Anyone know of the story of the Edmund Fitzgerald? I was just listening to the radio and the song of Edmund Fitzgerald came up, that song always gives me shivers. I have been to the great lakes shipwreck museum, that story haunts me so.

Never heard of it, but google has.

http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/wxwise/fitz.html

you have never heard of this song?
http://home.pacbell.net/chabpyne/lyrics.html

No. Should I? It seems a local event.

I’ve heard in as far a California, I guess local if you mean Canada and USA.

Yes, the US is not the world I'm afraid. I'm sorry to bring you this bad news.

Well I was not trying to pander to your needs, I was asking for people who have heard of it. If that has the be limited to the continent of North American so be it.

Now I know about it too technically. And I am from Europe.

What bothers me is why the hell is it so popular, I mean it has its own song! Why when thousand of other ships have sunk on these lakes? Was it because it was the biggest ship to sink in the great lakes? It definitely was not the most lethal disaster on the great lakes.

It epitomoizes all of the ships that have sunk and all the sailors that have died in the lakes as far as I can tell by listening to its story.

It was a Laker, went down in late fall. I've lived along the shores of the Great Lakes for years, known some people who've worked on both Lakers and Salty's and they agree that a storm on Superior is more nerve racking to endure than anywhere else. The EF was caught in one of the worst storms ever, and what's worse is where they were - out in the open, along the south shore I believe and the winds were out of the north. They got hammered!

The song is quite haunting. You should really listen to it at least once. It does epitomize all the lost vessels of the seas. All the sea widows waiting at home, hoping beyond hope that their loved one will someday return from his voyage.

Why is it so popular? Because. That's all the reasons these things need. It's so well known (in the States) because the song was so well done. It's the same with a good many tragedies. It's the stories that tell of tragedy that are remembered. Not the tragedy itself.

Ever heard the 1913 Massacre by Woody Guthrie? I love that song. It used to be a bit more well known. But the world has moved on from such styles of music so the tragedy suffers because of it.

The same could be said for the Edmund Fitzgerald. It is of an older style of music as well and the younger generation doesn't acquire it easily. I wonder if any tragedies will be remembered through rap? As to heavy metal, I know that Exodus did a song called "The Last Act of Defiance" about a prison riot on Feb 2, 1980. Not sure what prison they were talking about, but the song still lives in my mind. "The second of February, 1980. Began three days of misery. A scene of retaliation epitomizing violence, horror, and vindication. Thieves, murderer's, and rapists inundated the system like homicidal sadists. The convicts and guards alike would pay the price. To them the electric chair would look like paradise."

Can't think of any rap tragedies. Are there any? I know there's one about going to Alabama or something. But, that's telling a story that is all too well known.

What are you talking about? Rap isn't Music! :m:

True. Very true. But it is a means of telling a story. But the question is what manner of story may be told by the genre?

Rap isnt music, it is poetry. Its all in the word 'rap' itself.
Rap is short for "Radical American Poetry". That's what it means & that's what it is in some cases, bottom line...:D

Now to get back on topic:
I heard about The Edmund Fitzgerald the day she sank, I lived in Thunder Bay, Ontario at the time. I think it was in 1976 because i remember how I wanted to work on those massive ships when I turned 16,then this happened & I changed my mind. Thunder Bay for those who dont know is Canada's most western port.

I remember going downtown Port Arthur (Thunder Bay is 2 towns, Port Arthur & Fort William) with a few friends & we were cruising around the shoreline in a car watching these massive waves smashing into the boats that were moored up at the docks, many were also smashed into the rocks on shore.These waves were about 20 ft tall. Even 1 massive grain carrier that was moored about 5 miles offshore snapped her mooring chains & these things are like battleship chains that the anchors are hooked onto.This ship drifted for awhile until they managed to fire up the engines.

The next day I heard about the Edmund Fitzgerald & was in total shock because I saw only the edge of the storm that was raging in Lake Superior the day before. I tell ya, storms like that make you wonder how any ship could survive the shit that they must go through. I now this though, call me a coward, I dont care, after witnessing & then hearing what happened, I never wanted to go out on that lake in 1 of those ships. Now I live in Manitoba & I never have to see the storms that lake produces again, never mind witness it. Sure was something though, I'll tell you that......... :m: :D

I first heard The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald on AM radio when I was a kid.
A very evocative piece.

Ever heard of this ?

It was supposedly set to the tune of Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Christy Moore (http://www.christymoore.com/) on his 1984 album "Ride On", after having been written as a poem called "The Voyage (http://www.bobbysandstrust.org/writings/voyage.asp) " by IRA member Bobby Sands while Sands was jailed in Belfast Prison.

BACK HOME IN DERRY
(Bobby Sands)

In 1803 we sailed out to sea
Out from the sweet town of Derry
For Australia bound if we didn't all drown
And the marks of our fetters we carried.

In the rusty iron chains we sighed for our wains
Our good women we left in sorrow.
As the mainsails unfurled our curses we hurled
On the Engllsh and thoughts of tomorrow.

chorus: Oh Oh Oh Oh I wish I was back home in Derry.
Oh Oh Oh Oh I wish I was back home in Derry.

I cursed them to hell as our bow fought the swell.
Our ship danced like a moth in the firelights.
White horses rode high as the devil passed by
Taking souls to Hades by twilight.

Five weeks out to sea we were now forty-three
Our comrades we buried each morning.
In our own slime we were lost in a time.
Endless night without dawning.

cho:

Van Dieman's land is a hell for a man
To live out his life in slavery.
When the climate is raw and the gun makes the law.
Neither wind nor rain cares for bravery.

Twenty years have gone by and I've ended me bond
And comrades' ghosts walk behind me.
A rebel I came and I'II die the same.
On the cold winds of night you will find me
me.

cho:

What bothers me is why the hell is it so popular, I mean it has its own song! Why when thousand of other ships have sunk on these lakes? Was it because it was the biggest ship to sink in the great lakes? It definitely was not the most lethal disaster on the great lakes.I believe it's the other way around. While the disaster was notable locally and at the time, as you point out thousands of other ships have sunk in the Great Lakes. Gordon Lightfoot heard of the story and wrote the song that same month. It wound up becoming quite popular which is probably the primary reason why the story is so well known. This isn't really unusual, how many people had heard of the "Andrea Gail" prior to the movie "The Perfect Storm"?

~Raithere

What bothers me is why the hell is it so popular, I mean it has its own song!

The wreck was a couple days in the news, before Lightfoot wrote the song. That the song is so haunting is a testament to the songwriter. That we are still talking about it 3 decades later says a lot about the artist and the magical ability to create melody and lyrics that can affect us so deeply.

(to add to what Raithere has already said)