ADD: Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald (Lightfoot)

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.

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

Here in the DT.

Jeff

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: Amergin
Date: 05 Nov 01 - 09:33 PM

never heard of this song before...

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: 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: 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: 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: 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 - 11:52 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: GUEST,maxine
Date: 06 Nov 01 - 11:39 AM

When my husband decided to learn to play the guitar, a great friend of ours, taught him 'Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.' This friend was ruthless in as much as he jumped on my husbands foot each time he got the rhythm wrong and banged him on the head with a tambourine each time he had to change chords! Hence, my husband now gives a very good rendition of Edmund Fitzgerald, (he was too scared not to get it right!) This friend of ours died in August,aged just 37, and now to hear this song played with the same passion he played it, is both wonderful and extremely emotional. Cotton Jenny, Rainy Day People, Sundown, his version of Bobby Mcgee is the best I've heard (perhaps I'm biased.) He can do no wrong in my eyes. We've many a happy memory singing Gordon Lightfoot songs - amongst others - well into the early hours. Unfortunately, memories are all we have of our friend now - but the Edmund Fitzgerald will always remind us of him.

Subject: RE: Have you not heard of Gordon Lightfoot?
From: MichaelAnthony
Date: 06 Nov 01 - 11:48 AM

Songs are supposed to have lots of chords?

Subject: RE: Have you not heard of Gordon Lightfoot?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 06 Nov 01 - 12:11 PM

Inexperienced and ambitious young songwriters are much given to the habit (and the conceit) of writing songs with a large variety of odd chords in them, hoping that this will produce a superior song. It generally doesn't. Most of the better songs have a pretty simple chord structure.

And yes, there are some exceptions to that, but it goes fairly well as a general rule.

People think Lightfoot's songs all sound the same mainly because his voice has a very distintive quality, and his voice is in all of them (duh!). People think the same of Leonard Cohen's songs for precisely the same reason. Hell, Ian Tyson's songs all "sound the same" too, and he's a superb songwriter, as are Cohen and Lightfoot.

For a truly unique Lightfoot song, how about "Ghosts of Cape Horn"?

- LH

p.s. Some more corrections to the lyrics in Edmund Fitz: "they'd have made Whitefish Bay if they'd PUT fifteen more miles behind her" "with a crew and GOOD captain well seasoned" "they may have BROKE deep and took water" "Superior sings in the ROOMS of her ice water mansion" (that's what I think the words are, anyway...)

Subject: RE: Have you not heard of Gordon Lightfoot?
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 06 Nov 01 - 12:18 PM

"And clumsy lyrics are also part of a long tradition."

ya... the tradition of BAD songwriting...

And Jack... if you re-read my post, you'll notice I said "4 good chords"... When I have to play wreck in my solo show, I cut a verse and the song is still way too long... I then, most likley play either "Marry Ellen Carter" to wake people back up, Or I play "Captain Torrez", to show whoever requested "Wreck" that there are much better shipwreck songs out there...

I thik you'd really like Captain Torrez...

;-)

Subject: RE: Have you not heard of Gordon Lightfoot?
From: TonyK
Date: 06 Nov 01 - 12:19 PM

Does anyone know how Lightfoot is doing these days? TonyK

Subject: RE: Have you not heard of Gordon Lightfoot?
From: SharonA
Date: 06 Nov 01 - 12:39 PM

Seems like he's okay, apparently; he has a full tour schedule for March-November 2002 listed on his website (www.gordonlightfoot.com). Lyrics to his songs are also there!!!

For other seagoing ballad-songs by Lightfoot, with haunting chord progressions, check out "Ode to Big Blue" and "Ballad of Yarmouth Castle".

Subject: RE: Have you not heard of Gordon Lightfoot?
From: Willie-O
Date: 06 Nov 01 - 12:53 PM

Clinton, I think it's inappropriate to compare "Edmund Fitzgerald" with "Capt. Torres". They both concern real-life modern shipwrecks, but the subject is approached completely differently.

Lightfoot commemorated the loss of the Fitz and its crew by writing a very traditional style, straightforward narrative with reference to the past (native legend, etc.) People relate to it on that basis, because it sounds like history, and are often surprised that it refers to an event that happened in 1975. The only thing non-traditional about the song is the electric guitar lick.

Keelaghan, who works a bit harder at innovative literary devices, wrote a masterpiece in "Captain Torres". It examines the irony of modern day technology that allows the shorebound wives to receive "phone calls from young men dying", but cannot save them from their fate.

You learn a lot from the Edmund Fitzgerald, if you study the lyrics, of what happened, where, and maybe why. Very little of this information is present in the Keelaghan song.

They are both great songs that have moved many, although of course the Edmund Fitzgerald has been overplayed. You don't have to like 'em both, but it's not a case of one good, one bad.

Respectfully, on dry land,
W-O

Subject: RE: Have you not heard of Gordon Lightfoot?
From: TonyK
Date: 06 Nov 01 - 12:57 PM

I once knew what song 'The Wreck...' was based on, or rather what melody it used but I have forgotten. Anyone know?
TonyK

Subject: RE: Have you not heard of Gordon Lightfoot?
From: GUEST,Steven G.
Date: 06 Nov 01 - 01:02 PM

I think the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald of the best song that Lightfoot ever written. I really like playing this song with a 12 string guitar, and doing a little picking in it.

Like Valerie, I am a big fan of Lightfoot music. All of his songs are timeless classics, to "If You Could Read My Mind to Sundown, they are all great songs. And I find that Lightfoot uses alot of different or variation of chords, than other performers.

As for Lightfoot, he is still playing his classic songs anywhere he goes. Valerie Magee site, http://www.gordonlightfoot.com has nearly all the tour dates for next year, lyrics, news, you name it, its there.

Anyway that's my .02 cents worth.

Steven G.

Subject: RE: Have you not heard of Gordon Lightfoot?
From: Peter T.
Date: 06 Nov 01 - 01:05 PM

I am amazed that people think that there is clumsiness in this song. It is a piece of extraordinary writing: it is deliberately written in a kind of archaic, heroic storytelling language (note the Longfellow feel to the opening), full of rough "telegraphed news", mingled with modern terminology. It is completely and utterly brilliant writing. Lightfoot has written a lot of bad quasi-poetry: this is not. My hat is off to him.

yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: Have you not heard of Gordon Lightfoot?
From: mousethief
Date: 06 Nov 01 - 01:10 PM

It's not so much the clunky lyrics or lengh I mind, but the gawddawful drone melody. If ever a song would benefit from a bridge....

Alex

Subject: RE: Have you not heard of Gordon Lightfoot?
From: PeteBoom
Date: 06 Nov 01 - 01:22 PM

Actually, I remember the storm the sank the Fitzgerald. Even tho I was a LONG way away from Lake Superior, and 50 miles inland from Lake Michigan late that night. That afternoon I'd been along the lakeshore doing a photographic shoot. Trying to anyway - Even though it was the fringe of the storm, there were massive breakers pounding the beach and harbor entrance. Waves towering over the breakwater guarding the entrance, with white water crashing as high as the top of the lighthouse (Holland, Michigan). I found out that night that a couple of kids were washed off the walkway on breakwater. One washed up a few days later, the other, if I remember right, washed up a month or so after. The next morning, or course, came word that a freighter was overdue - something that hadn't happened on the Great Lakes in years - even the Carl D. Bradley (1958 or 1959) had a chance to send a distress call that saved 2 crewmen out of 30+.

The first time I heard the song, I thought the rolling feel, complete with the odd "jerk" in the lyrics, touched really well the feel of a ship in trouble. Lake Superior is a strange thing - Ships designed to handle her have trouble when she's riled - Those just designed for the North Atlantic have no chance at all.

Ah well - time to work -

Pete

Subject: RE: Have you not heard of Gordon Lightfoot?
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 06 Nov 01 - 01:26 PM

" it is deliberately written in a kind of archaic, heroic storytelling language"

Gord the Board himself has admitted it's not very well written...

Subject: RE: Have you not heard of Gordon Lightfoot?
From: Amos
Date: 06 Nov 01 - 01:32 PM

GUEST setledown:

Have ye not heard of common manners when visiting?

Have ye not heard of spelling?

This is the first time you have let us all down.

Don't let it happen again!!

We aren't taking you for granted hereafter...

Regards,

A.

Subject: RE: Have you not heard of Gordon Lightfoot?
From: Leeder
Date: 06 Nov 01 - 01:39 PM

TonyK, "The Wreck..." has the same melody as the Irish song "Back Home in Derry". I'm not sure which song came first.

StevenG, the songs you mention are ones I think of as around the end of GL's "early period", before I started getting bored with his stuff. I agree with you entirely on those songs, and much of what he wrote previously.

Not that it matters, but I remember the Country Hoedown TV show when they announced that a young backup singer was leaving the show to go out on his own, and they gave him a solo spot. Yes, it was GL. I also remember "The TuTones", Gordon Lightfoot and Terry Whelan. Wish I'd bought their LP, it'd be a collector's item now. Lastly, my aunt, a music teacher in Orillia, prided herself that she gave Gordon his first music lessons. So much for name-dropping...

Subject: RE: Have you not heard of Gordon Lightfoot?
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 06 Nov 01 - 01:40 PM

"Wreck" came first, Leeder....

Subject: RE: Have you not heard of Gordon Lightfoot?
From: TonyK
Date: 06 Nov 01 - 02:00 PM

Thanks, Leeder. That's the one I was thinking of.

I'm surprised to hear (read) that 'Wreck' came before 'Derry', Clinton. Thank you.
TonyK

Subject: RE: Have you not heard of Gordon Lightfoot?
From: GUEST,maxine
Date: 06 Nov 01 - 02:35 PM

Have been reading this thread with interest. Pete, your account is fascinating. It's lovely to hear from someone who has some sort of geographical knowledge of the whole thing. When I first heard this song, I imagined it to be from the 1920/30 period, whereas it actually happened 74 ish (I hope I'm right). I just wanted to thank you for adding your 'piece' it makes it even more real to me.

Subject: RE: Have you not heard of Gordon Lightfoot?
From: SharonA
Date: 06 Nov 01 - 02:49 PM

I agree with Maxine. Thanks, Pete, for telling us about your experience.

BTW, I use the one verse where all five Great Lakes are described ("Lake Huron rolls; Superior sings...") to remember their names!

Subject: RE: Have you not heard of Gordon Lightfoot?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 06 Nov 01 - 02:51 PM

Alex - Naw. Putting a bridge in that song would be as unworkable as putting a bridge across Lake Superior. Bad idea in either case. :-)

- LH

Subject: RE: Have you not heard of Gordon Lightfoot?
From: The Hiker
Date: 06 Nov 01 - 03:14 PM

The lyric to back Home in Derry is attributed to the republican hunger striker Bobby Sands if this is true then it dates the melody to The Wreck as being much earlier.

Subject: RE: Have you not heard of Gordon Lightfoot?
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 06 Nov 01 - 03:32 PM

ClintonHammond, I'm getting a feel gfor your point of view.

I think I would Like Captain Torrez.

Mary Ellen Carter is one of my favorite songs.

Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald was. But like you, I've heard it way too many times. Gordon Packed a lot of information into an admittedly long song. I've read entire books with less information.

If Lightfoot said it was poorly written he was wrong. Through the media I've heard him on occaision denigrate his own songs and abilities. He rerecorded "Early Morning Rain" among other songs for "Gord's Gold" because he thought he couldn't sing well when he first recorded the songs. Millons of his fans would disagree.

Subject: RE: Have you not heard of Gordon Lightfoot?
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 06 Nov 01 - 04:46 PM

Jack... Ya know how to find me if ya want an mp3 of "Captain Torrez" eh??

;-)

Subject: RE: Have you not heard of Gordon Lightfoot?
From: Kim C
Date: 06 Nov 01 - 05:21 PM

Isn't it "the WAVES turn the minutes to hours"?

The event, and the song that followed, all happened when I was a wee lassie. I loved the haunting eerieness of it then, and now.

There are a lot of epic songs which have words that don't rhyme exactly, and sometimes sound clumsy. Maybe sometimes it's the telling of the tale that's more important than having all your words scan perfectly.

I followed with interest the retrieval, replication and return of the Edmund Fitzgerald's bell a few years back.

Subject: RE: Have you not heard of Gordon Lightfoot?
From: Mountain Dog
Date: 06 Nov 01 - 06:23 PM

While I honor the shades of those who went down with the Edmund Fitzgerald and I appreciate the song and its writer, I confess I do so strictly in the abstract, thanks to my initial (over)exposure to the tune.

I'd caught it on the radio once or twice when it first came out and found it powerful and haunting. (As a former DJ, I also pegged it as a instant favorite among on-air types, as its prodigious length allowed plenty of time for taking care of the necessities of life that often go begging when you're chained to a pair of turntables in a small room, forever spinning 3-minute tunes...)

Things got ugly for me when my stepfather discovered the tune and brought it home...on 8-track! Seems that TWOTEF was just the right length to get its own program on the tape...which meant all that step-dad had to do to "hear it just one more time" was to pass by the stereo, punch swiftly through the other three programs and, voila!, there was Gord whanging away again, off for another spin around the lake!

The *#$@! tape didn't leave the player for the next 48 hours and things grew dank and bilious throughout the house. "Evokes the sense of a ship in distress", you say? "And how!," says I! Cats yowled, bilge sloshed, grown women and stripling youths chewed the carpets, alas, to no avail. Never before or since have I experienced anything with the power to render the far better part an entire family, landlocked and housebound in the hintermost Midwest, seasick, green and heaving with nary a scupper to wretch in! And all the while, our cruel captain stayed faithful to his rounds, punching the damnable button thrice in succession each time he passed the stereo by, howling above the ceaseless storm: "This is his'try, y'know! This really happened! Gawdamahty, whatta great sowng!"

At last, in desperation, having lashed myself to a dining room chair for stability, I staggered by dark of night to the stereo where it pitched queasily atop its particle-board stand (which, now thoroughly waterlogged, had begun to swell and split, its faux-walnut laminate hanging in limp and glistening tatters) and with clammy, numbed fingers prized the tape from the heartless beast's tireless maw. Mom saluted me weakly from beneath her dripping sou'wester whilst I danced a vigorous hob-nailed hornpipe on the plastic cassette, scattering the shards like chaff as the grateful sobs of siblings and neighbors rose to fill the air.

Over the years, I have recovered to the point that instead of breaking furniture or committing random acts of road rage when I chance to hear "The Wreck", I slip peaceably into a semi-catatonic state and gibber quietly to myself until the storm has passed. Yes, all things considered, I take it pretty well on the outside these days, but, oh, if you could read my mind, love...

Subject: RE: Have you not heard of Gordon Lightfoot?
From: GUEST,frankie
Date: 06 Nov 01 - 06:42 PM

I was a big fan of Lightfoot early on and then I kind of lost interest when he seemed to take a sort of commercial turn around the time of "Sundown", I think. Tony Rice frequently does Lightfoot tunes and even released a compilation of them. When I got this last year and heard all those songs it made me realize once again how good a writer GL is. Tony also does an excellent solo version of "The Edmund Fitzgerald" imho. f.

Subject: RE: Have you not heard of Gordon Lightfoot?
From: SharonA
Date: 06 Nov 01 - 07:16 PM

He "lost" me for a time when "East of Midnight" came out. By that time, his Lightfoot-song-that-sells style had evolved to the point that not only did all the songs sound the same, but so did all the lyrics: he mumbled his way through each song, and I couldn't understand a word! It was like listening to the chorus of "The Auctioneer" on every track!

Now I'm trying to catch up with those latest CD's of his that I did not buy at the time they were released, and I'm about ready to see him in concert again.