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The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

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"The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"
Single by Gordon Lightfoot
from the album Summertime Dream
B-side"The House You Live In"
ReleasedAugust 1976
RecordedDecember 1975
StudioEastern Sound Studios, Toronto
Genre
[1]
Length
  • 6:30 (album version)
  • 5:57 (single edit)
LabelReprise
Songwriter(s)Gordon Lightfoot
Producer(s)
Gordon Lightfoot singles chronology
"Rainy Day People"
(1975) 		"The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"
(1976) 		"Race Among the Ruins"
(1976)
Audio
"The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" on YouTube

"The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" is a 1976 hit song written, composed and performed by the Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot to memorialize the sinking of the bulk carrier SS Edmund Fitzgerald in Lake Superior on November 10, 1975. Lightfoot considered this song to be his finest work.[2]

Appearing originally on his 1976 album Summertime Dream, Lightfoot re-recorded the song in 1988 for the compilation album Gord's Gold, Vol. 2.

Lyrics

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The song chronicles the final voyage of the Edmund Fitzgerald as it succumbed to a massive late-season storm and sank in Lake Superior with the loss of all 29 crewmen. Lightfoot drew inspiration from news reports he gathered in the immediate aftermath, particularly "The Cruelest Month", published in Newsweek magazine's November 24, 1975, issue.[3] Lightfoot's passion for recreational sailing on the Great Lakes[4] informs his ballad's verses throughout.

Recorded before the ship's wreckage could be examined, the song contains some artistic conjectures, omissions and paraphrases. In later interviews, Lightfoot recounted how he had agonized over possible inaccuracies while trying to pen the lyrics until his lead guitarist Terry Clements convinced him to do what Clements' favourite author Mark Twain would have advised: just tell a story.[5]

In March 2010, Lightfoot changed a line during live performances to reflect new findings that there had been no crew error involved in the sinking. The line originally read, "At 7 p.m. a main hatchway caved in; he said..."; Lightfoot began singing it as "At 7 p.m. it grew dark, it was then he said..." Lightfoot learned about the new research when contacted for permission to use his song for a History Channel documentary that aired on March 31, 2010. Lightfoot stated that he had no intention of changing the original copyrighted lyrics; instead, from then on, he simply sang the new words during live performances.[6]

SS Edmund Fitzgerald (1971)

Melody

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The melody for the song was later adapted by Bobby Sands for his song "Back Home in Derry". When asked about the similarity and why he didn't pursue copyright infringement, Lightfoot said that the melody was "just an old Irish folk song; an old Irish dirge. I think I took it from that. It's all folk music and it's all out there for everyone to enjoy."[7]

Production

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The song was recorded in December 1975 at Eastern Sound,[8] a recording studio composed of two Victorian houses at 48 Yorkville Avenue in a then-hippie district of downtown Toronto. The famous studio was later torn down and replaced by a parking lot.[9]

Pee Wee Charles and Terry Clements came up with "the haunting guitar and steel riffs" on a "second take" during the evening session.[10]

The song was the first commercial digital multitrack recording on the 3M 32-track digital recorder – a prototype technology at the time.[11]

Chart success

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Lightfoot's single version hit number 1 in his native Canada (in the RPM national singles survey) on November 20, 1976, barely a year after the disaster.[12] In the United States, it reached number 1 in Cashbox and number 2 for two weeks in the Billboard Hot 100 (behind Rod Stewart's "Tonight's the Night"), making it Lightfoot's second-most successful single, behind only "Sundown". Overseas it was at best a minor hit, peaking at number 40 in the UK Singles Chart.[13]

Personnel

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Person, James (January 1, 1998). "Gordon Lightfoot". In Knopper, Steve (ed.). MusicHound Lounge: The Essential Album Guide. Detroit: Visible Ink Press. p. 294.
  2. ^ DeYoung, Bill (March 2, 2010). "If You Could Read His Mind: A Conversation with Folk Music Legend Gordon Lightfoot". Connect Savannah.
  3. ^ Jennings, Nicholas (2016). Lightfoot. Viking. p. 148. ISBN 9780735232556. Retrieved May 3, 2023.
  4. ^ Weiss, William R. "This Goose Is Golden". Lightfoot.ca. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  5. ^ Casey, Chris (November 10, 2000). "25 Years Later, Lightfoot Content with Popularity of Fitzgerald Ballad". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 31, 2023. [Clements] said Mark Twain would say, 'Tell a story'.
  6. ^ Stevenson, Jane (March 26, 2010). "Lightfoot Changes 'Edmund Fitzgerald' Lyric". Toronto Sun. Archived from the original on March 28, 2010. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
  7. ^ "Gordon Lightfoot & Bobby Sands | Bobby Sands Trust".
  8. ^ "Album Recording Notes". Lightfoot!. Retrieved October 23, 2016.
  9. ^ "Recording Studios used in Toronto: Eastern Sound". Bruce Cockburn & Toronto: A Historical Tour. Retrieved October 23, 2016.
  10. ^ Charles, PeeWee (November 10, 2012). "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald....37 years ago today!!". The Steel Guitar Forum. Retrieved October 23, 2016.
  11. ^ Heffner, Matt (March 11, 2022). "The Story Behind Gordon Lightfoot's Famous Edmund Fitzgerald Song". Awesome Mitten. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
  12. ^ a b "Item Display. RPM". Library and Archives Canada. Archived from the original on October 15, 2012. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
  13. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 50: 23 January 1977 - 29 January 1977". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 26, 2016.
  14. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  15. ^ "RPM Adult Contemporary - Volume 25, No. 26". Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  16. ^ "RPM Country Singles - Volume 26, No. 6". Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  17. ^ "Gordon Lightfoot Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  18. ^ "Gordon Lightfoot Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  19. ^ "Gordon Lightfoot Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  20. ^ "Cash Box Top Singles - 1976". Tropicalglen.com. December 20, 1963. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  21. ^ "Gordon Lightfoot Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
  22. ^ "Top Singles – Volume 26, No. 14 & 15, January 08 1977". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Archived from the original on March 19, 2016. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  23. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1999). Pop Annual. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. ISBN 0-89820-142-X.
  24. ^ "The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1976; TOP 100 POP SINGLES (As published in the December 25, 1976, issue)". Archived from the original on August 25, 2012. Retrieved June 5, 2016.

Further reading

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Rauch, Alan (June 2023). "'Fellas, it's Been Good to Know You': Gordon Lightfoot's Edmund Fitzgerald". The Newsletter of the Charlotte Folk Society. 28 (6): 4.

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