30 Years Since Edmund Fitgerald

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy.

With a load of iron ore - 26,000 tons more
Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty
That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
When the gales of November came early

The ship was the pride of the American side
Coming back from some mill in Wisconson
As the big freighters go it was bigger than most
With a crew and the Captain well seasoned.

Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
When they left fully loaded for Cleveland
And later that night when the ships bell rang
Could it be the North Wind they'd been feeling.

The wind in the wires made a tattletale sound
And a wave broke over the railing
And every man knew, as the Captain did, too,
T'was the witch of November come stealing.

The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
When the gales of November came slashing
When afternoon came it was freezing rain
In the face of a hurricane West Wind

When supper time came the old cook came on deck
Saying fellows it's too rough to feed ya
At 7PM a main hatchway caved in
He said fellas it's been good to know ya.

The Captain wired in he had water coming in
And the good ship and crew was in peril
And later that night when his lights went out of sight
Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Does anyone know where the love of God goes
When the words turn the minutes to hours
The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
If they'd 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.

Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
In the ruins of her ice water mansion
Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams,
The islands and bays are for sportsmen.

And farther below Lake Ontario
Takes in what Lake Erie can send her
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
With the gales of November remembered.

In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed
In the Maritime Sailors' Cathedral
The church bell chimed, 'til it rang 29 times
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
Superior, they say, never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early.

That still gives me goose bumps.

Dave wrote:

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy.

Some of the words don't look right. Where did you find this?

Matt

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy.

Some of the words don't look right. Where did you find this?

They're right. I listen to that song just about every other morning
while working out with my son (we listen to his crap, er, music, every
other day, and I get my music on the in-between days), and it never
fails to give me the shivers.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy.

Some of the words don't look right. Where did you find this?


They're right. I listen to that song just about every other morning
while working out with my son (we listen to his crap, er, music, every
other day, and I get my music on the in-between days), and it never
fails to give me the shivers.

If you say so, but I was pretty sure that the following should have
said: "That good ship and crew", rather than "That good ship and true."

I don't get the meaning of good ship and true. Is this a nautical term
of some sort?

Matt

With a load of iron ore - 26,000 tons more
Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty
That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
When the gales of November came early

"Matt Whiting" wrote in message
...
If you say so, but I was pretty sure that the following should have
said: "That good ship and crew", rather than "That good ship and true."

I don't get the meaning of good ship and true. Is this a nautical term
of some sort?

Matt

With a load of iron ore - 26,000 tons more
Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty
That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
When the gales of November came early

You are correct.

"Matt Whiting" wrote:

I don't get the meaning of good ship and true. Is this a nautical
term of some sort?

Not necessarily, but it is an old fashioned usage, putting the noun
between the adjectives: "A good friend and true."

If you say so, but I was pretty sure that the following should have
said: "That good ship and crew", rather than "That good ship and true."

I don't get the meaning of good ship and true. Is this a nautical term
of some sort?

I'm not sure of the meaning, exactly, but that's what Gordon Lightfoot
sings...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Matt Whiting wrote:

I don't get the meaning of good ship and true. Is this a nautical term
of some sort?

I've seen the phrase in nautical accounts dating from the late 1700s and early
1800s. Judging from the context, I took it to mean that the ship had no vices;
that is, it sailed well.

George Patterson
If a tank is out of ammunition, what you have is a sixty ton portable
radio.

I wrote:

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy.


Snip

I posted the lyrics as a gesture, I suppose. I'm surprised at the
response.

In reference to the line

"That good ship and true..."

I agree with the poster that intereprets this as a
hmmm...vernacular thing. As in, "A good friend and true". "Crew" works
better,absolutely, but to my ear, and appreciating the art of poetics, I
believe it's "true".

In Re the line:

"Does anyone know where the love of God goes
When the words turn the minutes to hours?"

"Waves" works much better here, but again, having listened (loop,
MP3) and thinking about it, I believe "words". Why?

It's about communicating your dire situation, and pilots would feel
this, for sure, because the time frame of an emergency for an aviator is
much smaller than for a ship's captain.

Radio, static, wind and noise... "We need help how soon can...."

Radio, static, wind and noise.....

"Say again, Edmund"
"your position"
& ETC.

Words. For a human being in extremis and trying to communicate, and
needing a miracle during a helluva storm, a ship's radio, "way back"
then could indeed turn the minutes to hours.

My .02

~Dave