The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald 1975 - 2005

Thirty years ago today, the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald sank on Lake Superior. The event inspired Gordon Lightfoot to write what I consider to be one of the best examples of story put to lyric: The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

In the amount of time it takes to listen to the song, the ship could probably have sank twice - it clocks in at over 6 and a half minutes. But each of the 450+ words is essential to tell the facts, the emotions, and the aftermath of this event - remove just one line, and I doubt the song would be as powerful. The verse that hits the hardest, in my opinion, is as follows:

Does any one know where the love of God goes
When the waves turn the minutes to hours?
The searches all say they’d have made Whitefish Bay
If they’d put fifteen more miles behind her.
They might have split up or they might have capsized;
They may have broke deep and took water.
And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters.

Now, Gordon Lightfoot falls nowhere near the spectrum of what is considered hip, and this song has taken it's share of knocks over the years. But I challenge anyone who doesn't give this song a fair listen to go out and try to write something better. I'll bet you can't...

Take a moment to remeber the crew of the Edmund Fitzgerald, who died transporting 26,116 tonnes of taconite pellets.

Michael E. Armagost

Fred J. Beetcher

Thomas D. Bentsen

Edward F. Bindon

Thomas D. Borgeson

Oliver J. Champeau

Nolan S. Church

Ransom E. Cundy

Thomas E. Edwards

Russell G. Haskell

George J. Holl

Bruce L. Hudson

Allen G. Kalmon

Gordon F. MacLellan

Joseph W. Mazes

John H. McCarthy

Ernest M. McSorley

Eugene W. O'Brien

Karl A. Peckol

John J. Poviach

James A. Pratt

Robert C. Rafferty

Paul M. Riippa

John D. Simmons

William J. Spengler

Mark A. Thomas

Ralph G. Walton

David E. Weiss

Blaine H. Wilhelm

Currently Playing - Gordon Lightfoot - The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald