ADD: Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald (Lightfoot)

Subject: RE: Have you not heard of Gordon Lightfoot?
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 06 Nov 01 - 11:27 AM

ClintonHammond, I usually agree with what you write but not this time. The four chords, especially the Em to Asus4? is meant to suggest the rolling of a ship at sea during a storm. I think it does this very well as does my friend who spent 20 years in the merchant marine. There is no doubt that Mr. Lightfoot knows more than 4 chords. I am sick to death of Edmond Fitzgerald, But I believe it is easily one of the best shipwreck songs ever written. Millions of people indentified with it and loved it.

I am reminded of a quote I heard about the Police (Stings band)

"In their songs they only play 4 chords, but it is always the right 4 chords."

BTW I believe that Lightfoot's "Don Quixote" is certianly one of the best written songs I have ever heard. The guitar work is at times evocative of horses galloping and echoing voices. All while carrying the narrative.

Yeah many of us, especially Canadians over 35, are well tired of hearing Mr. Lightfoot. But I always enjoyed his songs the first couple of hundred times I heard them.

Subject: RE: Have you not heard of Gordon Lightfoot?
From: Fortunato
Date: 06 Nov 01 - 09:50 AM

vlmagee,

I agree with you. I don't think it is a lack of diversity in his material that is at the root of the criticism, though that is how it is framed. I believe it was that his songs became ubiquitous. They put Lightfoot in the elevators and in the supermarkets and everywhere. Familiarity breeds contempt, and contempt is expressed in a myriad of ways. One of these being the charge of homogeneity. IMHOP of course.

'spaw, as to who's songwriting is better, Lightfoot tells a better story, but Taylor expresses human emotions and relationships more successfully. Lightfoot's characters are stylized or archetypal, while Taylor's, like Carol King's (remember Tapestry?) are full round human folks, quite warm and real. (IMHOP)

Subject: RE: Have you not heard of Gordon Lightfoot?
From: Gary T
Date: 06 Nov 01 - 09:49 AM

Not too long after the success of this release, I saw Gordon in concert. He mentioned that of everything he had written, this was the last song he thought would be a top 40 hit. He said he got thousands of letters about it, then "I answered twenty-nine of them."

Subject: RE: Have you not heard of Gordon Lightfoot?
From: RangerSteve
Date: 06 Nov 01 - 09:36 AM

Apparently, some people are unfamiliar with folk music. Edmond Fitzgerald is short compared to a lot of traditional ballads. And clumsy lyrics are also part of a long tradition.

Subject: RE: Have you not heard of Gordon Lightfoot?
From: vlmagee
Date: 06 Nov 01 - 09:27 AM

There is a mistake in the third line in both copies of the lyrics included above. It is:

"The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead"

not "lady".

I didn't read through the entire song, so you may want to double check with my copy, linked from the main page of my http://gordonlightfoot.com web site.

As far as the accusation that his songs sound the same, I won't get into the fray, simply because as a "devoted" fan, I am perhaps not considered objective. BUT, I find it hard to see how people can say this about his music. It certainly isn't true of his biggest hits (If You Could Read My Mind, Sundown and "Wreck"), and when you consider some of his other great songs (Early Mornin' Rain, Canadian Railroad Trilogy, Song For A Winter's Night), the argument becomes even weaker.

What is consistent is the sound of his rhythm guitar - unmistakable - and his voice, also unmistakable. But his originality is really quite amazing considering how many songs he has written and - if you listen to a lot of them (like on the boxed set Songbook) - I think you will agree that his songs do NOT sound alike. You might not love them, as I do, but I think his creativity is pretty well proven in that collection.

Subject: RE: Have you not heard of Gordon Lightfoot?
From: catspaw49
Date: 06 Nov 01 - 12:31 AM

Ya know Guys, while I mught even tend to agree with you about a "Lightfoot Song," it's way too common for a lot of songwriters to fall into that and I agree that Fitz was a departure and for me, very haunting, very foreboding...you can hear the storm.

As far as the it's a "So and So Song"..........Lightfoot and everyone else is way behind and cannot hold a candle to James Taylor. You can sing the lyrics to "Fire and Rain" to ANY of JT's songs. Arlo once was talking about a song he wrote which sounded like a JT song and he realized that he wrote it whilr the two of them were living together in either London or Paris...don't remember which.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Have you not heard of Gordon Lightfoot?
From: Leeder
Date: 06 Nov 01 - 12:09 AM

"The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" has a lot of raw energy to compensate for the occasional clumsy wording. It's the closest thing to a traditional-sounding song that Lightfoot ever wrote, and to me came as a welcome surprise at that point in his career, when he'd discovered what a "Gordon Lightfoot" song sounded like and started writing the same song over and over. The "Fitzgerald" was a refreshing departure.

Subject: RE: Have you not heard of Gordon Lightfoot?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 05 Nov 01 - 11:52 PM

The funniest thing of that sort I ever heard was a Neil Young parody called "Southern California Brings Me Down". Utterly hilarious, because it sounded exactly like Neil...the whiny off key vocals and the typical themes (fear of turning into an "old man", depression, being wasted, etc...). They grabbed every Neil Youngism possible and crammed it all into one song.

This parody should be required listening for all inmates to the NYCFTTS on a daily basis.

(By the way, don't get me wrong, I LIKE Neil, but it's still a great parody...)

- LH

Subject: RE: Have you not heard of Gordon Lightfoot?
From: heric
Date: 05 Nov 01 - 11:35 PM

Many years ago Saturday Night Live did a spoof of an infomercial selling Gordon Lightfoot's "Every Song Ever Written." As the titles scrolled up the screen, samples of songs as diverse as Stairway to Heaven and some Pavorotti stuff I don't recall, etc. were played, each sounding exactly the same as the prior ones. It was a hoot.

Subject: RE: Have you not heard of Gordon Lightfoot?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 05 Nov 01 - 11:16 PM

People love to criticize this particular Lightfoot song (which does contain a few clumsy lines in the lyrics), but I have always found it very atmospheric and dramatically effective, both in the storytelling sense and in the music, simple as it is.

Interestingly enough, it remains the single most rapturously received song in most of Lightfoot's live performances in Canada, from what I've seen...so obviously I'm not the only one out there who likes it.

Then too, long songs don't bother me, since I grew up on Dylan.

I was once at a festival where I met a veteran folky who really pissed me off by complaining about Buffy Sainte-Marie's song "My Country 'Tis of thy People You're Dying". He had 2 reasons for not liking it: 1. He didn't identify with the theme (I can't imagine why...he was a Scot, and they had their land invaded and occupied, after all) 2. He thought it was WAY TOO LONG.

This pompous gent then went up on stage later in the evening and had the gall to play a supposedly funny song he had written that had at least 35 verses and lasted over 20 interminable minutes.

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!

I suspect that the real reason he didn't like Buffy was merely because she is world famous and he is not. That means she's just gotta be a big commercial sellout, right? (sarcasm)

- LH

Subject: RE: Have you not heard of Gordon Lightfoot?
From: Sorcha
Date: 05 Nov 01 - 10:37 PM

Truly phar out. Spaw, ya know ya gotta spell "phar" correctly........

Subject: RE: Have you not heard of Gordon Lightfoot?
From: catspaw49
Date: 05 Nov 01 - 10:14 PM

I have no idea why you had a problem finding these, but next time use the "Digitrad and Forum Search" at the top of the main page, just above the threads on the left. It does a great job......Forget the DTsearch.....Try the DT and Forum Search right now by entering Edmund Fitzgerald and see what you get.

Far out huh?

Spaw

Subject: I wish....
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 05 Nov 01 - 09:59 PM

Listen to James Keelaghan's "Captain Torrez" for a really GOOD shipwreck song... not just 4 good chords round and around and around over clumsy lyrics...

Subject: RE: Have you not heard of Gordon Lightfoot?
From: Amergin
Date: 05 Nov 01 - 09:33 PM

never heard of this song before...

Subject: RE: Have you not heard of Gordon Lightfoot?
From: Pene Azul
Date: 05 Nov 01 - 09:15 PM

With chords here (as referenced in an earlier thread).

Jeff

Subject: RE: Have you not heard of Gordon Lightfoot?
From: Pene Azul
Date: 05 Nov 01 - 09:13 PM

Here in the DT.

Jeff

Subject: Lyr Add: WRECK OF THE EDMUND FITZGERALD^^^
From: GUEST,domenico
Date: 05 Nov 01 - 09:13 PM

... ahh yes, the best way to kill a party... :)

It's probably not listed due to copyright law, but here you go...

THE WRECK OF THE EDMUND FITZGERALD

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitchigumi
The lady, it's said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy.

With a load of iron ore - 26,000 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 the 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 they'd been feeling.

The wind in the wires made a tattletale sound
When the wave broke over the whaling
And every man knew, as the Captain did, too,
'Twas the witch of November come stealing.

The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
When the gales of November came slashing
When afternoon came it was freezing rain
In the face of a hurricane West Wind

When supper time came the old cook came on deck
Saying fellows it's too rough to feed ya
At 7PM the main hatchway gave in
He said fellas it's been good to know ya.

The Captain wired in he had water coming in
And the good ship and crew was in peril
And later that night when his lights went out of sight
Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Does anyone know where the love of God goes
When the words turn the minutes to hours
The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
If they'd fifteen more miles behind her.

They might have split up or they might have capsized
They may have gulfed 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 ruins of her ice water mansion
Ole 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
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, it rang 29 times
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitchigumi
Superior, they say, never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early.

Copyright Gordon Lightfoot^^^

Subject: Have you not heard of Gordon Lightfoot?
From: GUEST,setledown
Date: 05 Nov 01 - 09:07 PM

I am looking for the words to Gordon Lightfoot's tribute to the men who died on the Edmund Fitzgerald. The song is aptly named "The Wreck ofthe Edmund Fitzgerald" and I am grreatly surprised that the lyrics are not part of the Mudcat's database.

Will someone please add these lyrics as soon as possible? I am working up a new show and need these ASAP

This is the first time the Mudcat has let me down. I won't take you for granted anymore.

THANKS

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald
From: Clinton Hammond2
Date: 26 Jul 00 - 02:32 PM

"The door bell chimed till it rang 29 times
Would ya get that Edmond, it's Gerald!"
---Tampy The Wonder Mouse---

[~`

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald
From: Gary T
Date: 26 Jul 00 - 09:52 AM

Little bit of trivia--I was told that the part about the lake not giving up her dead referred to it being so cold that body-decomposing bacteria cannot thrive, so the corpses do not bloat and rise to the surface as they would in many other bodies of water.

I heard Gordon sing this in concert many years ago. He said that of all his songs, this was one he figured would have been least likely to become a chart hit, and thus he was surprised by the thousands of letters he received about it. He went on to say he answered 29 of them. I was moved.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald
From: paddymac
Date: 26 Jul 00 - 09:48 AM

ER - the song is already in the DT under the title "The Edmund Fitzgerald".

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald
From: Easy Rider
Date: 26 Jul 00 - 07:51 AM

Aaaaaahhhh! That's Better.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
From: Easy Rider
Date: 26 Jul 00 - 07:50 AM

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald By Gordon Lightfoot

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call 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 - 26,000 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 the 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 they'd been feeling.

The wind in the wires made a tattletale sound
And a wave broke over the railing
And every man knew, as the Captain did, too,
T'was the witch of November come stealing.

The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
When the gales of November came slashing
When afternoon came it was freezing rain
In the face of a hurricane West Wind

When supper time came the old cook came on deck
Saying fellows it's too rough to feed ya
At 7PM a main hatchway caved in
He said fellas it's been good to know ya.

The Captain wired in he had water coming in
And the good ship and crew was in peril
And later that night when his lights went out of sight
Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Does anyone know where the love of God goes
When the words turn the minutes to hours
The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
If they'd fifteen more miles behind her.

They might have split up or they might have capsized
They 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 ruins 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, 'til it rang 29 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 say, never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early.