I've lived in Michigan my entire life and remember this tragedy well. He donated the proceeds from this song to families who lost a loved one on the ship.
Same. This happened three years before I was born and grandpa used to play this song all the time, was weird wrapping my head around why it was so important. Our family was from the UP so it always hit home.
SS Edmund Fitzgerald was an American Great Lakes freighter that sank in Lake Superior during a storm on November 10, 1975, with the loss of the entire crew of 29 men. When launched on June 7, 1958, she was the largest ship on North America's Great Lakes.
The nearly identical sister ship Arthur B. Homer sailed the Great Lakes from 1960 to 1980. She was docked and sat until 1986 when she was sold for scrap. Newer and more advanced ships made her obsolete.
I was a kid when this happened. I heard Gordon Lightfoot wrote this song because he didn't feel the story was being covered enough in the news at the time. Gordon really took story telling folk music to the next level with his lyrics on this one. Some of the lines are pure poetry and still make me tear up "All that remains are the faces and names of the wives and the sons and the daughters." The indigenous people (Chippewa or Ojibwe ) refer to Lake Superior as Gitche Gumme in their native dialect. Don't want to get morbid but Lex is correct. The lake never gives up her dead because she is very deep and cold. Bodies in the cold temperatures go through a process called saponifcation or adipocere formation. The fat in the body is converted to a wax like formation and basically mummifies the body thus preserving it. Bacteria causes bodies to bloat and resurface. But Superior is too cold for bacteria so the bodies remain entombed in the depths of her "ice water mansions." To this day, mariners still ring their ship's bells 29 times when they sail past the wreckage site.
Glad he wrote the song, but it was definitely covered in Toledo. A good portion of her crew, including the Captain were from Toledo. God rest their souls.
I found your remarks to be very interesting and educational .. especially about saponification process .. I have a question tho .. if this is the case, then why weren't any of the Titanic victims "mummified" and preserved? I would assume that 2+ miles deep .. the Atlantic is just as dark and cold (if not colder). No remains were ever found. Does this sort of preservation eventually deteriorate over time?
@@lisar.6670 I think the ocean life ate them, but a lot of people stayed in their cabins as the Titanic went down which essentially pulverized their bodies as it sank to such depth because of the pressure. Lake Superior and the middle of the ocean have different sea life so the ones who did get below the water (most had a vest on and their bodies were floating) were eaten and picked apart.
My great great uncle Russell Haskell died on the Edmund Fitzgerald he was the 2nd assistant engineer on the Edmund Fitzgerald he worked in the boiler room when she went down rip to all crew and the captain
My grandfather faced down these storms for 35+ years on the big lake freighters as 1st Mate (second in command). That very night, his ship hugged the shoreline and made it. The Fitz didn’t. This song played at his funeral in 1999.
Hugging the shore is usually a bad idea in heavy seas. You are risking either hitting bottom or getting dashed into the rocks. In this case though, the heavy seas route that avoids shallow water and the coastline put them right in the path of the storm. By skirting around it, your grandpa avoided the worst of the storm but was probably sweating being so close to the shore if rough water.
@@Snipergoat1 You're probably right, grounding in that storm would have ripped the bottom of the boat open and they could've met the same fate. Lady luck just had other bad business to do that night I guess.
During my 23 yrs in the US Navy I have been in some pretty rough seas (Bering Sea and South of Cape Horn, Chile come immediately to mind). Gordon's lyric, "Does any one know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours" is seafaring TRUTH.
Truth!! You can even feel it under the waves unless you are below the wave's floor. And an exceptional wave can pull you to the surface; it's called broaching, and it's a whole new world of shit. Imagine the rolling and pitching you will do inside a cylindrical hull; there's not a rollercoaster in the world that could duplicate it.
Mine was in the North Atlantic in winter....I think anyone who has been in rough seas...so rough you damn near put your foot on the bulkhead (wall) rather than the deck (floor), when the ship crashes into a wave trough and the whole ship just shudders...can feel that line in their bones.
20 year Navy Retired RM1(SW), made many North Atlantic cruses. I have seen at least half a dozen of these reaction videos about this song. What these people who react to this song do not realize in that one lyric, "When the wave broke over the railing," on many ships, the railing is 10, 15, some even 20 feet above sea level. The song tells that the crew were fighting waves over at a minimum of 10 feet. We squids can seriously appreciate this song for we have sailed though the valley many times, and every time the Waves DOES turn the minutes into hours.
Spent a lot of time in the North Atlantic, went through the Straits of Magellan, and sailed through a couple of hurricanes. I was on a tin can, that ship would’ve rocked on wet grass, the images conjured up by the lyrics; manifest within me from my experiences. I can feel the cold, I can hear the wind, I can hear fire hoses dragging across the deck, the rocking and pitching of the ship. G.L. did a masterfully haunting piece to honor that crew.
I Am Retired U.S. Navy. Served On 3 Different Ships! The Sea & The Great Lakes Are Treacherous! No Vessel Is Immune From Being Sunk! RIP To Gordon Lightfoot & The Crew Of The Edmond Fitzgerald 👏🙏🏾!
Here's a personal narrative from a lady who has close ties to Lake Superior. Some disturbing scenes of the wild nature of the largest of the Great Lakes, visuals of what the crew of The Edmund Fitzgerald may have seen in their last minutes of life.
One of my grandfather's best friends was a crewman on the Edmund Fitzgerald, growing up in Mackinaw, Michigan, alot of my family worked at a shipyard. I grew up near alot of the families that suffered from this tragedy. Very emotional song for me. 💙 May all the lost Rest in Peace
I have no WORDS THAT CAN BRING THAT GALANT CREW BACK TO JUST KNOW THIS THEY WHERE TRYING TO FEED THIER BROOD I KNOW HOW CHOPPY LAKE SUPERIOR CAN GET NEVER FORGET SHE LIAD SIDE THE SS FITZGERALD TAKE THIS TO YOU'RE HEARTS THOSE IRISH LADD'S WHERE ON THE SS FITZGERALD BE PROUD SING ETERNAL FATHER QUICK TO SAVE OHH HEAR US WHEN WE CRY TO THEE FOR THOSE IN PERIL ON THE SEA 🙏 RESPECT 💯🏅
Respond thanks for your service YOU ARE A BRAVE WARRIOR RESPECT TO YOU AND YOURS 🙏 I DAV VFW THE WOUNDED WARRIOR'S PROJECT BRINGS THEM HOPE JUST TO ADJUST TO OUR CIRCUMSTANCES I WILL NEVER FORGET YOU OR THE USO🙏🌹💝💯 PERCENT I MEAN THIS STAY WELL AND HEALTHY ENJOY LIFE MY FRIENDS 🙏💯 AMEN
Sadly, if nobody writes a song about the ship, people forget about it very quickly. The S.S. Marine Electric sank off of Delaware with a loss of 31 crew in 1983 and the S.S. El Faro sank on it's way from Florida to Puerto Rico with a loss of 33 crew in 2015 and very, very few people remember them.
RIP Gordon Lightfoot. "At 3 p.m. Tuesday (5/2/23), the bell at Mariners’ Church rang out again - now chiming 30 times to honor those perished sailors along with the artist who famously memorialized them in song”
When I was a little kid and this song came on the radio we'd all sit quietly and listen to it no matter how many times we had heard it. It still has that effect on me today.
When I was in high school in the 90's, I used to listen to a station that played oldies from the 50's-70's. Whenever this song came on, it gave me chills and I too just had to sit and listen to it. It's so emotional that it always affected me. At the time, I didn't know whether it was based on a real event, but it was such a sad and deep song and I assumed it was probably a real ship that sank. To this day this song still makes me almost cry.
I was a child in the 70's and I remember when I got my first radio this is when this song was a big hit and I used to sit in my room getting lost in the story and imagining the whole thing play out as the men on the ship faced their fate. It still touches my heart even though I don't know anyone involved in the real event.
By who? You? It's good, sure, but that's a questionable claim to make. I'd put Alice's Restaurant above this for greatest true story ever told on a pop recording.
@@paulonius42 depends where, on the Great Lakes this is truly the masterpiece anthem of the lives of ordinary people. It's the sailors lament and one of the only ones about a freshwater disaster.
@@paulonius42 Most people have never even heard of Alice's restaurant, much of it is embellished, and it doesn't evoke half the emotion this song does. Only an idiot would compare the loss of 29 men to getting thrown in jail for illegal dumping... SMH.
@@ffjsb First, GFY for the insult. I didn't compare the events. The OP was about the story as told on a recording. Second, the Arlo story isn't embellished much if at all. Sorry you're ignorant of the documented evidence of it all. Third, the Arlo song gets heavy radio play & UA-cam views & streaming every Thanksgiving, so it's pretty damn well known. That's just a fact. Fourth, seriously, GFY yourself for the absolutely needless and groundless insult. Grow up.
@@martinsmusic1724 : It does when your nation has a population of 35 million. Canada packs a lot of weight in talent for such a small populace. Canadian pride!!
This is a beautiful tribute by one of the best Canadian singer songwriters. This is based on a true story & the lyrics tell the sad tale of the sinking of the ship & loss of lives in 1975. Gordon Lightfoot has had many hits through his long career such as "If You Could Read My Mind", "Sundown", "Carefree Highway", "Rainy Day People", Canadian Railroad Trilogy" & many more.
Being Canadian I've heard this song my whole life. It always and still gives me chills. I can't help think of the people who perished on that ship and what their families felt as they worried and when the news finally broke.
I gotta say as a kid...that guitar riff was so haunting and catchy. I fell in love with it so much. That riff never has left me it's still as magical today as it was when I was a kid.
The line, "Fellas, it's been good to know ya," hits me every time. It's a well-told story of a tragedy, and it's really sad to think about...and Mr. Lightfoot does a good job describing it in enough detail to hit the feels just enough.
Yeah that is the line that gets me too. They knew they were done for, obviously we don't actually know what the cook said, but it certainly could be true. I was 14 when this happened, living on the north side of Lake Ontario. Superior is a huge lake. It is the largest lake in the world by surface area and contains 10% of all the fresh water in the world. It is the northern most of the 5 Great Lakes of North America.
Yes, it really happened. That is the Edmund Fitzgerald you are looking at in the video. It was many years before the ship was finally located on the bottom of the lake. Lightfoot is a Canadian singer from Toronto, he felt that this tragedy dropped out of the news cycle too soon and should be memorialized. Gitche Gumee is the Native American name for Lake Superior. I live near the Niagara River between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, and the news of this tragedy on the Great Lakes felt close to home. I was 23 back in 75. The sound of the music is of the Scottish ballad style.
Being I’m from Michigan this song and the Edmund Fitzgerald has always been a part of life. Growing up my family would go up to whitefish point every year and I remember standing at the edge of the water just looking out into Lake Superior with this song playing in my head. Such a haunting and tragic story.
The writer of such classics as "If You Could Read My Mind", "Sundown", "Early Mornin" Rain" and many others, Lightfoot considers "Wreck..." his greatest work.
This song is in the style of a traditional folk ballad: they typically tell a narrative story in the third person, and there is a good chance someone will die by the end. The instrumental accompaniments are rarely flashy, as in older cultures they would have been sung unaccompanied.
As a retired sailor of 28 years at sea, the line "And all that remains is the faces and names of the wives, and the sons and the daughters," hurts me every time. Please keep those who go to sea in your prayers.
"The wind in the wires made a tattletale sound" Every sailor knows what this means. It's that haunting sound you hear in the guy wires when the wind starts picking up strong. I've heard it a thousand times and I always think about this line in this song when I hear it.
As others mentioned, a true story of the big iron ore freighter sinking during a big storm. I lived in Ohio near the Great Lakes at the time. Likely sinking too fast and too rough of water to deploy the life boats. Powerful lyrics. Superior never gives up her dead meaning the water is so cold the bodies never float to the surface. And yes a mariners church in Detroit rings a bell 29 times in memory of the 29 dead. The song was written a year after the wreck and the surviving family members were asked and approved of it to honor them. You can read about the ship, the sinking, and the crew in various articles. FYI the Titanic sank in 1912 and took hours to do so giving many passengers time to board lifeboats and be saved. The Edmond Fitzgerald sank in 1975. If I recall, another ship was on scene in < an hour and found nothing.
@@gorfpatrol5482 And the SS Arthur Anderson was trailing the Edmund Fitzgerald by only a handful of miles. So if they never saw anything, that tells me they went down really fast.
The Arthur Anderson. She still sails the Great Lakes and can be seen and heard on the Duluth Harbor Cam UA-cam channel from time to time. ua-cam.com/video/ZDA8nF02Xy0/v-deo.html
True story. The Edmund Fitzgerald was lost with her entire crew of 29 men on Lake Superior November 10, 1975, 17 miles north-northwest of Whitefish Point, Michigan. When launched on June 7, 1958, she was the largest ship on North America's Great Lakes, and she remains the largest to have sunk there. She was located in deep water on November 14, 1975, by a U.S. Navy aircraft detecting magnetic anomalies, and found soon afterwards to be in two large pieces. The disaster is one of the best known in the history of Great Lakes shipping. Gordon Lightfoot made it the subject of his 1976 hit song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" after reading an article, "The Cruelest Month", in the November 24, 1975, issue of Newsweek. The sinking led to changes in Great Lakes shipping regulations and practices that included mandatory survival suits, depth finders, positioning systems, increased freeboard, and more frequent inspection of vessels. No bodies were recovered. There is a plaque commemorating the disaster at Whitefish Point, Michigan.
When thhis event occured I was a teenager working aboard a frieghter in the North Atlantic. Our radio operator burst into the galley and gave a message to the XO (Excecutive Officer). He read it out to us that the Fitz had sunk with all hands. All of us were silent, but when I looked at my older shipmates some of them had tears streaming down their faces. The girl who would become my wife years later was a teenage in Detroit at the time. She remembers the Bell in the Maritime Sailor's Cathedral Ringing for those Mariner's. Yes! We remember the Edmend Fitzgerald
I was ten years old when this song came out. I was riding in the car with my mom when we heard this for the first time, my mom had to pull over and she bawled her eyes out. My Dad was in the Coast Guard at the time and a couple weeks before had rescued 5 crab fisherman off a sinking boat near Depot Bay Oregon. Looking back now I think this song hit her with how dangerous my dad's job was at the time.
"Did Anyone Survive?" Nope, as the lyrics say in reference to the maritime museum church, the bell rang 29 times for every mane on the Edmund Fitzgerald, so essentially, all hands were lost
I remember this well. I grew up in Wisconsin and my grandfather was a merchant seaman from Ireland. He found the Great Lakes terrifying. Yes. this is 100% true.
Great reaction! This song has always given me goosebumps. I live less than 10 miles from where the the Fitz departed on her last journey. As I recall, a wife of a crewman was on the pier in Superior, WI as the Fitz passed through the canal, hoping she could wave hi and catch a glimpse of her husband as the ship departed into Lake Superior. Little did she know, she would be the last human being on land to see anyone alive on the Fitz.
I grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on the shore of Lake Michigan. The Great Lakes are peaceful and beautiful; but they can roar and rage like you wouldn't believe. I've seen the Gales of November. It's a terrifying sight. I've had other adventures on Lake Michigan that almost cost me my life. And lost a few friends to that big lake. Lightfoot's songwriting mastery put you on the deck of that ship as it sank, looking into the eyes of the men who were about to die, and later put you standing shoulder to shoulder with the surviving families. It's a true story. Nobody survived. I'm old enough to remember when this happened. I've been listening to this song for decades, and I can't hear it without fighting tears. This song means a lot to my people. Thank you for posting this and sharing your reaction with us.
This song gives me chills all the time, I knew a guy that was on the Fitz for a summer job in '75. Whenever he told me stories of it there was pain in his eyes remembering those he knew
I get chills every time I hear this song. He tells the story so well and with the music it's like watching a movie. Hauntingly sad......but I can never turn it off.
I was seven years old when the Edmund Fitzgerald sank. I lived in Michigan so it was big news. I've heard this song hundreds and hundreds of times and it still brings me to tears.
This song always moves me to tears. I lost my 16 1/2 year old daughter in a storm on lake Michigan on January 1st 2020 when her and a friend were washed off the Holland Pier. Her body wasn't recovered for 2 1/2 months.
♥️🥺 oh no, I’m so sorry. The lakes sound so crazy & dangerous. I’ve never seen them but i would imagine the pier being the safest place to view the lakes.
"The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" is a testament to how eclectic top-40 radio used to be, as compared to today. This song had a lot of airplay and reached #2 on the charts in 1976. Great ambience.
I've lived on the Southern shore of Lake Superior for 50 years, I was 6 when the ship went down. I still remember the affect the tragedy had on every local community, and how this song helped them heal. This song playing in a Northern Wisconsin bar, would start a sing-a-long/cry-a-long into the 2000s.
I was born and raised in a small town in Michigan. My father was a merchant seaman, who worked on those ships. The song is not only true, it is very real to me. It always makes me cry.
@@midnightwriter9658 All too real, man. My dad 'knew" a couple of the guys. those crews could move around a bit. He did not count any of them as good friends.. but it still choked him up a bit to speak of it.
@@paparotzzi7262 much respect ... ..... it sort of irritates me how this channel presents a cavalier "reaction" towards the harrowing "Fitz" tragedy and gut-wrenching masterpiece of Mr. Lightfoot.
@@midnightwriter9658 I have watched a few reactions to this song.. and many do not watch with the reverence and gravity that the song deserves. It is difficult for them, not knowing ahead of time that this is a true story. But a couple of them do.
The first note sets the tone for the entire song. Just an iconic sound that matches the mournful subject matter. I always get verklempt listening to this. We live on the bay of Green Bay, which is part of Lake Michigan, and even this relatively small body of water can get mighty rough when a northeast gale gets howling.
I am moved to tears every time I hear this song. The church bells are a guaranteed cry time. I think of standing in a military funeral firing squad and firing our volleys. 30 days, 28 funerals- the greatest honor of my life as a young soldier was carrying the caskets of those deceased veterans to their final resting place. I will NEVER get to replace that period of my life.
I lived on Lake Superior for a number of years. The reason "the lake never gives up her dead" is because the water, year round hovers near freezing, going up to low 40's in the summer. When water is that cold, and someone drowns, the body sinks and because of the temps, the bacteria that would normally proliferate and cause the body to bloat and then float, well, that doesn't happen. Bodies, ships, water...everything stays on the bottom of that very, very deep, cold lake.
True Story- there’s an official video-also a video that shows names and ages and some photos of those prior to their perishing on the Edmund Fitzgerald- very sad and factual story- 💜💙
This is a true story told by one the best "storytelling song writer/singers ever, Canadian artist Gordon Lightfoot. What a beautiful tribute to these men, and the thousands before this tragedy, that died in the same manner, on the rough seas of the world. Thanks
Respectfully, this isn’t a song that you turn on and demand “entertain me”. This was a ballad to the memory of men who gave their life supporting their families, working the Great Lakes.
AGREED MEN LOST THIER LIVES IM A RETIRED USMC MASTER GUNNERY SGT RET I CERTAINLY WILL NOT LOOK AT THIS FOR ENTERTAINMENT I WOULD BE SINGING FOR THOSE IN PERIL ON THE SEA 🙏😔😭
Gordon Lightfoot is one of the best storytellers. His music and lyrics paint a vivid picture, it puts you right on the decks of the Fitzgerald and is a fitting tribute to her crew and every death of the Mariners just doing their jobs on the Great Lakes..
Tragic true story, guys. All 29 people on board perished, November 10, 1975, none of the bodies were ever recovered, although one was photographed laying on the bottom of Lake Superior. Superior can be just as bad as a hurricane on the open ocean.
I grew up here in Michigan, hearing this song as a teen and young adult, with those Haunting guitar riffs and melancholy lyric’s always gave me the chills. The amount of ships that have gone down in the great lakes, going back over 300 years is astounding, check out a map online to see their final resting places…. In 1995 with new technology and at the behest of surviving family members a small fleet of ships and boats went to the site of the wreck with a mission to retrieve the 200 lbs brass bell and replace it with a replica engraved with the names of the entire crew. Submersible’s we’re used, but a new type of diving suit was also employed so divers could cut the bell free from its mount with cutting torches. On July 4th at 1:25pm the bell broke the surface of the water, and rang out, family members were on a yacht nearby, watching as the bell was brought aboard the rescue vessel. It’s now on display at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish bay.😪. P.s. Lake Superior’s Indian name is “Lake Kitchi gummi “.
Gordon Lightfoot is a masterful Canadian story teller. I remember hearing this song as a child brought tears to my eyes then and still does. It is a true story of the Edmund Fitzgerald. My Lightfoot wrote it shortly after the incident as the news didn’t honour the crew enough. This song certainly does. Thank you Gordon Lightfoot.
I remember when this happened. I was 14 and a freshman in High School and this made national news. Then this song came out and it made it so hauntingly REAL. It still feels like a stake in the heart whenever I hear it.
I grew up in Duluth, and the Lakers, the ore carries were always with us. You could watch them come and go through the ship canal from only a few feet away, or watch them load up with ore at the docks. They could fill a ship like the Fitz in five to ten hours, so the crewI generally stayed on board. Maybe if there was a queue to get into the docks they would get a little shore leave. An ore boat would make numerous trips during the year (usually about 9 months when the lakes weren't frozen). I probably saw the Fitz a time or two at the docks or on the lake, but she was just one of many shuttling the iron back and forth from the mining ranges to Minnesota to the plants of Ohio. I have been to Whitefish point as well, looking out where she went down. Superior can kick up some pretty good waves, and there have been many many wrecks from big storms, though the Edmund Fitzgerald was the last big one. The music of Mr. Lightfoot really captures the rhythm of the lakes. I lived in Duluth when the ship went down, and the tragedy shook the town.
I was born and raised in Wisconsin. This tragedy happened for real and known by may in this state. Only difference between the great lakes and the ocean is the great lakes are fresh water and oceans are salt water. Storms on the great lakes are just as intense, maybe worse than storms out in the ocean.. Peace
@@blakenokomis1573 Both in minor keys as well. On a fun note: You can sing Amazing Grace, Gilligan's Island, and Joy to the World to each other's tunes.
Most top 40 during this 1976 period was bubblegum disco, this stood out like a sore thumb. Heads and shoulders above. It's amazing this did so well on the charts
I'm not exactly sure what it's like being young today and hearing these 70s classics, but it's clearly like discovering ancient, foreign artifacts. The 70s were a time of diverse, experimental music that could run 10, 20, minutes, or more, but in the end, it was some of the best music: lyrically, melodically, compositionally. Each decade I've experienced has had great music, but the amount of quality songs and bands of the 70s can't be touched. You are truly experiencing some timeless gems. You are blessed. Merry Christmas.
I was there in '75 with friends and family of crew members. We stood on the icy shore of Lake Superior waiting for any word. The ship went missing that night and everyone was praying they would make contact with the Coast Guard. Never did. They were lost.
I was 14 when this happened, and my father was a Helmsman on a lake freighter so it hit our household hard. Lex this was 1975, so yes they did indeed have inflatable rafts, problem is in a big storm its hard to launch them and the Edmund Fitzgerald went down fast.
@@Bald_Cat2007 It was a long time ago and my parents have both passed away so I couldn't say which exact ship it was. But he worked for N.M. Patterson and sons, so it would be one of theirs the Mantadoc Is what I recall, could be mistaken I'm old.
Not to mention they were dressed for cold and the water was so cold☹️☹️I remember this as a kid and I grew up in in Illinois. It was big news and so sad.
I live in Superior, Wisconsin where the Fitz left port on this last trip... many of the sailors where from here, I knew some of the families .. it was a tragic day, I remember the news reports when it was "missing" and then later they found that it had sunk ...this was suppose to be the captain's last trip before he' retired .. so sad
I grew up on the Ohio-Michigan line. Lake Erie. Your taught about the five great lakes as one big community. So though nowhere near lake Superior, the sinking affected everyone in the 5 lake region. Great haunting song to this day.
Gordo is an amazing song writer. I absolutely love this guy's music. I'm from Michigan and this is indeed a true story. The ship sank in Lake Superior in the 70s. There's a museum at White Fish Point, near the eastern side of Lake Superior, and it contains some of the wreckage that they've been able to recover. This was a tragedy, and Gordon captured it perfectly in this song. Your reaction to the song is exactly what Gordon wanted to happen when people heard it. It enabled far broader coverage than it got in the news. Lake superior is extremely deep and very cold, which is why salvaging things from wrecks is so difficult.
Although RUSH is Canada's greatest export, Gordon Lightfoot is a classic, and this is one of the most hauntingly beautiful/soulful songs to come out of Canada -- or anywhere else. And when I heard this treasure for the first time as a 13-year-old rocker, it brought tears to my eyes -- and still does each time I hear it.
I'm a life long yooper. This song always makes me cry. YES it's true it went down. The Arthur M. Anderson went through the same storm. Coming right from Bernie Cooper the captain of the Anderson. He said that there were "twin sisters" meaning that two BIG waves over 40 ft drove her bow down and the prop just sent it down. I've done my research it's a very raw nerve. I worked on the unloader in superior wi. It was a PRIVELAGE to work near the dock where the fitz used to load up. The Anderson is still in service and ALWAYS blares her horn at the soo locks during November runs and the harbor master ALWAYS acknowledges accordingly.
The wreck happened in the 1970's in the Great Lakes. It was presumed that the Edmund Fitzgerald was just swallowed by the sea, huge wave perhaps. They found the wreck years later at the bottom. The men did not abandon ship and their bodies were perfectly preserved since the water was so cold.
Huge wave, also known as a Rogue wave can triple in size and the area the Fitz sank is now a known location for Rogue waves. Big waves on Superior reach over 20ft so a Rouge wave could reach over 60ft in theory. Lake Superior is an intimidating beast. I grew up fishing it a few times a year with my grandpa and his friend who runs a fishing charter in Homer Alaska and he'll tell anyone Superior is far scarier because of how random and rapid conditions can change.
True story 29 lives lost...its sits on the bottom in 530 feet of water. It is a maritime grave now. PS: The Edmund Fitzgerald sank on the evening of November 10, 1975
The ship was actually longer than the lake was deep. If the ship nosed down in the waves it would of slammed into the lake bottom with all the speed of the storm backed by the weight of the cargo. Survival would be next to impossible.
There was a peddle steel guitar and a Moog synthesizer along with electric and acoustic guitars, electric bass and drums used in the recording of this classic tune.
I cry every time i hear this song, i remember the news storys and when this song first came out. Gordon Lightfoot is one of the greatest story tellers ever. Check out more of his music cause its all awesome !
I really don't know why I watch reactions to this song, it makes me tear up every single time! It is nice that in this way these men are not forgotten.
I was just a teenager when this happened but I remember it being all over the news. I remember my step dad buying this song and the first time we both listened to it we both teared up. Still gives me goosebumps. May the love of Mother Nature have her arms snugly around these men for all time.
He gave all of the proceeds of this number one song to the families of the crewmen !! “Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn minutes to hours” has to be one of the strongest verses ever !!!
When this happened, a bunch of us teenagers from the US side in the Midwestern States and Canadian teens met to pay our respects. I was 14 then and lived in Northern Illinois. This was a huge event and it affected a lot of us who lived on or near the Great Lakes. This was way before the song came out. Much respect to Gordon Lightfoot, a Canadian himself, for writing and performing this tribute to the nearly 30 men who died and the comfort he undoubtedly gave to their families. Thanks for your post today.
I still get teary eyed when I hear this true story. Gordon is the greatest story teller PS: this is nothing like Gillian’s Island. It’s about a lot of people who died on that ship.
When Gordon Lightfoot passed, the sailors cathedral rang the bell 30 times to include Gordon .As per his orders, all profits from the song went to the families and kids of the crew.
Very heart felt song. Much and respect for those lost and their families. The great lakes are no joke in the winter. Horrific waters. Very deep too. RIP sailors
This song actually came out less than a year after the tragedy happened. I had always assumed it was an older event but it was recent when he wrote the song.
There is a video of him talking about the song. In it, he says as soon as he read of the story in the newspaper, he was moved to write a song in memory of the sailors. He went to Detroit and got more details of the wreck by talking and interviewing people who were affected or knew information. He really invested himself in the telling of what happened.
I've dived in Superior many times, and it's deep and cold (Even in the summer in shallow water). This is why the lyrics in the song say it doesn't give up; it's dead. A few years ago, there was one crew body still on the bottom, near the wreck. He still had his clothes on. It was on a documentary on NatGeo or Discovery.
Man, nothing like jumping in lake superior by the Keweenaw point into 50 degree water on a 80 degree summer day. That water is always super cold.. wakes you up for sure.
Yeah, I dove in there when some college buddies and I went camping on the shore. Having been used to Lake Michigan in the summer, I wasn't expecting the water to be that cold and screamed like a little girl.
November 10, 1975. I remember it like it was yesterday. The Edmund Fitzgerald was lost around 6pm. The 729' ore carrier sank in 525' of water just off "6 Fathom Shoal" The ship slammed into the bottom nose 1st, broke in half with the aft section landing upside down. 29 crew died with no survivors. It was instantaneous.
It was an incredible tragedy, they still ring the church bell at the Mariners' Church in Detroit. Originally it rang its bell 29 times; once for each life lost, and continued to hold an annual memorial, reading the names of the crewmen and ringing the church bell, until 2006 when the church broadened its memorial ceremony to commemorate all lives lost on the Great Lakes.
I've lived in Michigan my entire life and remember this tragedy well. He donated the proceeds from this song to families who lost a loved one on the ship.
Same here. I was 11 when it sank and remember the news of it sinking.
Same. This happened three years before I was born and grandpa used to play this song all the time, was weird wrapping my head around why it was so important. Our family was from the UP so it always hit home.
@@spike6487 Same here. I was 9.
I don't live there any more, but other than that, same here.
@@neilaslayer I was 9 also
SS Edmund Fitzgerald was an American Great Lakes freighter that sank in Lake Superior during a storm on November 10, 1975, with the loss of the entire crew of 29 men. When launched on June 7, 1958, she was the largest ship on North America's Great Lakes.
If you want know more. ua-cam.com/video/ovJDk6l6FQY/v-deo.html
I remember listening to this story on the news with my dad when I was 13 years old.
I happened to be at the launch of the Edmund Fitz. I was 10 years old and in awe of the launch.
The nearly identical sister ship Arthur B. Homer sailed the Great Lakes from 1960 to 1980. She was docked and sat until 1986 when she was sold for scrap. Newer and more advanced ships made her obsolete.
I was 15 in Chicago...I remember this when it happened.
I was a kid when this happened. I heard Gordon Lightfoot wrote this song because he didn't feel the story was being covered enough in the news at the time. Gordon really took story telling folk music to the next level with his lyrics on this one. Some of the lines are pure poetry and still make me tear up "All that remains are the faces and names of the wives and the sons and the daughters."
The indigenous people (Chippewa or Ojibwe ) refer to Lake Superior as Gitche Gumme in their native dialect.
Don't want to get morbid but Lex is correct. The lake never gives up her dead because she is very deep and cold. Bodies in the cold temperatures go through a process called saponifcation or adipocere formation. The fat in the body is converted to a wax like formation and basically mummifies the body thus preserving it. Bacteria causes bodies to bloat and resurface. But Superior is too cold for bacteria so the bodies remain entombed in the depths of her "ice water mansions."
To this day, mariners still ring their ship's bells 29 times when they sail past the wreckage site.
That was so informative. Thx so much for sharing
Glad he wrote the song, but it was definitely covered in Toledo. A good portion of her crew, including the Captain were from Toledo. God rest their souls.
I found your remarks to be very interesting and educational .. especially about saponification process .. I have a question tho .. if this is the case, then why weren't any of the Titanic victims "mummified" and preserved? I would assume that 2+ miles deep .. the Atlantic is just as dark and cold (if not colder). No remains were ever found. Does this sort of preservation eventually deteriorate over time?
This is a great teacher of art to kids, non artsy people....this is an artist reporting a news event. Fantastic!
@@lisar.6670 I think the ocean life ate them, but a lot of people stayed in their cabins as the Titanic went down which essentially pulverized their bodies as it sank to such depth because of the pressure. Lake Superior and the middle of the ocean have different sea life so the ones who did get below the water (most had a vest on and their bodies were floating) were eaten and picked apart.
"Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours". Hits me in the gut every single time I hear it.
that's the line that makes humidity condense on my face too.
Great line.
Superior penmanship
In a musty old Hall in Detroit they they prayed
My great great uncle Russell Haskell died on the Edmund Fitzgerald he was the 2nd assistant engineer on the Edmund Fitzgerald he worked in the boiler room when she went down rip to all crew and the captain
My grandfather faced down these storms for 35+ years on the big lake freighters as 1st Mate (second in command). That very night, his ship hugged the shoreline and made it. The Fitz didn’t. This song played at his funeral in 1999.
Thanks for sharing that story.
Thank you for story
Hugging the shore is usually a bad idea in heavy seas. You are risking either hitting bottom or getting dashed into the rocks. In this case though, the heavy seas route that avoids shallow water and the coastline put them right in the path of the storm. By skirting around it, your grandpa avoided the worst of the storm but was probably sweating being so close to the shore if rough water.
Heavy!
@@Snipergoat1 You're probably right, grounding in that storm would have ripped the bottom of the boat open and they could've met the same fate. Lady luck just had other bad business to do that night I guess.
During my 23 yrs in the US Navy I have been in some pretty rough seas (Bering Sea and South of Cape Horn, Chile come immediately to mind).
Gordon's lyric, "Does any one know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours" is seafaring TRUTH.
Truth!! You can even feel it under the waves unless you are below the wave's floor. And an exceptional wave can pull you to the surface; it's called broaching, and it's a whole new world of shit. Imagine the rolling and pitching you will do inside a cylindrical hull; there's not a rollercoaster in the world that could duplicate it.
Mine was in the North Atlantic in winter....I think anyone who has been in rough seas...so rough you damn near put your foot on the bulkhead (wall) rather than the deck (floor), when the ship crashes into a wave trough and the whole ship just shudders...can feel that line in their bones.
20 year Navy Retired RM1(SW), made many North Atlantic cruses. I have seen at least half a dozen of these reaction videos about this song. What these people who react to this song do not realize in that one lyric, "When the wave broke over the railing," on many ships, the railing is 10, 15, some even 20 feet above sea level. The song tells that the crew were fighting waves over at a minimum of 10 feet. We squids can seriously appreciate this song for we have sailed though the valley many times, and every time the Waves DOES turn the minutes into hours.
North Pacific 86 to 88. 7th Fleet. If it wasn't the freezing gales from Siberia it was typhoons in PI. God I miss it.
Spent a lot of time in the North Atlantic, went through the Straits of Magellan, and sailed through a couple of hurricanes. I was on a tin can, that ship would’ve rocked on wet grass, the images conjured up by the lyrics; manifest within me from my experiences. I can feel the cold, I can hear the wind, I can hear fire hoses dragging across the deck, the rocking and pitching of the ship. G.L. did a masterfully haunting piece to honor that crew.
"Does any one know where the love of God goes
When the waves turn the minutes to hours?"
One of the greatest lines in a song ever written.
AMEN!
Absolutely
yeah, still chills me
Logical answer: there is no god.
@@jasonblodgett8769 Booorrriiinng
One of the most beautiful and mournful songs ever, musically and lyrically. And Gordon's voice rings like a bell. I cry every time.
Possibly the most striking lyrics ever penned…”does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turns minutes to hours…”. Chills and tears
You are not the only one who still cries every time this song plays #Ironrose ..God bless all those lost souls and the families left behind.
Same here
I do as well. Gordon is such a good storyteller .
Yeah…can’t help but tear up
I Am Retired U.S. Navy.
Served On 3 Different Ships!
The Sea & The Great Lakes Are Treacherous!
No Vessel Is Immune From Being Sunk!
RIP To Gordon Lightfoot & The Crew Of The Edmond Fitzgerald 👏🙏🏾!
I get chills whenever I listen to this song. One of the most hauntingly beautiful songs ever recorded.
Here's a personal narrative from a lady who has close ties to Lake Superior. Some disturbing scenes of the wild nature of the largest of the Great Lakes, visuals of what the crew of The Edmund Fitzgerald may have seen in their last minutes of life.
This song still brings a tear to my eye.
Me to.
Me too 😢
me too
I'm tearing up rn 🥺
As someone who was a merchant mariner for a period of my life, this brings a tear to my eye as well.
One of my grandfather's best friends was a crewman on the Edmund Fitzgerald, growing up in Mackinaw, Michigan, alot of my family worked at a shipyard. I grew up near alot of the families that suffered from this tragedy. Very emotional song for me. 💙
May all the lost Rest in Peace
From London Ontario. Condolences.
I have no WORDS THAT CAN BRING THAT GALANT CREW BACK TO JUST KNOW THIS THEY WHERE TRYING TO FEED THIER BROOD I KNOW HOW CHOPPY LAKE SUPERIOR CAN GET NEVER FORGET SHE LIAD SIDE THE SS FITZGERALD TAKE THIS TO YOU'RE HEARTS THOSE IRISH LADD'S WHERE ON THE SS FITZGERALD BE PROUD SING ETERNAL FATHER QUICK TO SAVE OHH HEAR US WHEN WE CRY TO THEE FOR THOSE IN PERIL ON THE SEA 🙏 RESPECT 💯🏅
NO Need
Respond thanks for your service YOU ARE A BRAVE WARRIOR RESPECT TO YOU AND YOURS 🙏 I DAV VFW THE WOUNDED WARRIOR'S PROJECT BRINGS THEM HOPE JUST TO ADJUST TO OUR CIRCUMSTANCES I WILL NEVER FORGET YOU OR THE USO🙏🌹💝💯 PERCENT I MEAN THIS STAY WELL AND HEALTHY ENJOY LIFE MY FRIENDS 🙏💯 AMEN
From Monongahela, PA., my deepest condolences.
Gordon did his job: people in 2021 know about the 29 people lost in November 1975 thanks to this song. That's what great music can do!
Well stated Sir
It's true story.
Sadly, if nobody writes a song about the ship, people forget about it very quickly. The S.S. Marine Electric sank off of Delaware with a loss of 31 crew in 1983 and the S.S. El Faro sank on it's way from Florida to Puerto Rico with a loss of 33 crew in 2015 and very, very few people remember them.
Barley any remember Regina
Growing up on the Great Lakes this song, and more importantly the tragedy, is well known. I still cannot listen to this song without tearing up.
Same. I grew up on Lake Ontario. Used to watch the freighters pass by at night.
The lyrics all that remain are the faces and the names of the wives sons and daughters. brings tears because that makes it So Real.
Amen brother!
I'm puzzled why this isn't taught in US history classes. It's in Canadian History classes.
I was in seventh grade when this tragedy happened, and my uncle was in the Coast Guard, and went out searching for the Edmund Fitzgerald
RIP Gordon Lightfoot. "At 3 p.m. Tuesday (5/2/23), the bell at Mariners’ Church rang out again - now chiming 30 times to honor those perished sailors along with the artist who famously memorialized them in song”
The last few years have just been brutal, so many music icons from the 70s dying left and right. :(
When I was a little kid and this song came on the radio we'd all sit quietly and listen to it no matter how many times we had heard it. It still has that effect on me today.
When I was in high school in the 90's, I used to listen to a station that played oldies from the 50's-70's. Whenever this song came on, it gave me chills and I too just had to sit and listen to it. It's so emotional that it always affected me. At the time, I didn't know whether it was based on a real event, but it was such a sad and deep song and I assumed it was probably a real ship that sank. To this day this song still makes me almost cry.
I was a child in the 70's and I remember when I got my first radio this is when this song was a big hit and I used to sit in my room getting lost in the story and imagining the whole thing play out as the men on the ship faced their fate. It still touches my heart even though I don't know anyone involved in the real event.
@@littleghostfilms3012 I grew up in Cleveland and they still play this song at about 7:00pm on the night of the 10th of Nov.
same
This is considered the greatest true story ever told on a pop recording.
By who? You? It's good, sure, but that's a questionable claim to make. I'd put Alice's Restaurant above this for greatest true story ever told on a pop recording.
@@paulonius42 depends where, on the Great Lakes this is truly the masterpiece anthem of the lives of ordinary people. It's the sailors lament and one of the only ones about a freshwater disaster.
@@paulonius42 Most people have never even heard of Alice's restaurant, much of it is embellished, and it doesn't evoke half the emotion this song does.
Only an idiot would compare the loss of 29 men to getting thrown in jail for illegal dumping... SMH.
@@ffjsb First, GFY for the insult. I didn't compare the events. The OP was about the story as told on a recording. Second, the Arlo story isn't embellished much if at all. Sorry you're ignorant of the documented evidence of it all. Third, the Arlo song gets heavy radio play & UA-cam views & streaming every Thanksgiving, so it's pretty damn well known. That's just a fact. Fourth, seriously, GFY yourself for the absolutely needless and groundless insult. Grow up.
@@paulonius42 how about you both gfy and just watch the video instead of arguing about this mindless stuff on the internet
This man is a Canadian legend 🔥🇨🇦🔥🇨🇦
Gentle correction: Legend. Doesn't matter his nationality.
@@martinsmusic1724 : It does when your nation has a population of 35 million. Canada packs a lot of weight in talent for such a small populace. Canadian pride!!
When I first heard it I didn't know it was contemporary. My. Heart is tasked. Like Apollo one.
This is a beautiful tribute by one of the best Canadian singer songwriters. This is based on a true story & the lyrics tell the sad tale of the sinking of the ship & loss of lives in 1975. Gordon Lightfoot has had many hits through his long career such as "If You Could Read My Mind", "Sundown", "Carefree Highway", "Rainy Day People", Canadian Railroad Trilogy" & many more.
Being Canadian I've heard this song my whole life. It always and still gives me chills. I can't help think of the people who perished on that ship and what their families felt as they worried and when the news finally broke.
Same here down in michigan
Oh yes, definitely a true story. He wrote the song in honor of the lost sailors.
I gotta say as a kid...that guitar riff was so haunting and catchy. I fell in love with it so much. That riff never has left me it's still as magical today as it was when I was a kid.
The line, "Fellas, it's been good to know ya," hits me every time. It's a well-told story of a tragedy, and it's really sad to think about...and Mr. Lightfoot does a good job describing it in enough detail to hit the feels just enough.
Me too…that line alone tells the story of that tragedy
Does anyone know where the love of God goes… that hits
That hits me everytime. Goosebumps
Yeah that is the line that gets me too. They knew they were done for, obviously we don't actually know what the cook said, but it certainly could be true. I was 14 when this happened, living on the north side of Lake Ontario. Superior is a huge lake. It is the largest lake in the world by surface area and contains 10% of all the fresh water in the world. It is the northern most of the 5 Great Lakes of North America.
The cook had actually just retired but his relief was late arriving in Superior WI so the Captain asked him to stay on for one more trip.
Yes, it really happened. That is the Edmund Fitzgerald you are looking at in the video. It was many years before the ship was finally located on the bottom of the lake. Lightfoot is a Canadian singer from Toronto, he felt that this tragedy dropped out of the news cycle too soon and should be memorialized. Gitche Gumee is the Native American name for Lake Superior. I live near the Niagara River between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, and the news of this tragedy on the Great Lakes felt close to home. I was 23 back in 75. The sound of the music is of the Scottish ballad style.
Being I’m from Michigan this song and the Edmund Fitzgerald has always been a part of life. Growing up my family would go up to whitefish point every year and I remember standing at the edge of the water just looking out into Lake Superior with this song playing in my head. Such a haunting and tragic story.
The writer of such classics as "If You Could Read My Mind", "Sundown", "Early Mornin" Rain" and many others, Lightfoot considers "Wreck..." his greatest work.
I also love "Sundown". Great song.
whats that Hiway song? Always liked that. " something highway"
@@bugvswindshield Carefree Highway
This is a true story. Quick and catastrophic no time to escape. This is a much newer wreck then the titanic
This song is in the style of a traditional folk ballad: they typically tell a narrative story in the third person, and there is a good chance someone will die by the end. The instrumental accompaniments are rarely flashy, as in older cultures they would have been sung unaccompanied.
I was going to say the same. Nicely done!
You took the words right out of my mouth.
And it's all verses, with no complex song structure.
This style of ballad is called a dirge.
As a retired sailor of 28 years at sea, the line "And all that remains is the faces and names of the wives, and the sons and the daughters," hurts me every time. Please keep those who go to sea in your prayers.
"The wind in the wires made a tattletale sound"
Every sailor knows what this means. It's that haunting sound you hear in the guy wires when the wind starts picking up strong. I've heard it a thousand times and I always think about this line in this song when I hear it.
As others mentioned, a true story of the big iron ore freighter sinking during a big storm. I lived in Ohio near the Great Lakes at the time. Likely sinking too fast and too rough of water to deploy the life boats. Powerful lyrics. Superior never gives up her dead meaning the water is so cold the bodies never float to the surface. And yes a mariners church in Detroit rings a bell 29 times in memory of the 29 dead. The song was written a year after the wreck and the surviving family members were asked and approved of it to honor them. You can read about the ship, the sinking, and the crew in various articles. FYI the Titanic sank in 1912 and took hours to do so giving many passengers time to board lifeboats and be saved. The Edmond Fitzgerald sank in 1975. If I recall, another ship was on scene in < an hour and found nothing.
The Arthur Anderson...I was out many miles in lake superior,, about 10 years ago,, and it went by me...
@@gorfpatrol5482 And the SS Arthur Anderson was trailing the Edmund Fitzgerald by only a handful of miles. So if they never saw anything, that tells me they went down really fast.
The Arthur Anderson. She still sails the Great Lakes and can be seen and heard on the Duluth Harbor Cam UA-cam channel from time to time. ua-cam.com/video/ZDA8nF02Xy0/v-deo.html
Fresh cold water sucks everything down and kills it FAST.
I always heard that it broke in two and they didn't have time to get to the lifeboats.
True story. The Edmund Fitzgerald was lost with her entire crew of 29 men on Lake Superior November 10, 1975, 17 miles north-northwest of Whitefish Point, Michigan. When launched on June 7, 1958, she was the largest ship on North America's Great Lakes, and she remains the largest to have sunk there. She was located in deep water on November 14, 1975, by a U.S. Navy aircraft detecting magnetic anomalies, and found soon afterwards to be in two large pieces.
The disaster is one of the best known in the history of Great Lakes shipping. Gordon Lightfoot made it the subject of his 1976 hit song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" after reading an article, "The Cruelest Month", in the November 24, 1975, issue of Newsweek.
The sinking led to changes in Great Lakes shipping regulations and practices that included mandatory survival suits, depth finders, positioning systems, increased freeboard, and more frequent inspection of vessels.
No bodies were recovered. There is a plaque commemorating the disaster at Whitefish Point, Michigan.
Beautifully written song… Gordon Lightfoot is A Canadian icon.
When thhis event occured I was a teenager working aboard a frieghter in the North Atlantic. Our radio operator burst into the galley and gave a message to the XO (Excecutive Officer). He read it out to us that the Fitz had sunk with all hands. All of us were silent, but when I looked at my older shipmates some of them had tears streaming down their faces. The girl who would become my wife years later was a teenage in Detroit at the time. She remembers the Bell in the Maritime Sailor's Cathedral Ringing for those Mariner's. Yes! We remember the Edmend Fitzgerald
I was ten years old when this song came out. I was riding in the car with my mom when we heard this for the first time, my mom had to pull over and she bawled her eyes out.
My Dad was in the Coast Guard at the time and a couple weeks before had rescued 5 crab fisherman off a sinking boat near Depot Bay Oregon. Looking back now I think this song hit her with how dangerous my dad's job was at the time.
"Did Anyone Survive?"
Nope, as the lyrics say in reference to the maritime museum church, the bell rang 29 times for every mane on the Edmund Fitzgerald, so essentially, all hands were lost
I remember this well. I grew up in Wisconsin and my grandfather was a merchant seaman from Ireland. He found the Great Lakes terrifying. Yes. this is 100% true.
I don't blame him. They are a massive graveyard for ships and crews.
Lightfoot is one of the greatest songwriters ever. This is coming from a guy who was born in '77 and grew up on rock and rap. Such a powerful song.
I one hundred percent agree and this is coming from a guy who was born in ‘01 it’s insane how good he is!
born in 77? i was born in 67 and he's a lot older than me more my parents age
@@barrybritt2210 He was born in 1938.
@@5117danielle correct he’s 83 and he’s still playing live! so incredible!
@@5117danielle the original comment sad he was born in 77 thats what i was replying to
Great reaction! This song has always given me goosebumps. I live less than 10 miles from where the the Fitz departed on her last journey. As I recall, a wife of a crewman was on the pier in Superior, WI as the Fitz passed through the canal, hoping she could wave hi and catch a glimpse of her husband as the ship departed into Lake Superior. Little did she know, she would be the last human being on land to see anyone alive on the Fitz.
I grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on the shore of Lake Michigan. The Great Lakes are peaceful and beautiful; but they can roar and rage like you wouldn't believe. I've seen the Gales of November. It's a terrifying sight. I've had other adventures on Lake Michigan that almost cost me my life. And lost a few friends to that big lake.
Lightfoot's songwriting mastery put you on the deck of that ship as it sank, looking into the eyes of the men who were about to die, and later put you standing shoulder to shoulder with the surviving families.
It's a true story. Nobody survived.
I'm old enough to remember when this happened. I've been listening to this song for decades, and I can't hear it without fighting tears. This song means a lot to my people. Thank you for posting this and sharing your reaction with us.
This song gives me chills all the time, I knew a guy that was on the Fitz for a summer job in '75. Whenever he told me stories of it there was pain in his eyes remembering those he knew
As a sailor, this song always gives me chills. I can't imagine what was going through the mind of the crew. It happened so fast.
Does any man know where the luv of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours ... haunting lyrics by a true master
I get chills every time I hear this song. He tells the story so well and with the music it's like watching a movie. Hauntingly sad......but I can never turn it off.
I was seven years old when the Edmund Fitzgerald sank. I lived in Michigan so it was big news. I've heard this song hundreds and hundreds of times and it still brings me to tears.
This song always moves me to tears. I lost my 16 1/2 year old daughter in a storm on lake Michigan on January 1st 2020 when her and a friend were washed off the Holland Pier. Her body wasn't recovered for 2 1/2 months.
♥️🥺 oh no, I’m so sorry. The lakes sound so crazy & dangerous. I’ve never seen them but i would imagine the pier being the safest place to view the lakes.
Wow, that is so incredibly sad. May God be with her and your family.
So sorry man, so damn sorry
sorry brother.
Wow Scott, very sorry to hear that. I knew of people having this same fate on the St. Joseph pier. I left Michigan 3 years ago.
Another legendary singer/songwriter with a similar folk sound I'd recommend is Jim Croce. So many classics to choose from.
I live on the south shore of Lake Superior. Storms in the fall can be incredibly dangerous, with 15 to 20 foot waves.
I'm from keweenaw county..I know what you mean....SISU
"The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" is a testament to how eclectic top-40 radio used to be, as compared to today. This song had a lot of airplay and reached #2 on the charts in 1976. Great ambience.
I've lived on the Southern shore of Lake Superior for 50 years, I was 6 when the ship went down.
I still remember the affect the tragedy had on every local community, and how this song helped them heal. This song playing in a Northern Wisconsin bar, would start a sing-a-long/cry-a-long into the 2000s.
Good job guys. As a sailor, this song as always been a haunting reminder of how dangerous the water can be.
I was born and raised in a small town in Michigan. My father was a merchant seaman, who worked on those ships. The song is not only true, it is very real to me. It always makes me cry.
My grandfather worked on the lake freighters for over 20 years, then just after he retired, lost his best friend on the Fitzgerald ....
@@midnightwriter9658 All too real, man. My dad 'knew" a couple of the guys. those crews could move around a bit. He did not count any of them as good friends.. but it still choked him up a bit to speak of it.
@@paparotzzi7262 much respect ... ..... it sort of irritates me how this channel presents a cavalier "reaction" towards the harrowing "Fitz" tragedy and gut-wrenching masterpiece of Mr. Lightfoot.
@@midnightwriter9658 I have watched a few reactions to this song.. and many do not watch with the reverence and gravity that the song deserves. It is difficult for them, not knowing ahead of time that this is a true story. But a couple of them do.
The first note sets the tone for the entire song. Just an iconic sound that matches the mournful subject matter. I always get verklempt listening to this. We live on the bay of Green Bay, which is part of Lake Michigan, and even this relatively small body of water can get mighty rough when a northeast gale gets howling.
I am moved to tears every time I hear this song. The church bells are a guaranteed cry time. I think of standing in a military funeral firing squad and firing our volleys. 30 days, 28 funerals- the greatest honor of my life as a young soldier was carrying the caskets of those deceased veterans to their final resting place. I will NEVER get to replace that period of my life.
I lived on Lake Superior for a number of years. The reason "the lake never gives up her dead" is because the water, year round hovers near freezing, going up to low 40's in the summer. When water is that cold, and someone drowns, the body sinks and because of the temps, the bacteria that would normally proliferate and cause the body to bloat and then float, well, that doesn't happen. Bodies, ships, water...everything stays on the bottom of that very, very deep, cold lake.
And as we now know, at least one of the bodies from the Fitz is still down there at the wreck because they saw it on camera.
True Story- there’s an official video-also a video that shows names and ages and some photos of those prior to their perishing on the Edmund Fitzgerald- very sad and factual story- 💜💙
Indeed...and it is sad.
This is a true story told by one the best "storytelling song writer/singers ever, Canadian artist Gordon Lightfoot. What a beautiful tribute to these men, and the thousands before this tragedy, that died in the same manner, on the rough seas of the world.
Thanks
I really like his song Black Day in July about the race riots in Detroit as well. For a non-American story the Canadian Railroad Trilogy is excellent
Respectfully, this isn’t a song that you turn on and demand “entertain me”. This was a ballad to the memory of men who gave their life supporting their families, working the Great Lakes.
Well stated ...👍
Precisely.
Yes it is sir.
AGREED MEN LOST THIER LIVES IM A RETIRED USMC MASTER GUNNERY SGT RET I CERTAINLY WILL NOT LOOK AT THIS FOR ENTERTAINMENT I WOULD BE SINGING FOR THOSE IN PERIL ON THE SEA 🙏😔😭
@@glynnisthomas9165 My Friend a HYM COMES TO THOSE IN PERIL ON THE SEA I A COMBAT MARINE VET 💯 RESPECT TO YOU SIR🙏😑💯
Gordon Lightfoot is one of the best storytellers. His music and lyrics paint a vivid picture, it puts you right on the decks of the Fitzgerald and is a fitting tribute to her crew and every death of the Mariners just doing their jobs on the Great Lakes..
Brad, as a born and bred Florida boy love your jersey! And this song has always hit hard with me. Glad you took the time to give it a listen!!
Tragic true story, guys. All 29 people on board perished, November 10, 1975, none of the bodies were ever recovered, although one was photographed laying on the bottom of Lake Superior. Superior can be just as bad as a hurricane on the open ocean.
I grew up here in Michigan, hearing this song as a teen and young adult, with those Haunting guitar riffs and melancholy lyric’s always gave me the chills. The amount of ships that have gone down in the great lakes, going back over 300 years is astounding, check out a map online to see their final resting places….
In 1995 with new technology and at the behest of surviving family members a small fleet of ships and boats went to the site of the wreck with a mission to retrieve the 200 lbs brass bell and replace it with a replica engraved with the names of the entire crew. Submersible’s we’re used, but a new type of diving suit was also employed so divers could cut the bell free from its mount with cutting torches. On July 4th at 1:25pm the bell broke the surface of the water, and rang out, family members were on a yacht nearby, watching as the bell was brought aboard the rescue vessel. It’s now on display at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish bay.😪. P.s. Lake Superior’s Indian name is “Lake Kitchi gummi “.
Gordon Lightfoot is a masterful Canadian story teller. I remember hearing this song as a child brought tears to my eyes then and still does. It is a true story of the Edmund Fitzgerald. My Lightfoot wrote it shortly after the incident as the news didn’t honour the crew enough. This song certainly does. Thank you Gordon Lightfoot.
I remember when this happened. I was 14 and a freshman in High School and this made national news. Then this song came out and it made it so hauntingly REAL. It still feels like a stake in the heart whenever I hear it.
I grew up in Duluth, and the Lakers, the ore carries were always with us. You could watch them come and go through the ship canal from only a few feet away, or watch them load up with ore at the docks. They could fill a ship like the Fitz in five to ten hours, so the crewI generally stayed on board. Maybe if there was a queue to get into the docks they would get a little shore leave.
An ore boat would make numerous trips during the year (usually about 9 months when the lakes weren't frozen). I probably saw the Fitz a time or two at the docks or on the lake, but she was just one of many shuttling the iron back and forth from the mining ranges to Minnesota to the plants of Ohio.
I have been to Whitefish point as well, looking out where she went down. Superior can kick up some pretty good waves, and there have been many many wrecks from big storms, though the Edmund Fitzgerald was the last big one. The music of Mr. Lightfoot really captures the rhythm of the lakes. I lived in Duluth when the ship went down, and the tragedy shook the town.
I was born and raised in Wisconsin. This tragedy happened for real and known by may in this state. Only difference between the great lakes and the ocean is the great lakes are fresh water and oceans are salt water. Storms on the great lakes are just as intense, maybe worse than storms out in the ocean.. Peace
It’s NOTHING like Gilligan’s Island! This was real life.
Yes, absolutely tragic 😭. Some people just don't get it!!!
They are both sea shanties about a shipwreck... the comparison seems pretty legit to me, even if one is complete fiction and one is a true story.
@@blakenokomis1573 Both in minor keys as well. On a fun note: You can sing Amazing Grace, Gilligan's Island, and Joy to the World to each other's tunes.
@@klaptongroovemaster Stairway to Heaven?
Gilligans Island was also real life.
Most top 40 during this 1976 period was bubblegum disco, this stood out like a sore thumb. Heads and shoulders above. It's amazing this did so well on the charts
"Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours" Powerful line that always gets me.
The most incredible thing about this song is how it makes you feel like you're actually there, living those tense final hours.
I'm not exactly sure what it's like being young today and hearing these 70s classics, but it's clearly like discovering ancient, foreign artifacts. The 70s were a time of diverse, experimental music that could run 10, 20, minutes, or more, but in the end, it was some of the best music: lyrically, melodically, compositionally. Each decade I've experienced has had great music, but the amount of quality songs and bands of the 70s can't be touched. You are truly experiencing some timeless gems. You are blessed. Merry Christmas.
I was there in '75 with friends and family of crew members. We stood on the icy shore of Lake Superior waiting for any word. The ship went missing that night and everyone was praying they would make contact with the Coast Guard. Never did. They were lost.
I was 14 when this happened, and my father was a Helmsman on a lake freighter so it hit our household hard.
Lex this was 1975, so yes they did indeed have inflatable rafts, problem is in a big storm its hard to launch them and the Edmund Fitzgerald went down fast.
May I ask which freighter it was
@@Bald_Cat2007 It was a long time ago and my parents have both passed away so I couldn't say which exact ship it was. But he worked for N.M. Patterson and sons, so it would be one of theirs the Mantadoc Is what I recall, could be mistaken I'm old.
Not to mention they were dressed for cold and the water was so cold☹️☹️I remember this as a kid and I grew up in in Illinois. It was big news and so sad.
I live in Superior, Wisconsin where the Fitz left port on this last trip... many of the sailors where from here, I knew some of the families .. it was a tragic day, I remember the news reports when it was "missing" and then later they found that it had sunk ...this was suppose to be the captain's last trip before he' retired .. so sad
I grew up on the Ohio-Michigan line. Lake Erie. Your taught about the five great lakes as one big community. So though nowhere near lake Superior, the sinking affected everyone in the 5 lake region. Great haunting song to this day.
Gordo is an amazing song writer. I absolutely love this guy's music. I'm from Michigan and this is indeed a true story. The ship sank in Lake Superior in the 70s. There's a museum at White Fish Point, near the eastern side of Lake Superior, and it contains some of the wreckage that they've been able to recover. This was a tragedy, and Gordon captured it perfectly in this song. Your reaction to the song is exactly what Gordon wanted to happen when people heard it. It enabled far broader coverage than it got in the news. Lake superior is extremely deep and very cold, which is why salvaging things from wrecks is so difficult.
Although RUSH is Canada's greatest export, Gordon Lightfoot is a classic, and this is one of the most hauntingly beautiful/soulful songs to come out of Canada -- or anywhere else. And when I heard this treasure for the first time as a 13-year-old rocker, it brought tears to my eyes -- and still does each time I hear it.
Would argue about Rush. Can't forget Bryan Adams, The Guess Who, for a short period Barenaked Ladies, Anne Murray, etc.
How aboot jim carrey and leonard cohen?
@@badplay156 Of course, these are all subjective opinions.
@@neilc1803 That is the beauty of subjective opinions...
The Tragically Hip also!
This song helped a nation honor those sailors. It was a huge deal when released. Try Rainy Day People for another Lightfoot song.
That’s one song you never wanna interrupt.
RIP the Crew
And god bless their families and friends.
I'm a life long yooper. This song always makes me cry. YES it's true it went down. The Arthur M. Anderson went through the same storm. Coming right from Bernie Cooper the captain of the Anderson. He said that there were "twin sisters" meaning that two BIG waves over 40 ft drove her bow down and the prop just sent it down. I've done my research it's a very raw nerve. I worked on the unloader in superior wi. It was a PRIVELAGE to work near the dock where the fitz used to load up. The Anderson is still in service and ALWAYS blares her horn at the soo locks during November runs and the harbor master ALWAYS acknowledges accordingly.
The wreck happened in the 1970's in the Great Lakes. It was presumed that the Edmund Fitzgerald was just swallowed by the sea, huge wave perhaps. They found the wreck years later at the bottom. The men did not abandon ship and their bodies were perfectly preserved since the water was so cold.
Huge wave, also known as a Rogue wave can triple in size and the area the Fitz sank is now a known location for Rogue waves. Big waves on Superior reach over 20ft so a Rouge wave could reach over 60ft in theory. Lake Superior is an intimidating beast. I grew up fishing it a few times a year with my grandpa and his friend who runs a fishing charter in Homer Alaska and he'll tell anyone Superior is far scarier because of how random and rapid conditions can change.
@@YOSHI450R Thanks for the info. It's known as a Rogue Wave, not a rouge wave ... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogue_wave
They couldn’t have abandoned ship. Those poor men had no chance. It happened so fast they couldn’t even get off a distress signal.
@@JK_Clarke yeah, it was 5am, no sleep, sick as hell.
True story 29 lives lost...its sits on the bottom in 530 feet of water. It is a maritime grave now. PS: The Edmund Fitzgerald sank on the evening of November 10, 1975
Yup and the only thing ever taken for the wreck is the ships bell. Which now resides in the Great Lakes Shipwreck museum at whitefish point
The ship was actually longer than the lake was deep. If the ship nosed down in the waves it would of slammed into the lake bottom with all the speed of the storm backed by the weight of the cargo. Survival would be next to impossible.
Longtime fan, seen him live 3 times. His songbook is voluminous, so many wonderful songs.
There was a peddle steel guitar and a Moog synthesizer along with electric and acoustic guitars, electric bass and drums used in the recording of this classic tune.
About a ship that went down November 1975, 29 men were lost in Lake Superior.
I cry every time i hear this song, i remember the news storys and when this song first came out. Gordon Lightfoot is one of the greatest story tellers ever. Check out more of his music cause its all awesome !
I really don't know why I watch reactions to this song, it makes me tear up every single time! It is nice that in this way these men are not forgotten.
I was just a teenager when this happened but I remember it being all over the news. I remember my step dad buying this song and the first time we both listened to it we both teared up. Still gives me goosebumps. May the love of Mother Nature have her arms snugly around these men for all time.
I was a kid growing up in Wisconsin in the 70's, and I still remember this happening. This has always been one of my favorite storytelling songs.
He gave all of the proceeds of this number one song to the families of the crewmen !!
“Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn minutes to hours” has to be one of the strongest verses ever !!!
When this happened, a bunch of us teenagers from the US side in the Midwestern States and Canadian teens met to pay our respects. I was 14 then and lived in Northern Illinois. This was a huge event and it affected a lot of us who lived on or near the Great Lakes. This was way before the song came out. Much respect to Gordon Lightfoot, a Canadian himself, for writing and performing this tribute to the nearly 30 men who died and the comfort he undoubtedly gave to their families. Thanks for your post today.
I still get teary eyed when I hear this true story. Gordon is the greatest story teller
PS: this is nothing like Gillian’s Island. It’s about a lot of people who died on that ship.
My brother sailed for the company that owned the Fitz, at the time the ship sank. He knew all the men that lost their lives.
Dang!! 🤯 that’s so sad
When Gordon Lightfoot passed, the sailors cathedral rang the bell 30 times to include Gordon .As per his orders, all profits from the song went to the families and kids of the crew.
Very heart felt song. Much and respect for those lost and their families. The great lakes are no joke in the winter. Horrific waters. Very deep too. RIP sailors
This song actually came out less than a year after the tragedy happened. I had always assumed it was an older event but it was recent when he wrote the song.
There is a video of him talking about the song. In it, he says as soon as he read of the story in the newspaper, he was moved to write a song in memory of the sailors. He went to Detroit and got more details of the wreck by talking and interviewing people who were affected or knew information. He really invested himself in the telling of what happened.
So great to know there’s people out there searching this song in almost 2022
I've dived in Superior many times, and it's deep and cold (Even in the summer in shallow water). This is why the lyrics in the song say it doesn't give up; it's dead. A few years ago, there was one crew body still on the bottom, near the wreck. He still had his clothes on. It was on a documentary on NatGeo or Discovery.
Man, nothing like jumping in lake superior by the Keweenaw point into 50 degree water on a 80 degree summer day. That water is always super cold.. wakes you up for sure.
Yeah, I dove in there when some college buddies and I went camping on the shore. Having been used to Lake Michigan in the summer, I wasn't expecting the water to be that cold and screamed like a little girl.
November 10, 1975. I remember it like it was yesterday. The Edmund Fitzgerald was lost around 6pm. The 729' ore carrier sank in 525' of water just off "6 Fathom Shoal" The ship slammed into the bottom nose 1st, broke in half with the aft section landing upside down. 29 crew died with no survivors. It was instantaneous.
It was an incredible tragedy, they still ring the church bell at the Mariners' Church in Detroit.
Originally it rang its bell 29 times; once for each life lost, and continued to hold an annual memorial, reading the names of the crewmen and ringing the church bell, until 2006 when the church broadened its memorial ceremony to commemorate all lives lost on the Great Lakes.
The rang it when Gordon died and added one more ring, to that 29, for Gordon.
The day after Gordon died, they rang the bell 29 times plus the 39th for him.