The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

"The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"
Song
B-side	"The House You Live In"

"The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" is a song written, composed and performed by Canadian Gordon Lightfoot to commemorate the sinking of the bulk carrier SS Edmund Fitzgerald on Lake Superior on November 10, 1975. It was inspired by the Newsweek article on the event, "The Cruelest Month", which appeared in the issue of November 24, 1975. Lightfoot considers this song to be his finest work.

The ballad originally appeared on Lightfoot's 1976 album, Summertime Dream, and was later released as a single. The release hit #1 in his native Canada (on the RPM national singles survey) on November 20, 1976, almost exactly one year after the appearance of the article that inspired it. In the U.S., the single was #2 on the Billboard pop chart for two weeks beginning November 20, 1976, making it Lightfoot's second most successful single (in terms of chart position) in that country following "Sundown", which reached #1 in 1974. "Wreck" peaked at #40 in the UK Singles Chart.

One unusual aspect of the song is that it is written in (modern) Dorian mode.

Artistic license

The song contains a few artistic omissions and paraphrases. (In a later radio interview, Lightfoot recounted how he had agonised, while trying to pen the lyrics, over possible inaccuracies until a friend in the music industry finally removed his writer's block simply by advising him to play to his artistic strengths and "just tell a story". On the other hand, Lightfoot's personal passion for recreational sailing on the Great Lakes gives the ballad's verses the ring of authenticity.)

• According to the song, the Fitzgerald was bound "fully loaded for Cleveland". In fact she was heading for Detroit, there to discharge her cargo of taconite iron ore pellets before docking in Cleveland for the winter.
• Capt. Ernest McSorley had stated in his last radio transmission before the boat sank that they were "holding our own." What the cook or any other crew member did or did not say will never be known; however, it is customary for folk music to include artistic renderings of a crew's final moments or speech, especially if it is unknown. Furthermore, it is doubtful if under the actual conditions of the gale, neighbouring vessels would have been able to render any real assistance if the ship was heard calling for help—or if the Edmund Fitzgerald managed to send out an SOS at all.
• The "old cook" in the song was actually a replacement for this particular voyage, as the normal cook was too ill to make this trip.
• Lightfoot refers to Mariners' Church of Detroit as "The Maritime Sailors' Cathedral" in the lyrics.
• Lightfoot says that the bell was rung 29 times, once for each crew member aboard the ship. Internet sources often incorrectly claim that the bell was also rung once more in honour of those who had lost their lives at sea, for a total of 30 times. Reverend Richard W. Ingalls, Sr., rector of Mariners' Church, tolled the bell 29 times, not 30. The practice of tolling a bell a 30th time for all lives lost at sea began in November 10 memorial services following 1975.
• In a later live recording, Lightfoot recounts that a parishioner of the church informed him that the church is not "musty". From that time, instead of singing "In a musty old hall...", he now sings "In a rustic old hall..."
• In March 2010, Lightfoot changed a line during live performances to reflect new findings that there was no crew error involved in the sinking. The line "At 7 p.m. a main hatchway caved in; he said..." is now sung as "At 7 p.m. it grew dark, it was then he said...". Gordon learned of the new research when contacted for permission to use his song for a History Channel documentary that aired March 31, 2010. Lightfoot has stated that he has no intention of changing the copyrighted lyrics; he will simply sing the new ones in live performances from now on.

Chart performance

Chart (1976)	Peak position
Australian Kent Music Report	46
Canadian RPM Top Singles	1
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks	1
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	2
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks	9
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles	50

Cultural references

Covers

• The tune and rhyming structure were used in the Irish folk song "Back Home in Derry", words by Bobby Sands, a version of which was done in 1984 by Christy Moore.
• It was covered as an 8:45 epic by the Rheostatics in 1991 on their album Melville and then later included on the live album Double Live.
• The song was covered by Tony Rice on his album Church Street Blues.
• The song was covered twice by The Dandy Warhols, on their albums Come On Feel The Dandy Warhols and The Black Album. The version on Come On Feel is very similar in style to the original, whereas the version on The Black Album (simply titled "The Wreck") has more of a psychedelic rock feel to it. Courtney Taylor-Taylor, the Dandy Warhols' lead singer, is the cousin of Michael E. Armagost, Third mate on the Fitzgerald at the time it went down.
• Texas country artist Brian Burns covered the song on his album Heavy Weather. This version includes a recreation of the annual Mariners' Church memorial, with all 29 crew member names being read as a bell is tolled.
• Heavy metal band Simon Barr Sinister from Indiana covered it in 1997, gaining some regional radio play.
• Heavy metal band Jag Panzer recorded a cover of this song and released it as a 7" vinyl limited to 500 copies that was sold exclusively at festivals and through the band and Century Media. It was also available as a free download on their homepage. To date it has not appeared on any of their other albums and is not currently available for download on the band's website.
• The Canadian band The Tragically Hip covered the song during their encore performance of a show in Cleveland. It has not been released in any of their albums, but the song can be found on-line, as fans bootlegged the live performance, and it has been made available for download on various sites. The Hip have also played "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" during a version of At The Hundredth Meridian, while Gord Downie sang improvised lyrics, on November 29, 1996, at the Corel Centre in Kanata Ontario.
• Electric violinist and vocalist Nash the Slash recorded the song for his 2008 covers release, In-A-Gadda-Da-Nash.
• Laura Cantrell performs the song on her 2008 covers album Trains and Boats and Planes.
• Paul Gross intended to use the song for the Due South episode "Mountie on the Bounty"; Lightfoot granted permission on the condition the families of the sailors agree. But reluctant to cause the families additional pain, Gross and Jay Semko instead wrote and composed "32 Down on the Robert Mackenzie" for the episode.
• Julia Ecklar performed a version written by William Warren Jr., on Minus Ten and Counting, about the Apollo 13 Lunar mission, titled Ballad of Apollo XIII.
• In January 2007 Brainclaw, along with "Goth cabaret diva" Nicki Jaine, released an electro industrial reimagining of the classic Seventies ballad.

Parodies

• The musical political satire group The Capitol Steps recorded a parody called "The Wreck of the Walter Fritz Mondale" following the 1984 election. The song appeared on their first album.
• Camille West wrote a parody of the song, "The Nervous Wreck of Edna Fitzgerald", which appears on Four Bitchin' Babes's album Gabby Road.
• The "Gorgo" episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 features a scene where a ship survives a terrible storm (against all reason). Crow references the song with his lyric "They got into port / And everyone was okay / They went out for lunch and felt better." During a scene in which the ship is being tossed about, Crow also complains, "Yeah, it's rough, but is it really too rough to feed us?"
• Comedian singer John Valby performs a parody of the song on the 1994 album Double D CD. The tune has strong adult lyrics.
• Comedian Tim Hawkins condensed "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" into a one-line parody: "The story lives on of the boat she went down and the people all died...bummer."

In the media

• Comedian Richard Jeni used to reference the song in his standup monologues, insisting that the sad lyrics were useful for getting party guests who have overstayed their welcome to go home.
• In the movie High Fidelity, the character Dick (Todd Louiso) puts the song in the number five spot of the list "Top 5 songs about death. A Laura's Dad tribute list."
• In the Seinfeld episode "The 'Andrea Doria'" Jerry and George are discussing the Andrea Doria before Elaine interposes with the erroneous belief that the song is written about the sinking of the Andrea Doria. After being corrected she goes on to say she loves Edmund Fitzgerald's voice and that Gordon Lightfoot was the ship that sank. Jerry sarcastically responds that perhaps "it was rammed by the Cat Stevens", another folk singer of the 1970s.
• Radio talk show host T.D. Mischke had an interview with an expert on the tragedy, but opted to sing his questions to the tune of the song. This was done without any warning to the person interviewed, who nonetheless answered back in a straightforward manner. Details of his interview made national media, including The Atlantic Monthly.
• On alternative rock band Weezer's sixth album The Red Album, the song is referenced in "Heart Songs".
• In Dave Barry's Book of Bad Songs (1997), a book based on a survey the columnist ran, the song earns this entry: "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald", by Gordon Lightfoot—Talk about your party tunes! Just put this song on the stereo and crank up the volume; then sit back and watch as your guests suddenly realize it's time to leave! Survey participant Jennifer Loehlin, speaking for many, gave this reason for selecting this song as the worst ever: "Because it features, in addition to general sappiness and bad rhymes, the immortal line, 'As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most.'"
• Bean from Kevin and Bean is obsessed with the song, which he mentions whenever he can and plays every year on the anniversary of the wreck.
• Boston Bruins' flamboyant play-by-play announcer Jack Edwards noted in the final seconds of the April 26, 2010 NHL playoff series clinching victory over the Buffalo Sabres "... the Sabres' hopes sleep with the Edmund Fitzgerald at the bottom of Gitche Gumee."
• In the book Cowboy Feng's Space Bar and Grille by Steven Brust, mention is made of a futuristic ballad called "The Wreck of the Gordon Lightfoot".
• The song is the subject of a fad in the YTMND community.
• In 2011 the song was voted Best Gordon Lightfoot Song in a popular opinion rating site founded by Colin Larkin, creator of the All Time Top 1000 Albums.

See also

• Canadian rock
• Music of Canada