The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
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| "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" | ||
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| Single by Gordon Lightfoot | ||
| from the album Summertime Dream | ||
| Released | August, 1976 | |
| Format | 7" 45 | |
| Recorded | November, 1975 | |
| Genre | Folk | |
| Length | 6:32 | |
| Label | Reprise Records | |
| Writer(s) | Gordon Lightfoot | |
| Producer(s) | Lenny Waronker & Gordon Lightfoot | |
| Chart positions | ||
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| Gordon Lightfoot singles chronology | ||
| "Rainy Day People" 1975 |
"The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" 1976 |
"Race Among The Ruins" 1976 |
The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald is a song written and performed by Gordon Lightfoot in commemoration of the sinking of 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.
[edit] 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.
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.
[edit] Trivia
- The song contains a 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; "Cleveland" is more euphonic in the context of the song.
- 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 McSorley stated over the radio, until the ship sank, that they were "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 Mackenzie" for the episode. [1]
