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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 bulk carrier 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.

Contents

Artistic license taken

Cultural References

Covers

Parodies

In the media

External links

Artistic license taken

The song contains historical error. The song mentions that ''Fitzgerald'' was fully loaded and headed for Cleveland; she was in fact headed for Detroit, but was to dock in Cleveland for the rest of the winter. Lightfoot may be excused on account of artistic licence; the verse needed a trochaic foot at this point (CLEVE-land), rather than an iambic foot (De-TROIT).
The song refers to the ''Fitzgerald'' consistently as a ship; historical and current Great Lakes parlance refers to all Lake vessels, from the smallest dinghy to thousand-foot freighters, as "boats."
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.
The song refers to the "old cook." The cook who was supposed to be on board for the boat's fateful voyage was actually a young man, Richard Bishop, but Bishop was laid up with stomach ulcers. Therefore Robert Rafferty was enlisted to replace him. Rafferty was the "old cook" the song refers to. Bishop is considered by some as the sole survivor of the wreck.
Capt. Ernest McSorley stated over the radio, until the ship sank, that they were "holding our own." What the cook or any other crew member did or didn't say will never be known. Calling for help unless the ship was actually known to be sinking was considered verboten in the very machismo-driven Great Lakes shipping culture of the time, however, and even if Captain McSorley had been seriously worried for his charge, it would have been a severe embarrassment at the end of his long career for him to call for help. Furthermore, even if the boat had in fact called for help, it is doubtful under the actual conditions of the gale whether neighboring vessels would have been able to render any real assistance.

Cultural References

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 much more harsh.

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

★ Michael Angelo (not to be confused with Michael Angelo Batio) covered it in a 7:15 long acoustic version recorded live at The Depot, in Minneapolis. It was released on the album ''Michael Angelo Live: The Crossings of Mackinaw''. "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" is the first song on the CD.

Parodies

★ 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 Mackenzie" for the episode. [1]

★ The producers of ''The Simpsons'' originally wanted Homer to sing "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" in the episode "Radio Bart" as opposed to the song "Convoy", which was used in the final version. In the DVD Commentary for the episode, Matt Groening said the reason the song was not used was because Lightfoot had made it so that in order to clear the song, they would have to get okays from the families of all 29 victims who died on the ship.

★ 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 to lunch and felt better."

★ Tino Martino, lead singer of Jaws of Death and host of Mullet Talk 102.5 WDVE, did a parody of this song entitled "They Stopped Making Firebirds And Camaros", which is based on the tragic decision for General Motors to halt production of Firebirds and Camaros.

In the media

★ Comedian Richard Jeni referenced the song in his standup monologues, insisting that the sad lyrics are 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 Elaine discuss the song. Elaine believes that Edmund Fitzgerald wrote the song and that Gordon Lightfoot was the ship that sunk. Jerry sarcastically responds that perhaps "it was driven by the Cat Stevens" (another folk singer of the '70s).

★ Minnesota radio personality Tommy 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 straighforward manner. Details of his interview made national media, including The Atlantic Monthly.

External links

★ Lyrics

★ Chords

★ The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald Dedication