CERTAIN SONGS FROM MY TEEN years into my early 20s occasionally surface like ear worms in my mind. Today that tune is “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” a ballad by Canadian singer, songwriter and guitarist Gordon Lightfoot.
The 84-year-old musician died on Monday, leaving a legacy of storytelling that includes his version of the Edmund Fitzgerald’s fateful final journey. The iron ore carrier sank in Lake Superior on November 10, 1975, claiming the lives of 29 crewmen.
Stories about the catastrophic shipwreck during a storm with hurricane force winds, waves reaching 70 feet and a gale force warning bannered newspapers. It was especially big news here in Minnesota since the 729-foot long by 75-foot wide ship left Superior, Wisconsin, just across from the port city of Duluth. The Fitzgerald was weighted with 26,000 tons of taconite pellets and bound for a steel mill near Detroit, Michigan.
On the afternoon of November 9, the freighter left Superior. By 7:15 pm the next evening, the USS Edmund Fitzgerald disappeared, the wreckage later found 17 miles northwest of Whitefish Point, Michigan.
In Lightfoot’s words:
The captain wired in he had water comin’ 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
The lengthy folk song of 6.5 minutes unfolds in suspenseful storytelling style. Lightfoot takes his listeners on board the massive Edmund Fitzgerald caught in the stormy, churning waters of Gitche Gumee (Ojibwe for Lake Superior). The songwriter uses some artistic license in his version of the disaster as noted when comparing facts to lyrics. Yet, his haunting song, like reality, carries the truth of death, the heavy emotions of loss. Every time I hear Lightfoot’s song, I feel overcome with sadness, as if the powerful, roiling waves of Superior are rolling over me, pulling me down down down into the dark depths of the lake.
The emotional intensity of “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” remains strong for me, even decades after I first heard the new release in 1976. And that’s a credit to Lightfoot, who wrote history into a ballad that is poetically and tragically memorable.
TELL ME: Are you a fan of Gordon Lightfoot or any of his songs? I’d like to hear your thoughts on him, this ballad or musicians and/or songs particularly memorable to you.
© Copyright 2023 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
Such a huge loss and his legacy and lovely voice will continue
Music endures. So thankful Gordon Lightfoot shared his talents with the world.
My fav song of his is Sundown but I must admit that I could sing all the words to The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald as well. What an artist.
I very much like “Sundown” also. Thanks for sharing your fav.
Amazing artist. Amazing song. He will be missed. ❤
I agree. Amazing and will be missed. But thankful for his enduring songs.
I’ll have to go with Don McLean’s “American Pie” (the day the music died). Beth knows all the words to the Edmund Fitzgerald? Now THAT’S impressive! This has all of Gordon’s songs for easy listening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZsnnvcPuNg
American Pie, now there’s a classic. I love that lengthy song also.
I don’t think I’d ever heard of this story until moving to MN. Or at least not to remember. My husband really likes the song (and the singer!) so I know it now!
Laughing at “I know it now!”
I do remember the song, but I don’t remember when the Edmund Fitzgerald sank in 1975.
Gordon Lightfoot did have a unique voice and some great songs.
He surely did. I believe the song says “gales of November.”
Gordon Lightfoot hit the nail on the head with that song. Just as haunting is the story of the bell, once being recovered, it broke the surface of the water and then rang! During this time of my life, there was also the song The Thresher by another artist. At some time in our lives, some song will pierce our heart with emotion, some good, some bad, some with happiness and joy, others with deep sadness. Lightfoot’s song gave the Edmund Fitzgerald life, and a keen sense of tragic loss and grief. Both artist and song will be missed.
I had not heard that story about the bell. You are right about how songs touch us at certain times in our lives.
I meant to say Gordon and his music will be missed. We will have the music he made to remember him, the ship and other topics he did write about. Sorry I was too fast for myself
🙂