose own initial knowledge of the sinking came from a magazine.
Lightfoot read about the Fitzgerald in a Newsweek article and used it as the inspiration to pen what would become one of his signature songs.
Clocking in at 6 1/2 minutes, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" appeared on the 1976 album "Summertime Dream" and eventually made it to No. 2 on the pop charts.
The song remained on the charts for 21 weeks and has never really gone away. Lightfoot still performs it at concerts, including a show at Detroit's Fox Theatre over the summer.
Meeting him backstage that day was Ruth Hudson, whose son Bruce was working as a deckhand on the Fitzgerald when it went down. Lightfoot and Hudson have become friends over the years.
Hudson, who lives in North Ridgeville, Ohio, and saw Lightfoot perform near Cleveland the year the song was released, said the song has been therapeutic to the families of the crew.
"It's meant a lot. It's kept the men and the memorial to the men alive," she said. "I think it's been good for the families. They have felt comfort in it. I have talked to just about all of them, and I haven't talked to anyone who didn't like the song."
Lightfoot declined to be interviewed for this story, but he told The Associated Press in 2000 that "Wreck" is "a song you can't walk away from."
"You can't walk away from the people (victims), either," he said. "The song has a sound and total feel all of its own."
The structure of the song is simple: 14 verses, each four lines long, and the 450-plus words are carefully chosen and accompanied by a haunting melody.
The song tells the story of the Fitzgerald's fatal voyage, which began Nov. 9 in Superior, Wis., where it was loaded with 26,116 tons of iron ore and ready to set sail for Detroit.
A day later it was being pounded by 90-mph wind gusts and 30-foot waves.
Ernest McSorley, the ship's captain, radioed a trailing freighter, the Arthur M. Anderson, and said that the Fitzgerald had sustained topside damage and was listing. At 7:10 p.m., he told the Anderson: "We are holding our own."
A short time later, the ship disappeared from radar without issuing an SOS. After a few days, a vessel with sonar was able to locate the Fitzgerald only 15 miles from the safe haven of Whitefish Bay.
But Lightfoot's song does more than tell the story, it transports the listener on board the Fitzgerald that fateful night:
"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."
And then the crescendo:
"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."
Several memorial events are planned to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the sinking, including a ceremony at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point and a service at the Mariners' Church of Detroit.
And undoubtedly "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" will be heard and discussed.
"Any bit of literature, prose or poetry that magnifies the loss of loved ones is so dramatic. That is comforting to those people. That means that someone else is sharing your grief. We bear one another's burdens, so that helps," said Bishop Richard W. Ingalls of the Mariners' Church. Ingalls tolled the church bell 29 times the morning after the sinking.
"Gordon Lightfoot's song definitely has given it a life that seems not to end."
What caused the ship to sink? There are a couple of theories cited in the "Marine Casualty Report" by the US. Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation Report. Since there were no survivors nor witnesses, their report is based on testimonies and an underwater survey of the wreck. This report suggests that the Fitzgerald was taking on water due to earlier damage from the storm and that around 7:15 p.m. it plunged headfirst into a large wave and sank abruptly.
That's real macho for a Canuck. He was just lucky that my grandfather wasn't around to kick his a-s.
Harry Chapin was hitting on my date when we saw him in concert in 1977.
That is a GREAT tagline!!!!!
I have listened to that song a bunch of times, and it always gives me a sense of the feeling of helplessness that nature can engender amongst those who have seen it at its worst.
When experienced sailors look at each other and say "We're screwed..." it usually means something.
I am one... of many.
Harry Chapin should have known better not to take a VW Rabbit on the LIE.
I just read an article on Wikipedia about it a few seconds ago. At 19:10 the final transmission was sent saying "we are holding our own", but by 19:20 a near by ship couldn't find the Fitzgerald on radar.
Eerie.
One of the most haunting songs ever written.
"Does anyone know
Where the love of God goes,
When the waves to the minutes to hours."
I can really picture the horror those men suffered and it brings tears to my eyes.
gahh. Typical celebrity. He was probably in detox...
Usually sailors will put on a good show for each other. In addition to being an ego thing, it helps keep morale up just a little bit longer.
The tagline is the last part of a line from a show called "Slings and Arrows", which begins, "Many of you are under the impression that my reason is hanging by a thread. I'm here to tell you that the best stuff happens just before the thread snaps."
We now return you to your regularly scheduled discussion.
Well, isn't that special? I always had him pegged as a wuss, but now I guess I'll upgrade that to full-on jackass ;)
I ran a fuel bunkering operation in Duluth-Superior for 16 years and the captain of our lighter vessel helped put the last N6 oil on board the Fitz. He knew most of the guys who worked for Columbia Steamship Company, the ship's owner. He said the regular cook was ill and missed the last voyage. His replacement cook was a spooky guy and on the evening they left Superior he mentioned that he felt he was going to a better place sometime soon.
I agree. I'd also say that gazing out across a gray, rain-swept Lake Superior on a cold autumn day conjures up particularly forlorn, haunting emotions.
Great song, but "Canadian Railroad Trilogy" is even better, and Lightfoot's best song.
Gord sure can tell a story.
Oh I am sorry to hear that, sounds like he had an anger mangement and/or emtional problems
...and your mom did not have him arrested for assault or sued? Yeah right!
The Ftizgerald was famous on the lakes; set 2 speed records.
The owner died of a heart attack at the ship's launching when it lurched back toward the dock.
Everyone said it was cursed.
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