The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

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"The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" is a song written and performed by Gordon Lightfoot in commemoration of the sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald on Lake Superior on November 10, 1975. The song originally appeared on Lightfoot's 1976 album, Summertime Dream, and was later released as a single. The single reached #2 on the Billboard pop charts in November 1976, making it Lightfoot's second most successful (in terms of chart position) single, with "Sundown" reaching number one in 1974.

Covers

The tune and rhyming structure were borrowed in 1984 by Christy Moore for his song, "I Wish I Were Back Home in Derry", which is itself an adaptation of Bobby Sands' poem, "The Voyage".

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") is a lot harsher.

It was covered as an 8:45 epic by the Rheostatics on 1991 on their album Melville.

Trivia

The song contains a historical error. The song mentions that the Fitzgerald was fully loaded and headed for Cleveland; she was in fact headed for Detroit.
The "Maritime Sailors Cathedral" in the song is actually called "The Mariners' Church of Detroit".
Lightfoot says the ship sailed into "the face of a hurricane west wind". The storm was, in fact, no stronger than a gale, with winds below 60 miles an hour.
Similarly, although the song refers to the "old cook," the cook onboard for the boat's fateful voyage was actually a young replacement; the old cook had come down with an acute illness. The cook's warnings of the impending doom of the ship are quite unrealistic, as Capt. Ernest McSorely believed, until the ship sank, that he was "holding our own." What the cook said or didn't say will never be known.
Camille West wrote a parody of the song, The Nervous Wreck of Edna Fitzgerald, which appears on Four Bitchin' Babes's album Gabby Road.
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. Reluctant to cause the families additional pain, Gross and Jay Semko instead wrote 32 Down on the Robert Mackensie for the episode.[link]

External links

[Lyrics to "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"]

[Chords]

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