LyricMeaning

Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
Gordon Lightfoot

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they called '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 twenty-six thousand tons more
Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty.
That good ship and crew 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 Wisconsin
As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most
With a crew and good 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 ship's bell rang
Could it be the north wind they'd been feelin'?

The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound
And a wave broke over the railing
And every man knew, as the captain did too,
T'was the witch of November come stealin'.
The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
When the Gales of November came slashin'.
When afternoon came it was freezin' rain
In the face of a hurricane west wind.

When suppertime came, the old cook came on deck sayin'.
Fellas, it's too rough to feed ya.
At seven p.m. a main hatchway caved in, he said
Fellas, it's been good t'know ya
The captain wired in he had water comin' in
And the good ship and crew was in peril.
And later that night when his lights went outta sight
Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

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;
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 rooms 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 till it rang twenty-nine 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 said, never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early!


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Lyrics by Gordon Lightfoot

  10 Degrees & Getting Colder   10 Degrees & Getting Colder   10 Degrees and Getting Colder   14 Carat Gold   14 Karat Gold   A Lesson In Love   A Message To The Wind   A Minor Ballad   A Painter Passing Through   A Passing Ship   A Tree Too Weak To Stand   Affair on 8th Avenue   Alberta Bound   All I'm After   All I'm After   All The Lovely Ladies   Always On The Bright Side   Anything for Love   Apology   Approaching Lavender   Baby It's Allright   Baby It's Allright   Baby Step Back   Ballad of Yarmouth Castle   Beautifuel   Beautiful   Bells Of The Evening   Bend In The Water   Betty Called Me In   Biscuit City   Bitter Green   Bitter Green   Black Day in July   Blackberry Wine   Boathouse   Borderstone   Boss Man   Brave Mountaineers   Broken Dreams   Cabaret   Can't Depend On Love   Can't Depend On Love   Canadian Railroad Trilogy   Canary Yellow Canoe   Carefree Highway   Changes   Cherokee Bend   Christian Island   Christian Island (Georgian Bay)   Circle Is Small   Circle Of Steel   Clouds Of Loneliness   Cobwebs & Dust   Cobwebs & Dust   Cobwebs And Dust   Cobwebs Dust   Cold Hands From New York   Cold On The Shoulder   Cotton Jenny   Couchiching   Crossroads   Daylight Katy   Did She Mention My Name   Does Your Mother Know   Don Quixote   Don't Beat Me Down   Don't Beat Me Down   Dream Street Rose   Dreamland   Drifters   Drink Yer Glasses Empty   Early Mornin' Rain   Early Mornin' Rain   Early Morning Rain   East Of Midnight   Ecstasy Made Easy   End Of All Time   Endless Wire   Fading Away   Farewell To Annabel   Fine as Fine Can Be   First Time Ever I Saw Your Face   For Lovin' Me   For Lovin' Me - Did She Mention My Name   For Lovin' Me   Forgive Me Lord   Ghosts Of Cape Horn   Ghosts of Cape Horn [*]   Go Go Round   Go My Way   Go-Go Round   Gotta Get Away   Gypsy   Gypsy   Hangdog Hotel Room   Harmony   Heaven Don't Deserve Me   Heaven Don't Deserve Me   Heaven Help The Devil   Hey You   Hi'Way Songs   Hi'way Songs   High And Dry   Home From The Forest   House You Live In   I Used To be A Country Singer   I Want To Hear It From You   I'd Do It Again   I'd Rather Press On   I'll Be Alright   I'll Do Anything   I'll Prove My Love   I'll Tag Along   I'm Not Sayin'   I'm Not Sayin' / Ribbon of Darkness   I'm Not Sayin' \/ Ribbon of Darkness   I'm Not Sayin'/Ribbon Of Darkness   I'm Not Supposed to Care   I'd Do It Again   I'd Rather Press On   I'll Be Alright   I'll Do Anything   I'll Prove My Love   I'll Tag Along   I'm Not Sayin'   I'm Not Sayin'/Ribbon Of Darkness   I'm Not Supposed To Care   If Children Had Wings   If I Could   If It Should Please You   If It Should Please You [#]   If There's A Reason   If There's A Reason   If You Could Read My Mind   If You Could Read My Mind (Studio 54)   If You Could Read My Mind [DVD]   If You Got It   If You Need Me   In A Windowpane   In My Fashion   In The Early Mornin' Rain   In The Early Mornin' Rain   Inspiration Lady   Is There Anyone Home   It's Too Late, He Wins   It's Worth Believin'   It's Too Late, He Wins   It's Worth Believin'   Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues   Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues   Keepin' On Yearning   Keepin' On Yearning   Knotty Pine   Last Time I Saw Her   Last Time I Saw Her   Lazy Mornin'   Lazy Mornin'   Leaves of Grass   Let It Ride   Lifeline   Long River   Long Thin Dawn   Long Way Back Home   Looking at The Rain   Love & Maple Syrup   Love & Maple Syrup   Love and Maple Syrup   Magnificent Outpouring   Make Way For The Lady   Mama Said   Marie Christine   May I   Me & Bobby Mcgee   Me And Bobby McGee   Miguel   Minstrel of The Dawn   Mister Rock Of Ages   Morning Glory   Mother Of A Miner's Child   Mother Of A Miner's Child   Mountains & Marian   Mountains And Marian   Mountains and Maryann   Movin'   Movin'   Much To My Surprise   My Little Love   My Pony Won't Go   My Pony Won't Go   Never Say Trust Me   Never Too Close   Nous Vivons Ensemble   Now & Then   Now And Then   Ode to Big Blue   Oh Linda   Oh, Linda   Old Dan's Records   Old Dan's Records   On Susan's Floor   On Susan's Floor   On The High Seas   On Yonge Street   Only Love Would Know   Ordinary Man   Peaceful Waters   Pony Man   Poor Little Allison   Pride Of Man   Protocol   Pussy Willows, Cat Tails   Pussywillows, Cat-Tails   Pussywillows, Cattails   Race Among The Ruins   Rainbow Trout   Rainy Day People   Red Velvet   Redwood Hill   Remember Me   Restless   Ribbon Of Darkness   Rich Man's Spiritual   Rich Man's Spiritual   Ring Them Bells   Ringneck Loon   Romance   Rosanna   Salute   Salute (A Lot More Livin' To Do)   Same Old Loverman   Saturday Clothes   Sea Of Tranquility   Second Cup of Coffee   Seven Island Suite   Shadows   She's Not The Same   She's Not The Same   Sit Down Young Stranger   Sixteen Miles   Slide On Over   Softly   Someone To Believe In   Something Very Special   Sometimes I Don't Mind   Sometimes I Don't Mind   Sometimes I Wish   Somewhere U. S. a.   Somewhere U.S.A.   Song for a Winter's Night   Song For A Winter's Night   Songs The Minstrel Sang   Spanish Moss   Spin, Spin   Station Master   Stay Loose   Steel Rail Blues   Stone Cold Sober   Summer Side of Life   Summertime Dream   Sundown   Sweet Guinevere   Talking In Your Sleep   Tattoo   Thank You for The Promises   That Same Old Obsession   The Auctioneer   The Circle Is Small   The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face   The Gypsy   The House You Live In   The Last Time I Saw Her   The List   The Lost Children   The Mountains and Maryann   The Patriot's Dream   The Pony Man   The Soul Is The Rock   The Watchman's Gone   The Way I Feel   The Way I Feel (In Album The Way I Feel)   The Way I Feel [Acoustic]   The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald   Too Late for Prayin'   Too Many Clues In This Room   Too Much to Lose   Triangle   Uncle Toad Said   Unsettled Ways   Waiting For You   Walls   Welcome To Try   Wherefor and Why   Wherefore & Why   Wherefore And Why   Whisper My Name   Whispers of The North   Why Should I Feel Blue   Wild Strawberries   Without You   You Are What I Am   You Just Gotta Be   You'll Still Be Needing Me   Your Love's Return

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