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.

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!

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.

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.

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

Fenimore Cassidy Some say Gordon is "Canada's greatest poet"! :-)

Such a story teller gordon lightfoot is making me cry and I love it

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 🇺🇲🤠

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

You give stupid arrogant people too much credit....

@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.

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

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

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 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.

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.

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 ! .

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.

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.

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.

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 😎

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!!!!! kzfaq.info/get/bejne/eraIf5aaqrzSc4E.html&bpctr=1598460338

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

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!

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

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.

That is beautiful.

You ain't alone brother.

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.

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.

That's perfectly said.

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.

Thank you for posting this.

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.

claimguy Jesus Brother! You nailed it!

American Pie comes close, that's probably it.

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.

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

Why I find a benevolent being hard to believe

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.

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.

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.

I grew up near lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence Seaway and remember when this happened. I still tear up each time myself

No-one knows how the Fitz sunk. They just know she did. There are many theories, but none confirmed.

That must have been one hell of a wild ride... One that I wish on no one...

@@madselmvig1457 looking st the wreck you can reconstruct what happened. The official cause with no evidence blamed the crew for not securing cargo hatches.

😢😢😢

@@kdrapertrucker No YOU cannot reconstruct what happened, that is why Unterwater Inspector is a 10 year education. I am not interested in conspiracies. What the commission concluded was that the reason for the disaster was not confirmed.

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.

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.

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...

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.

@@kens97sto171 or Stan Rogers. "White Squall"

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.

I took me years before I could listen to this song without crying.

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.

"Gloucester! They're always from Gloucester!" -Perfect Storm.

Bob Santosu - This lake is also a cold, dangerous place.

Yes, I hear the GL's are especially deadly. Storms form suddenly. I had a chance to visit the Maritime Cathedral in Detroit. It's next door to GM's Ren Cen headquarters.

Everyone, the great Lakes are Lakes but that doesn't exclude them from being sea. Not oceans or ocean but seas, yes. Freshwater sea. You can travel them for weeks at a time and see no land around you but water and sky as far as horizon. That's a sea. They technically both

@wayne goff yup, lake Superior.

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.

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.