The church bell chimed till it rang 29 times....

Genius! I just sent this to everyone in my church choir. Lightfoot sings at our church every Christmas Eve.

 

You take that back right now!!!

 

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 true 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 ships bell rang
Could it be the north wind theyd 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,
Twas 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, its too rough to feed ya.
At seven p.m. a main hatchway caved in, he said
Fellas, its been good tknow 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 theyd have made whitefish bay
If theyd 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 mans 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!

 

I read a book on the Edmund Fitzgerald recently, and -- maybe everyone already knew this; it was news to me -- the first few lines from that song are pretty much word-for-word from the lede of a Newsweek (or Time) article on the sinking.

 

If that's really Moranis singing, he did a great job. I would have sworn that was Gord's voice.

 

Does any one know where the love of God goes
When the waves turn the minutes to hours?
The searchers 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.

Heartbreaking and beautifully written stanza.

A sad, sad story.

 

http://www.prefixmag.com/reviews/laura-cantrell/trains-and-boats-and-planes/18589/

Laura Cantrell.

She's a good singer, but I agree with the above review -- it's hard to put your own stamp on this song because it's so identified with, to put in the Superintendent Chalmers-style title of his first album, Lightfoot!

HC, hope your church choir enjoys the bit. It must be a thrill to sing with Gord every year.

 

I don't care about opinions on Lightfoot. The song and its poetry tell a powerful story about storms, winds, and the violent isolation of cold water death. The song translates the desolation of being out on the water in winter months (go there once and you probably won't go back) where building seas, vulnerabilities, and November north winds all build into a sailor's fear which is deeper than death- it is a fear of disappearing.

 

There's an extended dance version.

 

My understanding is that the current theory is that a huge following wave caught it and drove it straight down into the bottom of the lake, which accounts for how quickly it went down.
Yes? No?

 

Very, very funny.

Anybody know -- the Maritime Sailors' cathedral, that's right beside the Windsor Tunnel, just down from the Ren Cen, right? I always assumed that was it.

 

Far as I know, beard, yes.