He lost the Grammy that year to Stevie Wonder. Gordon deserves more than a big clap for much Of his poetry, and music. Especially in his tribute to these Souls.
“Does anyone know where the love of god goes when the waves turn minutes to hours.” I think this is one of the greatest lines ever penned in popular music.
Every time I hear that line, it's as if it's the first time & I have the same reaction - the hair on the back of my neck rises. It's a simple, clean, summation of the fear people are going to feel in a desperate situation.
I could not agree more. If you go back and listen, he even sounds a little different when he sings that line... more calm or prophetic, somehow. Haunting.
Amen man Gordon Lightfoot was a singing storyteller of the highest Magnitude !! I was teenager in Cleveland Ohio when this happened, and enjoyed this song when it topped the charts in the 70's
“Superior, they say, never gives up her dead" The hardest part about that lyric is that it's very much literal. Unlike the Titanic where the bodies eventually succumbed to the currents, bacteria and animals, the waters at the bottom of Lake Superior were so cold, the bodies couldn't produce the bacteria to make the gases that make bodies decompose and float which means... The crew are still down there in that lake, stuck, frozen in time.
And THEY ARE FORBIDDEN. No pictures, no touching no trying to bring up. The governmental agency (in Canada I believe) does not allow diving or investigation there.
@@GN-jn1ty Yes, it is considered a graveyard in both Canada and the USA. Meaning it is illegal to dive the site without permission and nothing is allowed to be distrubed at all. They bring up the Bell and the Anchor but that is all that was removed from the ship. The Ship itself its in two pieces fairly close to each other on the bottom. Also, the fact that you know Lake Superior is so cold that bodies will never ever float to the top is amazing.
@SlayFNX as a former diver, recoveries always scared me. Especially in bad or murky water, you can't see them until you're on top of them. Auto accidents were the most common type of recovery, but unfortunately not the only type. The only positive of a call like this is giving someone back to their families...from Wyoming USA 🇺🇲🤠
1000% True. First heard this at 12 at a bar. Played it three times, then got in trouble from my stepdad for playing it too much. Never forgot it and it's been like over 40 years. Was brand new then.
A common phrase "Superior never gives up her dead." The reason for that statement is because Lake Superior is so big and cold all year round, that it actually inhibits bacterial growth. So instead of decomposing & eventually floating up to the surface as they would in more temperate waters, the bodies of the sailors will sink to the bottom of the lake & will never resurface. Rarely are they retrieved, so the wreckage sites become permanent memorials to those who perished.
Superior is the scariest body of water I have ever seen in my life. Very emotional visiting the museum at Whitefish, seeing the twisted lifeboats and the ship’s bell
@Nicole Jessica lol. At least neither of them are completely disastrous, right? 🤪😂 Well, to answer your question, if it was indeed "decompose", the answer is technically, no. It's too cold for bacterial decomposition. But it's not like being frozen in ice, they're not preserved. As with all environments, there are animals which survive on carrion - fish, crabs, etc. Does that answer your question, "Mohammad"😜?
@Nicole Jessica no. I was trying to be a bit delicate and not too graphic. But essentially, there are animals that live off of the bodies of the dead. So, no, the bodies of these sailor are not preserved/intact.
The SS Fitzgerald, or "The Fitz" sank during a monster winter storm with gale force winds and 20-30' waves on 10 Nov 1975. He wrote this song out of reverence and it was included on an album he released in Jan 1976. The song immediately began getting air time on both Canadian & American radio and became quite popular. In late 1976, before the one year anniversary of the tragedy, the song was released again as a single. All crewmen were lost in Lake Superior. Every year on the anniversary of the tragedy a ceremony is held and The actual ship's bell off of The Fitz, which was recovered (the ship lies 700' below the surface in 2 sections), is rung 29 times. Mr Lightfoot has donated all proceeds from sales & royalties to the families. When the anniversary came around after Mr Lightfoot's passing, the Ship's Bell was rung 30 times. An extremely talented singer/songwriter/storyteller. RIP.
I remember when this happened ! lightfoot put out the song , and it was a big hit ! all the proceeds were donated to the families of the lost crew ! shows what kind of a guy he is !
Our neighbor James Pratt died on this ship.I was about 13. We're from lakewood, ohio they were on their way home. He left a wife and a four year old daughter.
Can’t imagine the families lost, this had to affect the whole community. I’m glad the Fritz was declared a graveyard and no one can dive there without a permit. May the crew Rest In Peace. Lake Superior is a feisty bitch
Two lines in this song always get me "Fellas it's been good to know you" and "Does anyone know where the love of God goes When the waves turn the minutes to hours."
The wreck was found by magnetic resonance in 1975 in roughly 530 feet of water, and was finally discovered on the bottom of the lake split in two, with her stern resting upside down. Most experts agree that she broke in half on the surface, though the reason for her breaking is debated. A newer theory is that a series of rogue waves reported by the Captain of a following vessel, the Arthur M Anderson, temporarily submerged either the bow or the stern and drove it to the bottom, where the momentum of the vessel snapped it in half and she sank almost immediately. The last transmission from the Captain of the Fitz was that "We are holding our own" Lake Superior has more than 3 QUADRILLION gallons of water, and has a surface area larger than that of the state of Maine. If you were to drain it the water would cover both North AND South America in more than a foot of fresh water. The lake is so cold that the bacteria that give off the gasses that allow bodies to float in the water often can't grow and "the Lake never gives up her dead".
That's the line that always tugs at my heart. Even if I've managed to keep my eyes dry up to that point, there is no chance of them remaining so after he sings that line.
Kass....Im born in Detroit and lived always close to the city....Im fortunate enough to hear great Canadian bands being played on local radio in Detroit and Windsor.
I was in college when this happened. It was in all the news magazines: “Empty lifejackets washing ashore from storm-tossed Lake Superior yesterday provided grim evidence for Coast Guard fears that all 29 crewmen aboard the 729-foot ore carrier Edmund Fitzgerald drowned when the one-time ‘Monarch of the Great Lakes’ sank in giant waves. Aircraft and ships kept criss-crossing hundreds of miles of the huge lake, the world’s second largest body of fresh water, looking for any crewmen who might have survived the Monday night wreck. But they reported no sign of either survivors or bodies.”
My daughters 2nd grade teacher would sing this song to them w her guitar. She taught them all about the history of this tragic story. It’s a very humbling thing standing by the bell in whitefish point
"Edmund Fitzgerald" is written in the style of a "sea chantey," a basic form of traditional/historic folk song which usually features a rising/falling melody (like sea waves), in minor chords, over medium/slow tempo, usually telling the story of a tragedy or shipwreck.
Lightfoot, Stompin' Tom, and Ian and Sylvia Tyson... ..., and Rush, and the Hip... ..., and Stan Rogers and Tommy Hunter... I do not know that I can remember all the truly amazing people who just happened to be Canadian.
@@thehellyousay Don't forget the women! The inimitable Joni Mitchell, Celine, Anne Murray, Heart, Sarah McLaughlin, Shania Twain, Buffy St.Marie, Alannis Morrisette, Avril Lavigneand a few more l can't think of. Jan Arden, k.d. lang, Rita McNeil, Carol Baker, Teigan and Sarah, Sylvia Tyson
This is one of my favorite reactions of yours India. I'm from Michigan, born and raised, this song means a lot to us Michiganders. Every time i hear it I cry. It is such a beautiful song and great story telling. To all who read this, the Great Lakes are no joke. They're basically mini sea's with their own weather patterns. Lake Superior is know to have hurricane force winds and horrid winter conditions.
a lot of people who both do and do not live in Michigan don't realize how dangerous the big lakes really are. the big lakes including superior are more like inland ease they are so large. You get out into the middle of them and you can't see land. and the lakes are worse in a storm especially on Lake Superior is the deepest and coldest of them. In the summer when it is hot Superior is still too clod to swim in.
Gordon Lightfoot is one of the best storytellers. His music and lyrics paint a vivid picture, it puts you right on the decks of the Fitzgerald and is a fitting tribute to her crew and every death of the Mariners just doing their jobs on the Great Lakes..
In lake Superior in November winds Blow/Converge from 3 Directions at the same time! ,called the 3 SISTERS ! yet the Authorities didn't say that what CAUSED the WRECK ! .
Oh goodness me too...just can't be helped . You have a true story, driving inevitable drums, guitars that are literally crying for the loss of these men, then on top of all that there's Gordon Lightfoot's perfectly haunting voice retelling the events in his own unique way. How could anyone who knows of this tragedy listen to this song and keep a dry eye? All I know is it sure isn't me.
Dark Truth More true than some people realize with the changes Gordon has made to the original words; From the song's Wiki Page -In a later live recording, Lightfoot recounts that a parishioner of the church informed him that the church is not "musty". From that time, instead of singing "In a musty old hall...", he now sings "In a rustic old hall..." -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 now sings 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 has simply sung the new words during live performances. He did use poetic licence for a couple of phrases; -According to the song, the Edmund Fitzgerald was bound "fully loaded for Cleveland". In fact, the ship was heading for Zug Island, near Detroit, where it was set to discharge its cargo of taconite iron ore pellets before heading on to Cleveland, her home port, to wait out the winter. -Capt. Ernest McSorley had stated in his last radio transmission before the ship sank that he and the crew were "holding our own", not that they had "water coming in". -In his lyrics Lightfoot employs poetic licence to describe the Mariners' Church of Detroit as "The Maritime Sailors' Cathedral".
There are some 'creative issues' that Gordon Lightfoot used in this song. The one that is definitely not true - that anyone is aware happened - are words of the cook.
@@scottbc31h22 and the waves are much closer together also...from Wyoming USA 🔫🤠🇺🇸p.s stay safe and healthy everybody GOD BLESS OUR COUNTRY AND stop this foolishness ❤
Yep...I just said that before I read your comment. I've lived on both Lakes Michigan and Huron. Illinois side of Lake Michigan was like living on the Atlantic Ocean. Where I am now.
I am a 62-year-old woman who cannot stop watching your videos. You have encouraged me to step outside my little music box and listen to the unfamiliar. Thank you for what you do. I think you’re a queen.
I am from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario which is the closest Canadian city to Whitefish Bay which is referenced in the song. This happened in November of 1975, the year I was born. People from here older than me all remember the night this happened. There is a model of the Edmund Fitzgerald in our local museum. Gordon Lightfoot is a Canadian legend and sure did a great job paying respects to the crew with this song.
@@insufficientdata9845 For sure. I grew up right in the city, in a neighbourhood called Fort Creek. I went to high school at St. Mary's and university in Thunder Bay. My dad worked at the Steel Plant.
As perfect a blend of lyric, melody and production there ever was. From the first time I heard this I thought; "Every word chosen was perfect - nothing out of place, nothing wasted". I have never thought that about another song.
They ring the bell off the Edmund Fitzgerald every year 29x in memory of the crew, last year Gordon Lightfoot passed away, and they rang the bell 30x in memory.
I feel like Lightfoot, is one of the few artists that REALLY remind us the power of storytelling and just how details can immortalize. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but no amount of photographs can encompass what happened that day the way this song does.
India I was in the coast guard when this happened I was sent to Minnesota to board a Coast Guard cutter to search for her even though we new she was gone
I know exactly which boat you were on named the Woodrush (WLB-407) built during WWII and was in Sitka, Alaska before it was decommissioned & sold to the country of Ghana. It truly saddened me to see a foreign flag flying upon this ship. This ship deserved to be mothballed in the same fashioned like the Naval battleships (Iowa, Wisconsin & Missouri) IMO
Michigan is my home and I was a little girl when the Edmund went down. It seemed everyone lost someone a son, a father, husband, or cousin. Michigan was in a panic of sorrow. My mom made food or visited relatives of some of the 29. The lakes sing and draw you in, they call you, but they demand respect they are a force.
i am an English guy who heard this about 6yrs ago and cried like a waterfall tears all over and still think about it today and your reaction is from the heart thank you
The whining of the electric guitars, the slow methodical rhythm, the Brilliant writing. As an 11y.o. boy I first heard this song when it was released and I wept. Now at 55 y.o. It never ceases to move me to tears. Gordon Lightfoot's Masterwork. All these years later it is still captivating people. What a Brilliant work
I spent 20 years on fishing boats. I love this song and especially the line "when the waves turn minutes to hours" I've probably lost 10 years off my life to those situations.
This song has a big place in my life. I first heard it when I was young and sensitive,and it brings tears to my eyes literally every time I hear it, including this time. The imagery is amazing. The crew perished cold, wet, and hungry, struggling to survive the nature that towers over them, a fate that they might have avoided had they left only a few minutes earlier. My favorite lines are "Superior sings in the ruins [I always thought 'rooms'] of her ice water mansion.", "Later that night when his lights went out of sight" and "Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours." A chilling masterpiece.
The love of God was ever there. We live in a fallen world, where we all have free will to choose. God so loved us He sent His son to pay the ultimate price for our sin. All we have to do is believe. All of the believers on that boat knew exactly where the love of God was when they arrived in His presence.
Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours? Every time the US Coast Guard or Navy crosses the spot where the Edmund Fitzgerald lays, We ring a bell 29 times...
I love how you show the appreciation for this mans haunting song. It's so amazing how he truly captured what really happened before, during, and after the wreck. Not many artists can capture a moment in time as Gordon did. Love that you did this and your reaction was pricless. Thank you for sharing your reaction to this untimely song. By that I mean timeless. They didn't have real time weather tracking like we do now. They only went off of previous years records. The gails of November came early that year and the good ship was overweight to begin with. In normal weather she could have made it, but the weight made the waves crash over the sides faster than the bilge pumps could compensate for. Those pumps were never meant for this kind of overtaking. What an amazing story so well told and so accurately in such a short amount of time. The haunting guitar and melody fully captured the moment of the ship and crews last moments. Leaving behind the wives and the sons and the daughters. You had such a beautiful reaction to this. I loved my visit. Thanks again for this.
If you've ever been in a Great Lakes storm, these lines are soooo true. It's terrifying when you go from calm water to waves that you are looking up at to see the tops, within a span of 30 minutes.
+Richard Powell I have never heard hopelessness & despair (in ones final moments) better described. Powerful stuff. The only other line that comes close (for me) is "That good ship and crew was a bone to be chewed" Like India said, it's akin to the Titanic. No matter now proud & impressive mankind and his creations become? . . . . .Nature (the world) can always swat us down with ease.
@@dr.burtgummerfan439 I have heard that they slowed down to stay in radio contact with a smaller boat that was having problems. If that is a true account that sacrifice saved the lives of everyone on smaller boat, because they would have made it.
Everyone that lived along the Great Lakes remember, that Storm of the Century, that hit in November 0f 1975 the Edmund was not the only ship to be lost that day.
I'm from and still live in Cleveland. This song and the sinking of this ship is part of our history. Much love and respect to the crew of this ship. They were "ours". Their loss was deeply felt here at the time. RIP...
"Ice water mansions" Shipwrecks full of cadavers. Lake Superior, a more deadly body of water than the Bermuda triangle. It's 80 feet in front of my house. Watch the sky every time I go out on it.
@@jasonmcconnell9419 I've been through Thunder Bay many a Time I used to drive a tractor trailer from Toronto to Winnipeg. And it's quite treacherous up around the lake head in the winter time LOL it's a beautiful part of the country though and the province. I would love to move up there. I think Burlington is about 1000 miles from Thunder Bay
Hwy 17 in Winter is nothing short of a nightmare. Hats off to you for enduring it. The country is beautiful. Thunder Bay, not so much. And yes, about 1000 miles. Just drove it two weeks ago. Everytime I make that drive all I can think is "if this was Europe I could have driven from Sweden to Spain in less time.
November 10, 1975. My dad worked at Great Lakes Steel in Ecorse Michigan which sits on the Detroit River/Lake Erie. He had been on this vessel many times loading and unloading and knew a couple of the guys that had worked on the EF for years. He was devastated, but also comforted by knowing they were doing what they loved! Every November the Mariners Church in Detroit used to ring their bells once for every soul lost! I don't know why they stopped! It was a somber reminder of something many of us will never forget!
@@floridahiker1503 Great Lakes Steel expanded to Zug Island. Great Lakes Steel is now US Steel and has been since the early 2000's. I'm not sure if US Steel still operates on Zug Island or not. I don't go to that area unless I have to! Lol! It's not a good area
This 64 year young Aussie knows the wreck of the Edmed Fitzgerald, & every time I sing along with Gordon I get chocked up. Especially with the line "all that remains is the faces of the wife's, & the sons & the daughters" 😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥 29 families devastated
I was in the Navy in the 60's and during an Atlantic crossing, heading for the Mediterranean in December. When we got into the North Atlantic a storm came up. Now my ship was just short of 1,000 feet long and carried a crew of over 900. But only 70 feet wide . (i.e. bigger that the Edmund Fitz) For three days we rode 40 foot waves that ran over our deck 45 feet above the waterline. Most of the crew (including me) spent at least two days in bed or throwing up in the head (bathroom to you). I was scared and said more than one prayer. But eventually the storm subsided. I can remember being so thankful when I could see the Canary Islands and even happier to see the Rock of Gibraltar. I made three of those cruises but that was the only really bad weather I experienced. P.S. At least I didn't have to go to Nam.
Gordon Lightfoot is telling you a true story in this song but what a great song this song came out in the early 70s but is still as relative today as back then and has kept the crew of the tragedy in the hearts of so many thanks India
The ship sank in 1975 , song came out in 1976. Truly one of the greatest songs of that time. Gordon Lightfoot is in epic storyteller.. If you like him you also should take a look at Harry Chapin also a absolutely fantastic storyteller.
I remember when this happened(yes, I'm old!)and how horribly devastating this was. I live in the Great Lakes region and this tragedy still hurts all these years later.
I was just out of high school when it happened (I'm old, too) and was shocked & horrified when I heard the news. I remember thinking that shipwrecks aren't supposed to happen nowadays. I still cry every time I hear this song.
@@MaryrosePurple1Well, I wasn't through school, just 13, so you old geezer, lol but seriously I was shocked when Walter Cronkite announced that the ship went down with 29 aboard. I live in the Great Lakes Region and although Lake St. Clair isn't the monster Lake Superior is I still wouldn't go out on it in my fathers boat, for about a year.
I remember and I'm old. The Fitz sank about a week after I got home from the Navy. The ship berthed in the Maumee, so a good deal of the crew were from the greater Toledo area.
I’m right there with all of you, I’m old too. November 10th I was 14 and living in Michigan. I was listening to music when the reports starting coming over the radio. I remember that night... I remember...
@@lynncantrell5502 An interesting fact about Johnny Horton is he was a teacher before becoming a known singer. Care to guess what he taught? History! If memory serves me, I believe it was "The Battle of New Orleans" that was either one of his earliest or it was the earliest song he wrote for his students. He wanted his students to really get history, for them to envision it for themselves. ....."Yeah, they ran through the briars And they ran through the brambles And they ran through the bushes Where the rabbit couldn't go They ran so fast That the hounds couldn't catch 'em On down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico". I can only imagine how these kids took in their history! Talking about history coming alive and perhaps, especially the exaggerated parts as the part here. Thick, yes. Probably rabbits could find a means to get through it. 🤔 🥰 Just saying. 🤣
It was just one of those things on the curriculum. We had to read books from Canadian writers too. I don't know if they still do that, it was over 40 yrs ago.
@@limatis thanks for the response, born on the Welland canal Niagara escarpment . In grade and High school we had in our classes as well. Your the 1st to mention it.
The crew are still down there. A few years ago divers finally found one of the crew members and even took photos of him. The family demanded he stay down there because that they consider is his rightful grave as a sailor. Every year on the anniversary the family members gather in mariners church in downtown Detroit and they ring the bell 29 times for each crew member.
I'm old y'all, sooo.. ya' know, we didn't have the internet to look up everything that came to mind, but when this song first hit the radio, the way Gordon Lightfoot told that story (and the fact that the music was not typical of that time), made it sound like to a lot of us, that he was recounting a story from maybe 100 or more years before! And then we came to find out that it was a fairly recent happening! It was so very heartbreaking to know that those families were in the throes of fresh grief, still very much in the present for them... NOT a long ago happening where the survivors had long since passed on too!! Like Rockinghorse Winner posted here, it was Gordon Lightfoot who brought this to life for the world! There is a very good documentary on this story!
@CheeseBurgersAreBetter WhenBurgled Well, just saying that the way news spreads is different now. It may have been on the news all over the world and certainly was all over the country, I'm sure. BUT, if you didn't live in the region and didn't watch the news every day, there's a good chance you may have missed it after the first reportings, simply because other regions focus on what's happening more locally. Today, if I heard that song for the first time, since there IS instant access to news, it wouldn't take but a minute to find out all about it!
This still makes me cry!!😭😭😭When the cook says “fellas, it’s been good to know ya!” AND, when he sings “...and all that remains is the faces and names of the wives and the sons and the daughters!”😭😭😭 “...the church bell rang 29 times...”😭😭😭Gordon donates ALL royalties to the families still! And he is 81 and still writing.
When I was a child my dad would show me the Edmund Fitzgerald as it would go down the Detroit river. he would tell me it was the largest ship I would ever see.. Every year they ring the bell 29 times on the day the ship sunk. He wrote this song as he read about the sinking in the paper while on a plane.
@@bentoenjes6553 Yes and like Bruce Springsteen He tells stories t what made him write each song.. He was a pleasure. Im a heavy metal head of the 70s so it was a great change of pace for me..lol I seen him around 10 years ago
India doesn't seem to really feel or enjoy music beyond the lyrics? She could simply just read the lyrics with no music since the lyrics are the only thing that matters to her.
@@ckobo84 This song is composed of the same refrain being sung over and over and over again...so once you've heard it a few times, what makes this song epic is really found in the lyrics...So India's reaction to this song is TOTALLY on point.
This song came on my RUclips feed one morning on my way to work as a Second grade teacher. By the time I got to work I was a hot mess sobbing in my car. I am a fifty year old veteran with four combat tours and this song broke me.
I remember when the Edmond Fitzgerald sank, what a huge tragedy. About 10 years ago I got to visit the EF museum in Whitefish Bay. They had recovered the ship's bell and it was quite emotional to actually get to see it. This is a powerful song.
I saw a documentary once about the Big Fitz. The study of the wreckage indicated that it did break and flipped in the storm. They even showed the recovery of the bell. There was a new one cast with the names of the crew inscribed. It was taken back to the site to be placed where the original was found. Before it was taken down, they read each name off, and had a member of each family ring it once in memorial. Not ashamed to say I cried.
I was 18yrs old when this happened. I live in Kalamazoo, & it wasn't just Lake Superior that had bad storms & high waves. A couple of young men were swept off the pier at South Haven on Lake Michigan. They recovered the ship's bell for the crewmen's family members
One of my favorite lyrics of all time. It ranks up there with some of the best Maynard lyrics from all his bands and Roger Waters when he was with Pink Floyd.
Those kids are middle aged now. I was in either 1st or second grade. I never knew the song was based on an actual event , until the 40th anniversary a few years ago.
Knowing daughters of the the men that died on the Fitzgerald this song means a lot to me, me personally being from Michigan and having the Great Lakes around me November is all ways a hard one ex specially of the family and friends that have been lost on the lakes .
You go girl!! Love your reactions. The song is based on a true event that happeneed on Lake Superior in the 70's. I remember it well because I grew up in Ontario Canada just acroo the border from Detroit Mich. You should also listen to "Black Day in July" also by Gordon Lightfoot regarding the racial riots that happened in Detroit in 1967
I'm a native michigander and this song hits home on many levels. I've lost many friends on these great lakes. And superior does not give up her dead. There are many ship wrecks with the dead still in her. It brings tears almost every time I hear this song. I've grown up playing in these lakes and they are a treasure and something to be loved and feared. Why I'm so glad to be from this great state and her history. Thanks for this
You know a song hits the right chord when it brings a reaction like this from people who werent even born when the song was written. One of the better reaction videos. /high five.
I was in Sault St. Marie, Michigan glued to the TV and radio for a few days hoping and praying. The Great lakes shipwreck museum in Paradise has been entrusted with most of what was recovered. Worth a look at their website.
THANK YOU for playing/reacting to "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald". Such a moving (and true) story, i wanted you to react to it, but most of all i wanted you to hear it. I suspect you will never forget it, i never will. Great reaction, as always!
This song is like a priceless piece of Americana. It’s hard not to be moved by the lyrics, the haunting music and the story. Gordon Lightfoot made it so that more people would know and remember this story. Amazingly well written.
"Ask a Mortician" has a RUclips video about Lake Superior that is worth watching. No, the lake usually doesn't give up the dead. The Edmund Fitzgerald was found several years ago, and divers did see well preserved bodies inside because of how cold the lake is.
If I remember correctly. She also said it was possible that a few may have survived and made it to shore. Only to freeze to death and be eaten by wolves. Which would make a sad story even worse.
India..I LOVE ya girl! Your reactions r fantastic and u r great as a person. This is the SECOND best reaction i have seen u do. Lotsa empathy. U r for real! Your BEST best reaction. TOM JONES! Im 65 and love TJ. Was weened on his music thru puberty! haha. The BEST REACTION EVER... Who broke Toms heart. LMAO!! "I want her address, not now, but RIGHT now" Keep it goin young Lady! Peace. Xo
Lightfoot singlehandedly kept the story of the ship and it 's crew alive in the national imagination. For that he deserves a big hand clap...
He lost the Grammy that year to Stevie Wonder. Gordon deserves more than a big clap for much
Of his poetry, and music. Especially in his tribute to these Souls.
He is a true story teller. There aren't enough of those, I think.
Yes.
@Len Kutchma The man is still touring. In March 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic put a stop to his tour. He is 81.
@Len Kutchma You could even call him, the pride of the Canadian side.
One of the most moving tribute songs ever written and recorded.
John Andrews Absolutely. This song makes me cry. Hard.
You're so right. I lived up and around Lake Michigan and Lake Huron...very treacherous.
Absolutely. Without a doubt.
And to think that this song didn't win the Grammy for song of the year that year...it lost out to Barry Manilow's 'I write the songs'...
@@jamescallaghan1183 It freaking should have!
“Does anyone know where the love of god goes when the waves turn minutes to hours.”
I think this is one of the greatest lines ever penned in popular music.
I have thought that myself since childhood. Unbelievable
Every time I hear that line, it's as if it's the first time & I have the same reaction - the hair on the back of my neck rises. It's a simple, clean, summation of the fear people are going to feel in a desperate situation.
I could not agree more. If you go back and listen, he even sounds a little different when he sings that line... more calm or prophetic, somehow. Haunting.
The first opening chord in a minor key sets the tone that just builds
Amen man Gordon Lightfoot was a singing storyteller of the highest Magnitude !! I was teenager in Cleveland Ohio when this happened, and enjoyed this song when it topped the charts in the 70's
“Superior, they say, never gives up her dead"
The hardest part about that lyric is that it's very much literal. Unlike the Titanic where the bodies eventually succumbed to the currents, bacteria and animals, the waters at the bottom of Lake Superior were so cold, the bodies couldn't produce the bacteria to make the gases that make bodies decompose and float which means... The crew are still down there in that lake, stuck, frozen in time.
And THEY ARE FORBIDDEN. No pictures, no touching no trying to bring up. The governmental agency (in Canada I believe) does not allow diving or investigation there.
@@GN-jn1ty Yes, it is considered a graveyard in both Canada and the USA. Meaning it is illegal to dive the site without permission and nothing is allowed to be distrubed at all. They bring up the Bell and the Anchor but that is all that was removed from the ship. The Ship itself its in two pieces fairly close to each other on the bottom. Also, the fact that you know Lake Superior is so cold that bodies will never ever float to the top is amazing.
@@trl2828 And... a submersible visit found a body by the bow. He had a cork life vest on, meaning the crew knew they were foundering.
The waters they served on for so long is now their eternal tomb
@SlayFNX as a former diver, recoveries always scared me. Especially in bad or murky water, you can't see them until you're on top of them. Auto accidents were the most common type of recovery, but unfortunately not the only type. The only positive of a call like this is giving someone back to their families...from Wyoming USA 🇺🇲🤠
"Does anyone know where the love of God goes?
when the waves turn the minutes into hours"
Might be one of the best lines written ever
Without question
You hear it and it steals your breath. Yeah, it's genius... but what adds to it even more is it's raw honesty.
I’ve been in that situation…. when we got back to shore I kissed the beach!
1000% True. First heard this at 12 at a bar. Played it three times, then got in trouble from my stepdad for playing it too much. Never forgot it and it's been like over 40 years. Was brand new then.
Yes, and one of the most chilling and haunting, also.
True story, every word of it. The Fitz is still down there with all her crew. Every year they ring the bell for all the souls lost that night.
@Luca Yates poetic license.
They ring the Fitzs actual bell. They replaced the bell on the Fitz with an exact replica.
and every year, I cry.
Yes. When it became possible to retrieve the bodies, the families all requested they be left, in their final resting place.
So much respect.
Check the Edmund Fitzgerald you can see the ship in two at the bottom the crew is still in the ship.
"You're in the situation with them..." And that's why Gordon Lightfoot is a legendary storyteller.
Fenimore Cassidy
Some say Gordon is "Canada's greatest poet"! :-)
Such a story teller gordon lightfoot is making me cry and I love it
A common phrase "Superior never gives up her dead." The reason for that statement is because Lake Superior is so big and cold all year round, that it actually inhibits bacterial growth. So instead of decomposing & eventually floating up to the surface as they would in more temperate waters, the bodies of the sailors will sink to the bottom of the lake & will never resurface. Rarely are they retrieved, so the wreckage sites become permanent memorials to those who perished.
around 1,200+ ft. deep
@Nicole Jessica what do you mean by "deposit"? Did you mean decompose?
Superior is the scariest body of water I have ever seen in my life. Very emotional visiting the museum at Whitefish, seeing the twisted lifeboats and the ship’s bell
@Nicole Jessica lol. At least neither of them are completely disastrous, right? 🤪😂
Well, to answer your question, if it was indeed "decompose", the answer is technically, no. It's too cold for bacterial decomposition. But it's not like being frozen in ice, they're not preserved. As with all environments, there are animals which survive on carrion - fish, crabs, etc.
Does that answer your question, "Mohammad"😜?
@Nicole Jessica no. I was trying to be a bit delicate and not too graphic. But essentially, there are animals that live off of the bodies of the dead. So, no, the bodies of these sailor are not preserved/intact.
The SS Fitzgerald, or "The Fitz" sank during a monster winter storm with gale force winds and 20-30' waves on 10 Nov 1975. He wrote this song out of reverence and it was included on an album he released in Jan 1976. The song immediately began getting air time on both Canadian & American radio and became quite popular. In late 1976, before the one year anniversary of the tragedy, the song was released again as a single. All crewmen were lost in Lake Superior. Every year on the anniversary of the tragedy a ceremony is held and The actual ship's bell off of The Fitz, which was recovered (the ship lies 700' below the surface in 2 sections), is rung 29 times. Mr Lightfoot has donated all proceeds from sales & royalties to the families. When the anniversary came around after Mr Lightfoot's passing, the Ship's Bell was rung 30 times. An extremely talented singer/songwriter/storyteller. RIP.
Thank you for posting this.
I remember when this happened ! lightfoot put out the song , and it was a big hit ! all the proceeds were donated to the families of the lost crew ! shows what kind of a guy he is !
There aren't many perfect songs, but this is one of them.
Truth.
this is perfect storytelling, you feel you are there, pire class
amen brother
I agree wholeheartedly, I grew on this song in the 70's
Me too. Love his storys
Our neighbor James Pratt died on this ship.I was about 13. We're from lakewood, ohio they were on their way home. He left a wife and a four year old daughter.
I was 4 when this happened.
@Peter Gozinya And I will be 50! November 24th.
Can’t imagine the families lost, this had to affect the whole community. I’m glad the Fritz was declared a graveyard and no one can dive there without a permit. May the crew Rest In Peace.
Lake Superior is a feisty bitch
A lot of people don't understand how big the great lakes are I grew on the shore of lake michigan
@@michaelbagwell7081 - Me too. And one thing I learned from my trips to Lake Superior- that lake doesn't really warm up much ever.
Two lines in this song always get me "Fellas it's been good to know you" and "Does anyone know where the love of God goes
When the waves turn the minutes to hours."
Gordon always knew how to capture the human element and emotion of a situation in his songs. Why he is one of the greatest folk artists ever.
Same here..
Same!
My favorite line "In a musty old hall in Detroit they pray at the Maritime Sailor's Cathedral"
I have listened to this song countless times. Still spooks me every time. I feel like I am in the ship as the song is playing.
The wreck was found by magnetic resonance in 1975 in roughly 530 feet of water, and was finally discovered on the bottom of the lake split in two, with her stern resting upside down. Most experts agree that she broke in half on the surface, though the reason for her breaking is debated. A newer theory is that a series of rogue waves reported by the Captain of a following vessel, the Arthur M Anderson, temporarily submerged either the bow or the stern and drove it to the bottom, where the momentum of the vessel snapped it in half and she sank almost immediately. The last transmission from the Captain of the Fitz was that "We are holding our own"
Lake Superior has more than 3 QUADRILLION gallons of water, and has a surface area larger than that of the state of Maine. If you were to drain it the water would cover both North AND South America in more than a foot of fresh water.
The lake is so cold that the bacteria that give off the gasses that allow bodies to float in the water often can't grow and "the Lake never gives up her dead".
I still get emotional when I hear the line “...all that remains are the faces and the names of the wives and the sons and the daughters” 😢
That's the line that always tugs at my heart. Even if I've managed to keep my eyes dry up to that point, there is no chance of them remaining so after he sings that line.
Being a Canadian, Gordon Lightfoot is one of our best. The song is a true story.
This Canadian seconds that.
Gordon Lightfoot is a National Treasure and I'm not even Canadian
Gordon Lightfoot and Corb Lund are two Canadians I wish were from the US. Both excellent tell an excellent story and marry it to timeless music.
Kass....Im born in Detroit and lived always close to the city....Im fortunate enough to hear great Canadian bands being played on local radio in Detroit and Windsor.
Don’t leave out the Guess Who 😎
This song will humble anyone in in about 30 seconds.
You give stupid arrogant people too much credit....
I was in college when this happened. It was in all the news magazines:
“Empty lifejackets washing ashore from storm-tossed Lake Superior yesterday provided grim evidence for Coast Guard fears that all 29 crewmen aboard the 729-foot ore carrier Edmund Fitzgerald drowned when the one-time ‘Monarch of the Great Lakes’ sank in giant waves.
Aircraft and ships kept criss-crossing hundreds of miles of the huge lake, the world’s second largest body of fresh water, looking for any crewmen who might have survived the Monday night wreck.
But they reported no sign of either survivors or bodies.”
I live in Chicago and I remember this too...terrible
I was living in Cleveland
"The lake it is said never gives up her dead,..."
I was five in Milwaukee Wisconsin when this happened.
The ship sank in water substantially shallower than the ship was long.
A real ship, a real crew, real storm, and a real tragedy for the families of the crew. A story well told.
I spend a class, every anniversary of the sinking to teach my students about the Fitz.
Interesting. I learned about in an English Lit class and the teacher played the song for us. Years ago that was.
Nice. God bless you for remembering and acknowledging
Awesome. 👍
Beautiful.
Thank you for your service.
Teaching is something everyone should acknowledge as both a calling and a true service to their country.
My daughters 2nd grade teacher would sing this song to them w her guitar. She taught them all about the history of this tragic story. It’s a very humbling thing standing by the bell in whitefish point
"Edmund Fitzgerald" is written in the style of a "sea chantey," a basic form of traditional/historic folk song which usually features a rising/falling melody (like sea waves), in minor chords, over medium/slow tempo, usually telling the story of a tragedy or shipwreck.
Very interesting, thank you.
Thank you, great info
Nice use of Google...
@@kevinbrumpton3168 dang Kevin, having a bad day? I am sending you lots of love in hopes today is better!
Lightfoot is in his 80s and still performing. A Canadian icon.
Lightfoot, Stompin' Tom, and Ian and Sylvia Tyson...
..., and Rush, and the Hip...
..., and Stan Rogers and Tommy Hunter...
I do not know that I can remember all the truly amazing people who just happened to be Canadian.
@@thehellyousay Don't forget the women! The inimitable Joni Mitchell, Celine, Anne Murray, Heart, Sarah McLaughlin, Shania Twain, Buffy St.Marie, Alannis Morrisette, Avril Lavigneand a few more l can't think of. Jan Arden, k.d. lang, Rita McNeil, Carol Baker, Teigan and Sarah, Sylvia Tyson
The greatest ballad ever written and performed. He paints a picture that is quite vivid. Thank you India.
I think dust in the wind by kansas might have something to say about that🤣
@@keithqueen352 Not as good.
al stewart... roads to moscow.... and many others
MAN THAT IS ONE POWERFUL SONG!!!!! ruclips.net/video/DPXL3iEVnCM/видео.html&bpctr=1598460338
This is one of my favorite reactions of yours India. I'm from Michigan, born and raised, this song means a lot to us Michiganders. Every time i hear it I cry. It is such a beautiful song and great story telling.
To all who read this, the Great Lakes are no joke. They're basically mini sea's with their own weather patterns. Lake Superior is know to have hurricane force winds and horrid winter conditions.
a lot of people who both do and do not live in Michigan don't realize how dangerous the big lakes really are. the big lakes including superior are more like inland ease they are so large. You get out into the middle of them and you can't see land. and the lakes are worse in a storm especially on Lake Superior is the deepest and coldest of them. In the summer when it is hot Superior is still too clod to swim in.
Gordon Lightfoot is one of the best storytellers. His music and lyrics paint a vivid picture, it puts you right on the decks of the Fitzgerald and is a fitting tribute to her crew and every death of the Mariners just doing their jobs on the Great Lakes..
In lake Superior in November winds Blow/Converge from 3 Directions at the same time! ,called the 3 SISTERS ! yet the Authorities didn't say that what CAUSED the WRECK ! .
This song makes me cry every single time . Knowing they are still there.... horrible way to go.
Oh goodness me too...just can't be helped . You have a true story, driving inevitable drums, guitars that are literally crying for the loss of these men, then on top of all that there's Gordon Lightfoot's perfectly haunting voice retelling the events in his own unique way. How could anyone who knows of this tragedy listen to this song and keep a dry eye? All I know is it sure isn't me.
Chills and tears. Remember it. If your ever in Superior go see the museum. Honor the families.
I'm the same way.
They found the bodies intact and left them in place
Well not intact but found
This is a true story, India.
The sinking was November 10, 1975. It was international news. The song was released in 1976.
old enough to remember.
I remember this broadcasted on the news in 1975 in Detroit where I lived at the time.
Dark Truth
More true than some people realize with the changes Gordon has made to the original words;
From the song's Wiki Page
-In a later live recording, Lightfoot recounts that a parishioner of the church informed him that the church is not "musty". From that time, instead of singing "In a musty old hall...", he now sings "In a rustic old hall..."
-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 now sings 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 has simply sung the new words during live performances.
He did use poetic licence for a couple of phrases;
-According to the song, the Edmund Fitzgerald was bound "fully loaded for Cleveland". In fact, the ship was heading for Zug Island, near Detroit, where it was set to discharge its cargo of taconite iron ore pellets before heading on to Cleveland, her home port, to wait out the winter.
-Capt. Ernest McSorley had stated in his last radio transmission before the ship sank that he and the crew were "holding our own", not that they had "water coming in".
-In his lyrics Lightfoot employs poetic licence to describe the Mariners' Church of Detroit as "The Maritime Sailors' Cathedral".
There are some 'creative issues' that Gordon Lightfoot used in this song. The one that is definitely not true - that anyone is aware happened - are words of the cook.
The Great Lakes are more like small oceans, and they are treacherous
In some cases, more treacherous. Some storms can be as large as an entire Great Lake, leaving a ship no escape.
They are all really inland seas not lakes
@@scottbc31h22 and the waves are much closer together also...from Wyoming USA 🔫🤠🇺🇸p.s stay safe and healthy everybody GOD BLESS OUR COUNTRY AND stop this foolishness ❤
Out on the open ocean a ship has some chance of sailing out of the storms.The Great Lakes aren't big enough to allow that.
Yep...I just said that before I read your comment. I've lived on both Lakes Michigan and Huron. Illinois side of Lake Michigan was like living on the Atlantic Ocean. Where I am now.
I am a 62-year-old woman who cannot stop watching your videos. You have encouraged me to step outside my little music box and listen to the unfamiliar. Thank you for what you do. I think you’re a queen.
I am from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario which is the closest Canadian city to Whitefish Bay which is referenced in the song. This happened in November of 1975, the year I was born. People from here older than me all remember the night this happened. There is a model of the Edmund Fitzgerald in our local museum. Gordon Lightfoot is a Canadian legend and sure did a great job paying respects to the crew with this song.
Also from the soo!!!
Spent most of my childhood in Batchewana Bay.
@@insufficientdata9845 I was born and raised in the Soo and now have my own family here. Love Batchewana. It is so beautiful.
@@haps4273
Grew up on our family farm, on St. Joe's. High school, Dunn, and white pines, and college in the Soo. Small world man!!
@@insufficientdata9845 For sure. I grew up right in the city, in a neighbourhood called Fort Creek. I went to high school at St. Mary's and university in Thunder Bay. My dad worked at the Steel Plant.
Also a Sooite. I was 19 at the time. Does anyone recall what year they retrieved the bell
You really can picture it. I always pictured the cook standing there, saying "Fellas, it's been good to know you." What a haunting line
Being from Michigan, I've heard this song a million times and it still brings me to the brink of tears, every time.
You should check out Sundown.
I was 13 when it happened. I'm originally from Alabama, but still get emotional every time I hear it.
@@patrickpeters298 I was 9
She has done Sundown.
Search.
@@aulduronsmith5577 We all mourned the passing of the 29 souls & felt the broken hearts of their families & friends.
@@timnoyes9892 Thank you.
As perfect a blend of lyric, melody and production there ever was. From the first time I heard this I thought; "Every word chosen was perfect - nothing out of place, nothing wasted". I have never thought that about another song.
claimguy Jesus Brother! You nailed it!
American Pie comes close, that's probably it.
They ring the bell off the Edmund Fitzgerald every year 29x in memory of the crew, last year Gordon Lightfoot passed away, and they rang the bell 30x in memory.
I feel like Lightfoot, is one of the few artists that REALLY remind us the power of storytelling and just how details can immortalize. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but no amount of photographs can encompass what happened that day the way this song does.
"He's making you be into the music.... Picture the lyrics, like you're in the situation..."
THAT is what makes a good storyteller.
India I was in the coast guard when this happened I was sent to Minnesota to board a Coast Guard cutter to search for her even though we new she was gone
Thank you for your service!! Have you seen the pictures of the wreck?
Fucc I was holding it together. Bless you
I know exactly which boat you were on named the Woodrush (WLB-407) built during WWII and was in Sitka, Alaska before it was decommissioned & sold to the country of Ghana. It truly saddened me to see a foreign flag flying upon this ship. This ship deserved to be mothballed in the same fashioned like the Naval battleships (Iowa, Wisconsin & Missouri) IMO
@@squint04 it was a long time ago but I did see a couple when the used an unmaned sub to go to her
@@timothyteater4868 i was on the marraposa
The wrecks location is considered a cemetery and all of the crew are still down with the Fitz
Michigan is my home and I was a little girl when the Edmund went down. It seemed everyone lost someone a son, a father, husband, or cousin. Michigan was in a panic of sorrow. My mom made food or visited relatives of some of the 29. The lakes sing and draw you in, they call you, but they demand respect they are a force.
"And all that remains is the faces and the names of the wives and the sons and the daughters" and "Ice water mansions" always get me.
i am an English guy who heard this about 6yrs ago and cried like a waterfall tears all over and still think about it today and your reaction is from the heart thank you
The whining of the electric guitars, the slow methodical rhythm, the Brilliant writing. As an 11y.o. boy I first heard this song when it was released and I wept. Now at 55 y.o. It never ceases to move me to tears. Gordon Lightfoot's Masterwork. All these years later it is still captivating people. What a Brilliant work
I spent 20 years on fishing boats. I love this song and especially the line "when the waves turn minutes to hours" I've probably lost 10 years off my life to those situations.
When the ships bell starts ringing by itself and there's that tattle tale sound in the wires...
@@BentConrod In my 6 decades I've lost six of my own people just from my little island in Casco Bay..you go overboard in January, you're all done...
I cannot imagine that type of fear. Respect, and my condoleces for the friends lost to the waves.
I choke back tears every time I hear this song. The melody is haunting. The lyrics are perfect. The more you listen to it the sadder it gets.
You ain't alone brother.
The last radio transmission was from the captain saying "we are holding our own"
This song has a big place in my life. I first heard it when I was young and sensitive,and it brings tears to my eyes literally every time I hear it, including this time. The imagery is amazing. The crew perished cold, wet, and hungry, struggling to survive the nature that towers over them, a fate that they might have avoided had they left only a few minutes earlier. My favorite lines are "Superior sings in the ruins [I always thought 'rooms'] of her ice water mansion.", "Later that night when his lights went out of sight" and "Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours." A chilling masterpiece.
I grew up near lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence Seaway and remember when this happened. I still tear up each time myself
"Does anyone know where the love of God goes, When the waves turn the minutes to hours..." Gone. With all aboard. Forever.
Some of the strongest lyrics ever played
I’ve been in that kind of weather on the Pacific. It is absolutely 100% true.
No stronger truth ever said
As someone who's nearly drowned that line is pinpoint accurate
The love of God was ever there. We live in a fallen world, where we all have free will to choose. God so loved us He sent His son to pay the ultimate price for our sin. All we have to do is believe. All of the believers on that boat knew exactly where the love of God was when they arrived in His presence.
"Does any one know where the love of God goes,
when the waves turn the minutes to hours?"
Amazing, chilling, poignant lyric.
Why I find a benevolent being hard to believe
Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours? Every time the US Coast Guard or Navy crosses the spot where the Edmund Fitzgerald lays, We ring a bell 29 times...
I love how you show the appreciation for this mans haunting song. It's so amazing how he truly captured what really happened before, during, and after the wreck. Not many artists can capture a moment in time as Gordon did. Love that you did this and your reaction was pricless. Thank you for sharing your reaction to this untimely song. By that I mean timeless. They didn't have real time weather tracking like we do now. They only went off of previous years records. The gails of November came early that year and the good ship was overweight to begin with. In normal weather she could have made it, but the weight made the waves crash over the sides faster than the bilge pumps could compensate for. Those pumps were never meant for this kind of overtaking. What an amazing story so well told and so accurately in such a short amount of time. The haunting guitar and melody fully captured the moment of the ship and crews last moments. Leaving behind the wives and the sons and the daughters. You had such a beautiful reaction to this. I loved my visit. Thanks again for this.
That's an actual, factual story that happened.
"Ice water mansions," how great and eerie of an image is that?
Superior never warms.
Couple it with "Superior, it is said, never gives up her dead."
Have you ever seen pictures of her "ice water mansions?" They're the ice caves that form along the shores, and they can be spectacular.
@@karinscott1241 an almost near constant 39 degrees F.
The last transmission from the Edmund Fitzgerald before she sank:
"We're holding our own"
That's what's so terrifying about the Edmund Fitzgerald. They were doing okay - until they suddenly weren't.
@@lightonthehill8548 This indicates to me that it broke in half . I also love the ocean.
@@rickperez5601
They were on a lake.
@@stephenolan5539 inland sea, technically
@@phredphlintstone6455
It is fresh water. It is a lake.
Does anyone know where the love of God goes
When the waves turn the minutes to hours.
Damn.
The searchers all say she'd have made Whitefish Bay if she'd put 15 more miles behind her.
15 miles. The difference between life and death, SO close.
The best lyric of the song, so heart wrenching
If you've ever been in a Great Lakes storm, these lines are soooo true. It's terrifying when you go from calm water to waves that you are looking up at to see the tops, within a span of 30 minutes.
+Richard Powell I have never heard hopelessness & despair (in ones final moments) better described. Powerful stuff.
The only other line that comes close (for me) is "That good ship and crew was a bone to be chewed"
Like India said, it's akin to the Titanic. No matter now proud & impressive mankind and his creations become? . . . . .Nature (the world) can always swat us down with ease.
@@dr.burtgummerfan439 I have heard that they slowed down to stay in radio contact with a smaller boat that was having problems. If that is a true account that sacrifice saved the lives of everyone on smaller boat, because they would have made it.
Everyone that lived along the Great Lakes remember, that Storm of the Century, that hit in November 0f 1975 the Edmund was not the only ship to be lost that day.
Please, list the other ships.
Perhaps ocean freighters, but she was the only one that I know of and the last one to sink on the lakes
I'm from and still live in Cleveland. This song and the sinking of this
ship is part of our history. Much love and respect to the crew of this
ship. They were "ours". Their loss was deeply felt here at the time.
RIP...
"Ice water mansions" Shipwrecks full of cadavers. Lake Superior, a more deadly body of water than the Bermuda triangle. It's 80 feet in front of my house. Watch the sky every time I go out on it.
Every time I visit, my appreciation for its beauty and serenity comes with a recognition of its cold buried secrets.
Are you on the US side or the Ontario side? I live on Lake Ontario on the northwest Shore on in Burlington
@@robertlongwill8856 Hi Robert. My place is right on the Ontario-Minnesota border on the Canadian side. 40 minutes South of Thunder Bay.
@@jasonmcconnell9419 I've been through Thunder Bay many a Time I used to drive a tractor trailer from Toronto to Winnipeg. And it's quite treacherous up around the lake head in the winter time LOL it's a beautiful part of the country though and the province. I would love to move up there. I think Burlington is about 1000 miles from Thunder Bay
Hwy 17 in Winter is nothing short of a nightmare. Hats off to you for enduring it. The country is beautiful. Thunder Bay, not so much. And yes, about 1000 miles. Just drove it two weeks ago. Everytime I make that drive all I can think is "if this was Europe I could have driven from Sweden to Spain in less time.
This one always gets to me. It's that song where the guitar literally cries for a ship and her crew.
That's perfectly said.
November 10, 1975. My dad worked at Great Lakes Steel in Ecorse Michigan which sits on the Detroit River/Lake Erie. He had been on this vessel many times loading and unloading and knew a couple of the guys that had worked on the EF for years. He was devastated, but also comforted by knowing they were doing what they loved! Every November the Mariners Church in Detroit used to ring their bells once for every soul lost! I don't know why they stopped! It was a somber reminder of something many of us will never forget!
Was Great Lakes Steel part of Zug Island and does it still exist? Your comment is fascinating to me.
@@floridahiker1503 Great Lakes Steel expanded to Zug Island. Great Lakes Steel is now US Steel and has been since the early 2000's. I'm not sure if US Steel still operates on Zug Island or not. I don't go to that area unless I have to! Lol! It's not a good area
@@mzluna313 . Thanks.
This 64 year young Aussie knows the wreck of the Edmed Fitzgerald, & every time I sing along with Gordon I get chocked up. Especially with the line "all that remains is the faces of the wife's, & the sons & the daughters" 😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥 29 families devastated
I was in the Navy in the 60's and during an Atlantic crossing, heading for the Mediterranean in December. When we got into the North Atlantic a storm came up. Now my ship was just short of 1,000 feet long and carried a crew of over 900. But only 70 feet wide . (i.e. bigger that the Edmund Fitz) For three days we rode 40 foot waves that ran over our deck 45 feet above the waterline. Most of the crew (including me) spent at least two days in bed or throwing up in the head (bathroom to you). I was scared and said more than one prayer. But eventually the storm subsided. I can remember being so thankful when I could see the Canary Islands and even happier to see the Rock of Gibraltar. I made three of those cruises but that was the only really bad weather I experienced. P.S. At least I didn't have to go to Nam.
Gordon Lightfoot is telling you a true story in this song but what a great song this song came out in the early 70s but is still as relative today as back then and has kept the crew of the tragedy in the hearts of so many thanks India
The ship sank in 1975 , song came out in 1976. Truly one of the greatest songs of that time. Gordon Lightfoot is in epic storyteller..
If you like him you also should take a look at Harry Chapin also a absolutely fantastic storyteller.
I remember when this happened(yes, I'm old!)and how horribly devastating this was. I live in the Great Lakes region and this tragedy still hurts all these years later.
I was just out of high school when it happened (I'm old, too) and was shocked & horrified when I heard the news. I remember thinking that shipwrecks aren't supposed to happen nowadays. I still cry every time I hear this song.
The year and month that I enlisted in the Army, in Chicago. sad
@@MaryrosePurple1Well, I wasn't through school, just 13, so you old geezer, lol but seriously I was shocked when Walter Cronkite announced that the ship went down with 29 aboard. I live in the Great Lakes Region and although Lake St. Clair isn't the monster Lake Superior is I still wouldn't go out on it in my fathers boat, for about a year.
I remember and I'm old. The Fitz sank about a week after I got home from the Navy. The ship berthed in the Maumee, so a good deal of the crew were from the greater Toledo area.
I’m right there with all of you, I’m old too. November 10th I was 14 and living in Michigan. I was listening to music when the reports starting coming over the radio. I remember that night... I remember...
Gordon lightfoot is the best storyteller in music. He and is genre are called Balladeers
Have you listened to Johnny Horton ? Another great History storyteller
@@lynncantrell5502 "North To Alaska", "The Battle of New Orleans"
Also Harry Chapin
@@lynncantrell5502
An interesting fact about Johnny Horton is he was a teacher before becoming a known singer. Care to guess what he taught? History!
If memory serves me, I believe it was "The Battle of New Orleans" that was either one of his earliest or it was the earliest song he wrote for his students. He wanted his students to really get history, for them to envision it for themselves.
....."Yeah, they ran through the briars
And they ran through the brambles
And they ran through the bushes
Where the rabbit couldn't go
They ran so fast
That the hounds couldn't catch 'em
On down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico".
I can only imagine how these kids took in their history! Talking about history coming alive and perhaps, especially the exaggerated parts as the part here. Thick, yes. Probably rabbits could find a means to get through it. 🤔 🥰 Just saying. 🤣
Ginny with a G! , no Johnny was never a teacher, but many History teachers used his music to teach students.
There is a yearly remembrance for the families of the crew. Gordon never misses it.
That is beautiful.
Girl, you're right -- the details. And he gives the details so poetically. Nice reaction to a great song!
Being a Canadian, I had to memorize this song in junior high. Watching your reaction has given me a new appreciation for song. Thank you India.
Why were you forced to memorize, because your Canadian or because... just curious.
It was just one of those things on the curriculum. We had to read books from Canadian writers too.
I don't know if they still do that, it was over 40 yrs ago.
@@limatis thanks for the response, born on the Welland canal Niagara escarpment . In grade and High school we had in our classes as well. Your the 1st to mention it.
@@manjsher3094 , Gordon Lightfoot is Canadian.
@@louisejohnson6057 very aware Ty.
The crew are still down there. A few years ago divers finally found one of the crew members and even took photos of him. The family demanded he stay down there because that they consider is his rightful grave as a sailor. Every year on the anniversary the family members gather in mariners church in downtown Detroit and they ring the bell 29 times for each crew member.
Every time I listen to this song I'm astounded how, in so few words, Gordon Lightfoot can put you right in the middle of that ship when it sinks.
I'm old y'all, sooo.. ya' know, we didn't have the internet to look up everything that came to mind, but when this song first hit the radio, the way Gordon Lightfoot told that story (and the fact that the music was not typical of that time), made it sound like to a lot of us, that he was recounting a story from maybe 100 or more years before! And then we came to find out that it was a fairly recent happening! It was so very heartbreaking to know that those families were in the throes of fresh grief, still very much in the present for them... NOT a long ago happening where the survivors had long since passed on too!! Like Rockinghorse Winner posted here, it was Gordon Lightfoot who brought this to life for the world! There is a very good documentary on this story!
@CheeseBurgersAreBetter WhenBurgled Well, just saying that the way news spreads is different now. It may have been on the news all over the world and certainly was all over the country, I'm sure. BUT, if you didn't live in the region and didn't watch the news every day, there's a good chance you may have missed it after the first reportings, simply because other regions focus on what's happening more locally. Today, if I heard that song for the first time, since there IS instant access to news, it wouldn't take but a minute to find out all about it!
This still makes me cry!!😭😭😭When the cook says “fellas, it’s been good to know ya!” AND, when he sings “...and all that remains is the faces and names of the wives and the sons and the daughters!”😭😭😭 “...the church bell rang 29 times...”😭😭😭Gordon donates ALL royalties to the families still! And he is 81 and still writing.
When I was a child my dad would show me the Edmund Fitzgerald as it would go down the Detroit river. he would tell me it was the largest ship I would ever see.. Every year they ring the bell 29 times on the day the ship sunk.
He wrote this song as he read about the sinking in the paper while on a plane.
Is.... is your dad Gordon Lightfoot?
@@bentoenjes6553 lol nope but I did see him preform twice.. Great singer songwriter.
Skip William Does he sound just as good live?
@@bentoenjes6553 Yes and like Bruce Springsteen He tells stories t what made him write each song.. He was a pleasure. Im a heavy metal head of the 70s so it was a great change of pace for me..lol I seen him around 10 years ago
India - This is why we should live every day doing our best.
India doesn't seem to really feel or enjoy music beyond the lyrics? She could simply just read the lyrics with no music since the lyrics are the only thing that matters to her.
DICK TRICKLE and you should leave , bye 👋
@@ckobo84 This song is composed of the same refrain being sung over and over and over again...so once you've heard it a few times, what makes this song epic is really found in the lyrics...So India's reaction to this song is TOTALLY on point.
@@ckobo84 what an apt screen name you have.
This song keeps the crew and ships memory alive
The last words frome her was "we are holding our own"
This song came on my RUclips feed one morning on my way to work as a Second grade teacher. By the time I got to work I was a hot mess sobbing in my car. I am a fifty year old veteran with four combat tours and this song broke me.
I lived in Cleveland when this song came out, it was played on the radio constantly yet I still tear up every time I hear it.
This song is an all time great. It is also true. The next time someone says music isn't what it used to be, songs like this are the reason.
I remember when the Edmond Fitzgerald sank, what a huge tragedy. About 10 years ago I got to visit the EF museum in Whitefish Bay. They had recovered the ship's bell and it was quite emotional to actually get to see it.
This is a powerful song.
Where is that located?
I saw a documentary once about the Big Fitz. The study of the wreckage indicated that it did break and flipped in the storm. They even showed the recovery of the bell. There was a new one cast with the names of the crew inscribed. It was taken back to the site to be placed where the original was found. Before it was taken down, they read each name off, and had a member of each family ring it once in memorial. Not ashamed to say I cried.
I remember it also, that was a dirty storm.
I've been watching her videos all evening. They make me feel these songs more than I ever have. Thank you!
Rest in peace Gordon 😢. The Church in Detroit rang the bell 30 times on the day of his passing.
I still get chills from this. Being a boy from Alabama when this came out was the only look of what a great lake even was.
I was 18yrs old when this happened. I live in Kalamazoo, & it wasn't just Lake Superior that had bad storms & high waves. A couple of young men were swept off the pier at South Haven on Lake Michigan. They recovered the ship's bell for the crewmen's family members
Mary List they engraved all the names on it and returned it to the ship.
@@gatekeeperbubba2946 I know the original bell is in the museum, & the new bell is on the ship
"And all that remains is the faces and names of the wives and the sons and the daughters."
One of my favorite lyrics of all time. It ranks up there with some of the best Maynard lyrics from all his bands and Roger Waters when he was with Pink Floyd.
Those kids are middle aged now. I was in either 1st or second grade. I never knew the song was based on an actual event , until the 40th anniversary a few years ago.
Knowing daughters of the the men that died on the Fitzgerald this song means a lot to me, me personally being from Michigan and having the Great Lakes around me November is all ways a hard one ex specially of the family and friends that have been lost on the lakes .
I've know this song most of my life and every time I hear it, it chokes me up and brings a year to my eye.
Captain McSorely's last known words were "We're holding our own."
You go girl!! Love your reactions. The song is based on a true event that happeneed on Lake Superior in the 70's. I remember it well because I grew up in Ontario Canada just acroo the border from Detroit Mich. You should also listen to "Black Day in July" also by Gordon Lightfoot regarding the racial riots that happened in Detroit in 1967
I remember when it happened. It was a huge deal back then and it still brings a tear to my eye 45 years later.
I'm a native michigander and this song hits home on many levels. I've lost many friends on these great lakes. And superior does not give up her dead. There are many ship wrecks with the dead still in her. It brings tears almost every time I hear this song. I've grown up playing in these lakes and they are a treasure and something to be loved and feared. Why I'm so glad to be from this great state and her history. Thanks for this
One of the only songs that can make me cry outright.
I took me years before I could listen to this song without crying.
You know a song hits the right chord when it brings a reaction like this from people who werent even born when the song was written.
One of the better reaction videos.
/high five.
i'm drowning now!
Just so you know India, this is a true story.
I was in Sault St. Marie, Michigan glued to the TV and radio for a few days hoping and praying.
The Great lakes shipwreck museum in Paradise has been entrusted with most of what was recovered. Worth a look at their website.
THANK YOU for playing/reacting to "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald". Such a moving (and true) story, i wanted you to react to it, but most of all i wanted you to hear it. I suspect you will never forget it, i never will. Great reaction, as always!
This song is like a priceless piece of Americana. It’s hard not to be moved by the lyrics, the haunting music and the story. Gordon Lightfoot made it so that more people would know and remember this story. Amazingly well written.
Ya sure?
You mean Canadiana. Gordon Lightfoot is a Canadian.
an artist can tell a story in his/her art, can put you in the moment in that art...this truly is a masterpiece of story telling
Some of the most haunting lyrics ever written.
I get choked up almost every time I listen to this song.
"Ask a Mortician" has a RUclips video about Lake Superior that is worth watching. No, the lake usually doesn't give up the dead. The Edmund Fitzgerald was found several years ago, and divers did see well preserved bodies inside because of how cold the lake is.
If I remember correctly. She also said it was possible that a few may have survived and made it to shore. Only to freeze to death and be eaten by wolves. Which would make a sad story even worse.
Except that at roughly 15 MILES from shore, in freezing and stormy water...no, she's a mortician not a shipwreck expert, not being mean, just honest.
A truly haunting ballad..
When it was announced that Gordon Lightfoot had passed away, they rang the bell 30 times in his memory.
RIP Gordon
India..I LOVE ya girl! Your reactions r fantastic and u r great as a person. This is the SECOND best reaction i have seen u do. Lotsa empathy. U r for real! Your BEST best reaction. TOM JONES! Im 65 and love TJ. Was weened on his music thru puberty! haha. The BEST REACTION EVER... Who broke Toms heart. LMAO!! "I want her address, not now, but RIGHT now" Keep it goin young Lady!
Peace. Xo