Why does this song not have more views? One of the BEST songs in the world. A true classic. My dad used to play this on his guitar to my sister and i when we were little. So many memories!!
+mariehansler This song actually has way more views than you think. I'm looking to right and there's videos of this song with 250k views, another with 7.7 million, another with 135k, this one with 2.9 million. Add them all up and it comes up to a lot of views.
A true classic. Music is not the same anymore. Its festering garbage. We can thank the evil greedy record companies, as they dumb down our children with the crap that's spewed out today, by these evil psychopaths. There I vented.... Lol
This is a real classic and I think it was Lightfoot's best song, his masterpiece, for it was not only a great sound but told the story of a tragedy better than anybody else ever could. To this day you cannot hear the name "Edmund Fitzgerald" without hearing that tune inside your head. Great song, Gordon, great song.
I listened to this song on am radio almost every morning eating breakfast. I remember being really affected by the part where the boys don't get to eat. Flash forward to present day I saw it on my music list and started listening. When the old cook came on deck, I started tearing up and almost sobbing this is a testimony to the power music holds and how powerful it is when a true artist performs it. Thank you for this
This is my favorite song of all time! Such an eerie song. I've always loved this song but never knew it was about a real ship until I was about 20? I was in Michigan and watching tv on November 10. They were ringing the bell and calling out every name of the people who died that night. Brings much more meaning knowing that.. Song has meant more to me since then. Great Song from a GREAT SINGER!
For six weeks, my 13-year-old son played nothing but this song on his guitar in the hospital until he died on November 10, 1980. One year later, I learned that the downing of the Edmund Fitzgerald was on November 10, 1975. It has a powerful meaning to me.
I grew up in Sarnia, Ontario, which is about 45 minutes northeast of Detroit. We could get all of the Detroit TV stations on cable TV. I remember watching the six o'clock news broadcast from WXYZ-TV Channel 7 on November 10, 1975 and hearing anchorman Bill Bonds announce the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald. I also remember what the weather was like that day: cold, windy, and uncharacteristically bitter. After learning of the sinking, it seemed that same very cold, bitter wind had seeped into the room where I was sitting watching TV, and into my bones.
+Steve Struthers I live near the north Atlantic ocean in New Jersey and we have had our share of fearsome storms. I will never forget that day in '75 when I heard the terrible news about the wreck of an iron boat on Lake Superior and the lives that were lost. Until then, I never thought of the Great Lakes as particularly dangerous. Now I know differently. This is a powerful song and it still gives me a chill to this day when I hear it.
I grew up in the Detroit area and now live in Northern Michigan. This song still chills me to the bone. I have been to Whitefish Bay and saw Lake Superior in July and the weather was very cold and the water was just crazy. I then as well to this very day cry over this so sad wreck. Edmund Fitzgerald will live on through all of us. God Bless them all. I'll never forget...
On board the USS Vulcan in the middle of a storm from the gates of hell. Sitting on the deck in berthing with my back braced against my rack as the deck tossed up and fell like a stone beneath me. I drug out my old 12-string Yamaha I named Delilah and played this song for my mates. Not the most comforting tune considering the circumstances but a sailors life is tenuous at best in the grip of a storm. Only the newbies complained and commented my choice in music sucked; I just played louder.
More than 30 years and this song still gets to me. A tribute to all those brave men who have for Centuries made their way down to the Sea in Ships. May they and their families find peace, and let us all pledge to Remember. Thank you Gordon.
I haven't heard this in years. It's a great song. I never knew it was based on a real event. So very sad. Gordon Lightfoot did a beautiful job singing and paying tribute to the brave souls on board.
Saw Gord in concert in Denver in 1978 when I was visiting the USA. He is one of Canada's finest. Still love his music and listen to to his songs with admiration and enjoyment. Much respect from Australia.
This great song takes me back. Always a pleasure to listen to. Fantastic guitar, great story telling in pure poetic form, and done live without studio tracks. Truly amazing!!!
If it was not for this tune ..then no one but the families would know of or remember the wreck of Ed....What a masterpiece...Hats off..2 thumbs up and job well done...You rule Gordon!!!!!!!!!
I remember my 2nd grade teacher playing this song for us in class and explaining what happened... Rest in Peace, Mr. D! I'll always remember you when I hear this song...
Saw Gordon Lightfoot in concert here in Omaha on March 20th of 2014. While this song has always been a haunting melody, it it much more so when you hear it performed live before a rapt audience. Simply incredible!
I remember visiting Paradise, Mi. in Dec. 1975. Went out to Whitefish Pt. It was a very windy, cold and clear day. But I was thinking what a sad and lonely place to meet your end...out in the uncaring Lake Superior.
This song draws me back in time to my freshman year at Lake Superior State in Sault Ste. Marie, MI aka. "The Soo". The storm was very intense that evening. The next morning, while having breakfast at CANUSA Hall, the news broke that the Edmund Fitzgerald was lost. Very powerful memories are captured in this wonderfully done song.
+Don Plachta My older brother was there the same time. He was married and lived at one of the western halls. He mentioned they had the radio on during the evening listening for news of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
It's hard to wrap my brain around the fact that if not for the tragedy this song would not exist; it saddens me deeply yet it is a beautiful masterpiece (tribute) I have always enjoyed listening to.
Who would imagine this song would become a hit pop song? Definitely not the typical pop fare, great song, storytelling and music all rolled into one transcendent package.
After all the music trends over the years, decades, Gordon Lightfoot's tribute to the Edmund Fitzgerald is, finally, becoming FIRMLY entrenched & recognized as a classic that will withstand the test of time forever. This song also gives the mystique, the tragedy, to a new generation; and will to future generations. They will be curious to learn about the big Fitz because of Lightfoot's song. I grew up in Canada, on Lake Superior. Respect for Lightfoot from LCDR USN weapons officer.
such a souful reverence..in the hearts 'n minds of those with the knowing. one of your greatest tributes, Gordon.....well done, ,my friend. 5 stars seem so little compared to the magnitude impact this incredible songs shares. It is my most favored & loved song.
When I was a kid, before I got into folk music; whenever we would pass through Orillia on our way to our family cottage, I used to think "This is no ordinary town." Turns out I was right, for it produced one of, if not the greatest folk singer of all time, Mr. Gordon Lightfoot! The auditorium of their opera house is named after him!
Gordon Lightfoot is a living Canadian Legend. There will never be anyone else that sounds like him. Nobody else could have done justice in such a respectful, poignant manner to the tragedy of the Edmund Fitzgerald. I remember it sand when I was 11 years old. I got a chance to go to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum a couple years ago. I paid tribute to the ship, the crew, the song, the mystique, the tragedy that day. I'll never forget it.
A great songwriter who captured both the tragedy and humanity of what was surely a difficult moment for all who were waiting when the news came through. I have always felt a kindred link to this song though I had never read a word about it nor had I known anyone who was affected by the event personally. Sometimes the right words come and the moment is remembered forever. What a beautiful tribute that remains.
I've always loved this song. It speaks to my soul. Perhaps, just because I grew up on the shores of the Great Lakes and it was always a part of us. But the loss. The loss of the ship and crew. It's a lot to take in if you study it all.
There are hundreds.. yes, hundreds.. of ships just like this one, along with the souls of their lost crews, laying at the bottom. So, please, every time you cook something in a metal pot, or drive your mostly-metal car, or use electricity/heat from coal-fired generation, or whatever.. please take a moment and remember not just the crew of the Edmund Fitzgerald, but all of them who risk their better health and lives to make it possible by hauling ore and minerals across the vast deathspans of the American Great Lakes. Out here in California, not a lot people really know (knew) what this song was truly about. Many figure it was just another old folk song about an olden days story.. and I always like to fill many of them in on the details that it was not an "olden days" story, but rather a very modern and technologically advanced ship that sank during their own lifetime. Thirty-nine years after the fact, I continue to cast my condolences to the families and friends of those who were lost in this tragedy.
+FromMyEyesToYours It's also important to note that the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald was the last such tragedy on the Great Lakes. People wised up and stopped tempting gichi-gami.
I was going to school at Traverse City Community College which has one of the few remaining maritime academies in the country, at the time of the tragedy. The classes I was attending were next to the Academy and there was a pall of silence down the hall from our classroom. At the time I wasn't aware of was that a former student of the Academy from one or two years before was one of crew members. There was a memorial held out at the pier where the Academy's boat was moored, for all the crew. My older brother was attending school at the same time at Lake Superior State College.
+John Zook wow. i'm from the Cleveland area, and i only heard snippets from when this happened. i was too young to capture the true gravity of the situation at the time. but, have always loved this song. your caption has given me insight into one of our times' great tragedies. thank you
Sara, you are right! One of the best told songs/story ever written and took over two years to perfect it to the satisfaction of the families involved. They were very happy the results. How do I know?......well let's just say some relatives were involved. God bless you Gordon.
Its one of those songs that dosnt feel right singing. Ive always sat quietly while it played. Eather in memory of those lost or in awe of the power of this song.
We came across the Mackinaw Bridge around noon that day. I have never seen the straits so rough before or felt the bridge sway like that. It was truly frightening. The Bridge patrol took us across in groups for safer crossing with larger, heavier vehicles to the outside. A half hour later a semi jackknifed on the bridge and they had to close it for the rest of the day. The weather around Superior is far worse. This has song always choked me up and ran chills down my spine, it always will.
despite too many late nights when i should be up in the morning , you tube is marvelous. A friend played me this today and I was so impressed! I have discovered somebody who is well worth getting to know. I hope that he plays in England soon.
I was born within sight of Lake Superior (in Duluth), and I spent many happy childhood summer days visiting my grandparents at their cabin along the lake's North Shore in northeast Minnesota. There is no more idyllic place on earth when the sun shines because Superior is so majestic in bearing. Of course, Superior similarly amplifies the effects of bad weather, which is a common sight in late autumn as the arctic air pushes forcibly south. RIP, crew of the Fitz.
I was also raised within sight of this... it still 'feels' for me. People do not understand how real "the fresh water Oceans" are. I have seen other Oceans.
Carl Stenholm I've always marveled at the Great Lakes. I was part of a tall ship excursion which started in Port Dover on Lake Erie and ended in Tobermory, Ontario between Lake Huron and the Georgian Bay. The adventure lasted two weeks and I was seasick most of the first week. I'll never forget the experience. Looking back, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity.
i remember as a child in the 70's listening to this song over and over again on a 45 record while i would stair at a toy boat of mine and daydream it was on the water for hours, i had no idea what the song was about but it put me in the frame of mind of a ship on the water and made the daydream so much more vivid.
There is no mystery to the loss of the "Fitz". She was poorly designed and constructed and broke up under the stress of constant hogging and sagging while underway in a big sea. She was known to be distressed on prior voyages. In many respects it was a case of the shipowners having callous disregard for the seamen manning her. They were lost to greed. The Fitz should have been paid off long before she foundered.
One of my all-time favorites. I remember this one well form hearing it on the radio when it first came out (on the now-defunct county station 1280 KFOX). One of the DJs (Corky Mayberry IIRC) had been a maritime sailor on the great lakes earlier in his life and had served with some of the crew members of the Edmund Fitzgerald on other ships. He made sure all of SoCal that heard him knew the story.
Crossing the Atlantic in during the winter of 86, we hit a cpl of storms and alot of rough seas. This song was in my mind alot during those storms. Only time i have ever wished did not know a Gordon Lightfoot song word for word.
Probably the most perfect song ever written. An epic poem set to an eery melody sung in a plaintive haunting voice. Each piece fits the subject superbly. Listen to the lyrical construction - not a word or syllable is out of place or seems forced into the rhyme in any way. I dare anyone on a ship, at night, in a storm not to think of this song and get chills and a feeling of dread.
What can a person say about how great a entertainer this man is, a person can feel his music deep into their soul, it shall live forever within my heart
This man could sing from the phone book and stir up emotions. Absolutely one of the best songs ever. I am biased though, I am from Michigan, this song unites us and the Canadians . We both share the Great Lakes, we both are united in shipping and the loses that the those lakes inflict upon those who venture on them. I remember when this ship went down, I am so glad this song goes on and reminds us of the loss we all shared when it happened.
@Deetroiter I live in York, England this song is a classic from every angle, the voice the music and the lyrics, so moving. I've never been to lake superoir, but this song makes me feel so much about the men who died. I really enjoy comments like what you have written. Thank you.
this is another hard song to hear my brother adored this song when he died i could not listen anymore im trying to now but it makes me cry too much will have to try again later
@Tailback Thanks for this post. I also grew up on an island in the PNW as a 4th gen kid of a maritime family & am glad you said this about this beautiful song.
We have a cottage 25 kms from where the EF went down. Spectacular scenery watching those waves smash across the shoreline in the fall. Gordy.....you're the Canadain Legend....no one write them like you!!
"Superior it's said, never gives up her dead, when the gales of November come early." This song perfectly captures what must have been the horrible awareness of the crew that night that they were going down. I've always admired Lightfoot's music and I had the privilege of attending a live performance of his at a small, intimate theater many years ago. He's always had his own distinctive voice and style. He wrote this song after reading a magazine article about the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
Its a story, a poem, a song. Its haunting, emotional and yet beautiful. In it's purest form it's a work of art.
"Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the mintutes to hours"
Those to me are the most haunting lyrics ever wriiten.
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
I'm only 23 years old and this song and "Sundown" are 2 of my favorites to play on my 12-string.
I'm only 6, and I also feel this way about my 12-string-play-along favorites.
you guys are good
Why does this song not have more views? One of the BEST songs in the world.
A true classic. My dad used to play this on his guitar to my sister and i when we were little. So many memories!!
+mariehansler you are blessed with wonderful memories, cherish them.
and yes it IS a wonderful song, unlike the songs of 2015 im afraid.
+mariehansler This song actually has way more views than you think. I'm looking to right and there's videos of this song with 250k views, another with 7.7 million, another with 135k, this one with 2.9 million. Add them all up and it comes up to a lot of views.
Answer: because it's boring and better read than sung.
A true classic. Music is not the same anymore. Its festering garbage. We can thank the evil greedy record companies, as they dumb down our children with the crap that's spewed out today, by these evil psychopaths. There I vented.... Lol
57 million views that's a lot.
This is a real classic and I think it was Lightfoot's best song, his masterpiece, for it was not only a great sound but told the story of a tragedy better than anybody else ever could. To this day you cannot hear the name "Edmund Fitzgerald" without hearing that tune inside your head. Great song, Gordon, great song.
I listened to this song on am radio almost every morning eating breakfast. I remember being really affected by the part where the boys don't get to eat. Flash forward to present day I saw it on my music list and started listening. When the old cook came on deck, I started tearing up and almost sobbing this is a testimony to the power music holds and how powerful it is when a true artist performs it.
Thank you for this
This is one of the most legendary songs ever written. Nobody does it like Gordon.
The news just came down that Gordon passed this evening. He was 84. Rest easy. Respect.
💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔
This is my favorite song of all time! Such an eerie song. I've always loved this song but never knew it was about a real ship until I was about 20? I was in Michigan and watching tv on November 10. They were ringing the bell and calling out every name of the people who died that night. Brings much more meaning knowing that.. Song has meant more to me since then. Great Song from a GREAT SINGER!
For six weeks, my 13-year-old son played nothing but this song on his guitar in the hospital until he died on November 10, 1980. One year later, I learned that the downing of the Edmund Fitzgerald was on November 10, 1975. It has a powerful meaning to me.
😭One of my favorite song writers and  performers of all time Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. (November 17, 1938 - May 1, 2023 R. I .P 😭
I grew up in Sarnia, Ontario, which is about 45 minutes northeast of Detroit. We could get all of the Detroit TV stations on cable TV. I remember watching the six o'clock news broadcast from WXYZ-TV Channel 7 on November 10, 1975 and hearing anchorman Bill Bonds announce the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
I also remember what the weather was like that day: cold, windy, and uncharacteristically bitter. After learning of the sinking, it seemed that same very cold, bitter wind had seeped into the room where I was sitting watching TV, and into my bones.
i was watching harry reasoner Back in North Dakota not yet grasping the magnitude of what happend I was 10 yrs old
+Steve Struthers I live near the north Atlantic ocean in New Jersey and we have had our share of fearsome storms. I will never forget that day in '75 when I heard the terrible news about the wreck of an iron boat on Lake Superior and the lives that were lost. Until then, I never thought of the Great Lakes as particularly dangerous. Now I know differently. This is a powerful song and it still gives me a chill to this day when I hear it.
I grew up in the Detroit area and now live in Northern Michigan. This song still chills me to the bone. I have been to Whitefish Bay and saw Lake Superior in July and the weather was very cold and the water was just crazy. I then as well to this very day cry over this so sad wreck. Edmund Fitzgerald will live on through all of us. God Bless them all. I'll never forget...
Wxyz in Saskatchewan too. Great Detroit television.
On board the USS Vulcan in the middle of a storm from the gates of hell. Sitting on the deck in berthing with my back braced against my rack as the deck tossed up and fell like a stone beneath me. I drug out my old 12-string Yamaha I named Delilah and played this song for my mates. Not the most comforting tune considering the circumstances but a sailors life is tenuous at best in the grip of a storm. Only the newbies complained and commented my choice in music sucked; I just played louder.
steven hewitt turn 2 continue ship's work :)
Cruel trick on those guys !!!
More than 30 years and this song still gets to me. A tribute to all those brave men who have for Centuries made their way down to the Sea in Ships. May they and their families find peace, and let us all pledge to Remember. Thank you Gordon.
Many of us remember well where we were that very day
the freighter was swallowed up on Lake Superior ,November 10/1975.
I haven't heard this in years. It's a great song. I never knew it was based on a real event. So very sad. Gordon Lightfoot did a beautiful job singing and paying tribute to the brave souls on board.
Saw Gord in concert in Denver in 1978 when I was visiting the USA. He is one of Canada's finest. Still love his music and listen to to his songs with admiration and enjoyment. Much respect from Australia.
This a beautiful song. Please remember that several men lost their lives this day. R.I.P. sailors.
This great song takes me back. Always a pleasure to listen to. Fantastic guitar, great story telling in pure poetic form, and done live without studio tracks. Truly amazing!!!
If it was not for this tune ..then no one but the families would know of or remember the wreck of Ed....What a masterpiece...Hats off..2 thumbs up and job well done...You rule Gordon!!!!!!!!!
Some songs ring through the ages, and this tragedy will likely never be forgotten. Thank you Gord. I'm proud that you're a fellow Canadian.
I remember my 2nd grade teacher playing this song for us in class and explaining what happened... Rest in Peace, Mr. D! I'll always remember you when I hear this song...
This song is such a poetic masterpiece, and an incredible tribute to the brave men who died in this tragic accident. Two thumbs up!
Gordon Lightfoot has a magical voice -- haunting, hypnotizing and brilliant
This song always plays in my head when im surfing during a storm w big waves, cloudy skies and cold weather. Great tune
Saw Gordon Lightfoot in concert here in Omaha on March 20th of 2014. While this song has always been a haunting melody, it it much more so when you hear it performed live before a rapt audience. Simply incredible!
I remember visiting Paradise, Mi. in Dec. 1975. Went out to Whitefish Pt. It was a very windy, cold and clear day. But I was thinking what a sad and lonely place to meet your end...out in the uncaring Lake Superior.
Amazing song. A lot of great writers out there. Gordon really captures it. Incredible story teller an lyricist.
Gordon ...one of the greatest to ever walk this earth
This song brings strong emotions and chills to me.
Still a superb song after all these years; never tire of listening to it - still makes goosebumps. Thanks for posting.
This song draws me back in time to my freshman year at Lake Superior State in Sault Ste. Marie, MI aka. "The Soo". The storm was very intense that evening. The next morning, while having breakfast at CANUSA Hall, the news broke that the Edmund Fitzgerald was lost. Very powerful memories are captured in this wonderfully done song.
+Don Plachta
My older brother was there the same time. He was married and lived at one of the western halls. He mentioned they had the radio on during the evening listening for news of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
A man with extreme talent. A wonderful heart felt song.
Without fail...makes me cry everytime I hear it..
It's hard to wrap my brain around the fact that if not for the tragedy this song would not exist; it saddens me deeply yet it is a beautiful masterpiece (tribute) I have always enjoyed listening to.
Who would imagine this song would become a hit pop song? Definitely not the typical pop fare, great song, storytelling and music all rolled into one transcendent package.
After all the music trends over the years, decades, Gordon Lightfoot's tribute to the Edmund Fitzgerald is, finally, becoming FIRMLY entrenched & recognized as a classic that will withstand the test of time forever. This song also gives the mystique, the tragedy, to a new generation; and will to future generations. They will be curious to learn about the big Fitz because of Lightfoot's song. I grew up in Canada, on Lake Superior. Respect for Lightfoot from LCDR USN weapons officer.
In Wisconsin that day, the wind was unlike I've ever seen before or since. Truly frightening.
All the great lakes can have rough water, but Lake Superior is the big dog. And it can bite you to death. RIP to that crew.
man oh man the way he sings this makes me tear up
such a souful reverence..in the hearts 'n minds of those with the knowing. one of your greatest tributes, Gordon.....well done, ,my friend. 5 stars seem so little compared to the magnitude impact this incredible songs shares. It is my most favored & loved song.
When I was a kid, before I got into folk music; whenever we would pass through Orillia on our way to our family cottage, I used to think "This is no ordinary town." Turns out I was right, for it produced one of, if not the greatest folk singer of all time, Mr. Gordon Lightfoot! The auditorium of their opera house is named after him!
Gordon Lightfoot is a living Canadian Legend. There will never be anyone else that sounds like him. Nobody else could have done justice in such a respectful, poignant manner to the tragedy of the Edmund Fitzgerald. I remember it sand when I was 11 years old. I got a chance to go to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum a couple years ago. I paid tribute to the ship, the crew, the song, the mystique, the tragedy that day. I'll never forget it.
Thank you for putting this up .. this is an awesome footage. Thank you.
Mate, what a beautiful song!! Eerie,sad,deep,emotional and tributary..Thank U Mr Lightfoot..
Catchy damn tune man, 7yrs before my time. Tragedy told in a straight but respectful ways.
A great songwriter who captured both the tragedy and humanity of what was surely a difficult moment for all who were waiting when the news came through. I have always felt a kindred link to this song though I had never read a word about it nor had I known anyone who was affected by the event personally. Sometimes the right words come and the moment is remembered forever. What a beautiful tribute that remains.
I've always loved this song. It speaks to my soul. Perhaps, just because I grew up on the shores of the Great Lakes and it was always a part of us. But the loss. The loss of the ship and crew. It's a lot to take in if you study it all.
A great Canadian artist telling a truly tragic American tale that needed to be told. Thank you Gordon and RIP to the Edmund Fitzgerald sailors.
There are hundreds.. yes, hundreds.. of ships just like this one, along with the souls of their lost crews, laying at the bottom. So, please, every time you cook something in a metal pot, or drive your mostly-metal car, or use electricity/heat from coal-fired generation, or whatever.. please take a moment and remember not just the crew of the Edmund Fitzgerald, but all of them who risk their better health and lives to make it possible by hauling ore and minerals across the vast deathspans of the American Great Lakes. Out here in California, not a lot people really know (knew) what this song was truly about. Many figure it was just another old folk song about an olden days story.. and I always like to fill many of them in on the details that it was not an "olden days" story, but rather a very modern and technologically advanced ship that sank during their own lifetime. Thirty-nine years after the fact, I continue to cast my condolences to the families and friends of those who were lost in this tragedy.
beautifully said.
+FromMyEyesToYours It's also important to note that the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald was the last such tragedy on the Great Lakes. People wised up and stopped tempting gichi-gami.
FromMyEyesToYours thank you every time hear this song I cry and until this day I still do not why but maybe you just shed some light on it
FromMyEyesToYours thank you every time hear this song I cry and until this day I still do not why but maybe you just shed some light on it
51 year and certainly not 39 form when you said,.. it sank in 1975
This is a wonderful song! This is wonderfully written! The first time I heard it, my eyes were turned to tears!
Gordon has become apart of the legend. but then he is a well loved legend in his own right love ya gordon
No matter how many times I hear this,it STILL sends a shiver up my spine.
This song still gives me major goosebumps.
No singer told such true and moving stories through his music like Gordon Lightfoot did. He is a historic treasure.
Im 44yo and I miss this music.
If you look, there are tunes out there reminiscent of this.
I was born in Michigan exactly one month ofter the wreck and I literally grew up with this song. I loved it then and I still love it now.
I was going to school at Traverse City Community College which has one of the few remaining maritime academies in the country, at the time of the tragedy. The classes I was attending were next to the Academy and there was a pall of silence down the hall from our classroom.
At the time I wasn't aware of was that a former student of the Academy from one or two years before was one of crew members. There was a memorial held out at the pier where the Academy's boat was moored, for all the crew.
My older brother was attending school at the same time at Lake Superior State College.
+John Zook wow. i'm from the Cleveland area, and i only heard snippets from when this happened. i was too young to capture the true gravity of the situation at the time. but, have always loved this song. your caption has given me insight into one of our times' great tragedies. thank you
Sara, you are right! One of the best told songs/story ever written and took over two years to perfect it to the satisfaction of the families involved. They were very happy the results. How do I know?......well let's just say some relatives were involved. God bless you Gordon.
Its one of those songs that dosnt feel right singing. Ive always sat quietly while it played. Eather in memory of those lost or in awe of the power of this song.
We came across the Mackinaw Bridge around noon that day. I have never seen the straits so rough before or felt the bridge sway like that. It was truly frightening. The Bridge patrol took us across in groups for safer crossing with larger, heavier vehicles to the outside. A half hour later a semi jackknifed on the bridge and they had to close it for the rest of the day. The weather around Superior is far worse. This has song always choked me up and ran chills down my spine, it always will.
It's been good to know you. Chilling.
despite too many late nights when i should be up in the morning , you tube is marvelous. A friend played me this today and I was so impressed! I have discovered somebody who is well worth getting to know. I hope that he plays in England soon.
I was born within sight of Lake Superior (in Duluth), and I spent many happy childhood summer days visiting my grandparents at their cabin along the lake's North Shore in northeast Minnesota. There is no more idyllic place on earth when the sun shines because Superior is so majestic in bearing. Of course, Superior similarly amplifies the effects of bad weather, which is a common sight in late autumn as the arctic air pushes forcibly south. RIP, crew of the Fitz.
I was also raised within sight of this... it still 'feels' for me. People do not understand how real "the fresh water Oceans" are. I have seen other Oceans.
Carl Stenholm Could you find frozen pike and ship it to me in FL?
Carl Stenholm
I've always marveled at the Great Lakes. I was part of a tall ship excursion which started in Port Dover on Lake Erie and ended in Tobermory, Ontario between Lake Huron and the Georgian Bay. The adventure lasted two weeks and I was seasick most of the first week. I'll never forget the experience. Looking back, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity.
i remember as a child in the 70's listening to this song over and over again on a 45 record while i would stair at a toy boat of mine and daydream it was on the water for hours, i had no idea what the song was about but it put me in the frame of mind of a ship on the water and made the daydream so much more vivid.
It was a song that had to be sung. The dead demand it, the muse cannot refuse.
As moving today as when I first heard it 3 decades + ago. The accompanying video is stunning and a perfect match/choice for this classic!
There is no mystery to the loss of the "Fitz". She was poorly designed and constructed and broke up under the stress of constant hogging and sagging while underway in a big sea. She was known to be distressed on prior voyages. In many respects it was a case of the shipowners having callous disregard for the seamen manning her. They were lost to greed. The Fitz should have been paid off long before she foundered.
I saw him live 3 times, awesome each time, but this song turned me into a 250lb
goose bump every time. Thanks for posting.
The single most haunting song I've ever heard.
One of my all-time favorites. I remember this one well form hearing it on the radio when it first came out (on the now-defunct county station 1280 KFOX). One of the DJs (Corky Mayberry IIRC) had been a maritime sailor on the great lakes earlier in his life and had served with some of the crew members of the Edmund Fitzgerald on other ships. He made sure all of SoCal that heard him knew the story.
I LOVE THIS SONG
A CLASSIC
keninthezone me to
Crossing the Atlantic in during the winter of 86, we hit a cpl of storms and alot of rough seas. This song was in my mind alot during those storms. Only time i have ever wished did not know a Gordon Lightfoot song word for word.
Gordon Lightfoot was cute as a button back in the day! If only I were a few decades older... *sigh*
Probably the most perfect song ever written. An epic poem set to an eery melody sung in a plaintive haunting voice. Each piece fits the subject superbly.
Listen to the lyrical construction - not a word or syllable is out of place or seems forced into the rhyme in any way.
I dare anyone on a ship, at night, in a storm not to think of this song and get chills and a feeling of dread.
When it comes to be the 40th anniversary in 2015 I think that the Detroit Mariners Church should have a memorial.
"Where does the love of god go.... when the waves turn the minutes to hours?" Indeed: epic writing, sung by an unassuming folk legend.
I'm leaning about this crash this is a good song
What can a person say about how great a entertainer this man is, a person can feel his music deep into their soul, it shall live forever within my heart
one of my fav songs
This man could sing from the phone book and stir up emotions. Absolutely one of the best songs ever. I am biased though, I am from Michigan, this song unites us and the Canadians . We both share the Great Lakes, we both are united in shipping and the loses that the those lakes inflict upon those who venture on them. I remember when this ship went down, I am so glad this song goes on and reminds us of the loss we all shared when it happened.
love gordens music
@Deetroiter I live in York, England this song is a classic from every angle, the voice the music and the lyrics, so moving. I've never been to lake superoir, but this song makes me feel so much about the men who died. I really enjoy comments like what you have written. Thank you.
40 Years ago today.
Thanks for sharing this video and song. So haunting and sad. This song has always touched my heart.
Today is the 40th anniversary of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
He is a GREAT teacher I also learned this tune at 16 I am now 51 keep on rockin my young friend
does it get any better than this? rhetorical question.... it doesn't.
The most perfect lyrical narrative in modern music. Not a single word, not a single syllable, out of place in a 6 minute miracle.
Rip
Fantastic one of the best live videos I've ever seen.
Lookit my name.
What a wonderful storyteller and wonderful music to marry into such lyrics, WOW!!!
As a boy growing up in Milwaukee, I saw the Edmund Fitzgerald on various occasions. I will never forget it, or this great song.
Friggin great song with a story. I was 8 yrs old when it came out and at 44 it still rocks.
This is one of a very few songs that can still manage to make my eyes water.
"Fellas it's been good to know ya"
R.I.P. you 29
this is another hard song to hear my brother adored this song when he died i could not listen anymore im trying to now but it makes me cry too much will have to try again later
Totally awesome! Timeless. No words can do do justice to the man and his music.
@Tailback Thanks for this post. I also grew up on an island in the PNW as a 4th gen kid of a maritime family & am glad you said this about this beautiful song.
We have a cottage 25 kms from where the EF went down. Spectacular scenery watching those waves smash across the shoreline in the fall. Gordy.....you're the Canadain Legend....no one write them like you!!
"Superior it's said, never gives up her dead, when the gales of November come early." This song perfectly captures what must have been the horrible awareness of the crew that night that they were going down. I've always admired Lightfoot's music and I had the privilege of attending a live performance of his at a small, intimate theater many years ago. He's always had his own distinctive voice and style. He wrote this song after reading a magazine article about the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.