First Time Hearing Gordon Lightfoot - The Wreck Of Edmund Fitzgerald (Reaction!) 

When Gordon Lightfoot passed away, The Mariner's Church of Detroit rang their bell 30 times in memory of Gordon Lightfoot - once for every man lost in the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, and once for Lightfoot, respect😢

Shon, you calling for a moment of silence in honor of the 29 that perished on the Edmund Fitzgerald was a classy thing to do! I personally appreciated that! That's about all...

Shon...your call for a moment of silence was incredibly respectful and touched me deeply.

I live 35 minutes east of Cleveland Ohio, on Lake Erie near Fairport Harbor Ohio! This is a great memorial song to the crew!

Imagine if we are all on that boat as soon as you touch that water, you're gonna freeze to death, great reaction.

"Does anyone know where the love of God goes, when the waves turn the minutes to hours." Probably my favorite verse from any song, ever.

Gordon Lightfoot read about this tragedy just after it happened while traveling. He investigated it a lot more and felt there just was not enough media about it. After writing and publishing this song, he gave all proceeds directly to the families of the lost sailors. And his hopes that the song would bring more attention to the tragedy succeeded. Gordon was a true believer in his craft and his songs inspired many to excel beyond their abilities.

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, the actual ship, rests in water that is shallower than the ship, when intact, was long, which makes it very plausible that the ship struck bottom due to the winds and waves and snapped. The wreck rests in two pieces on the bottom of the lake

I live in Windsor Ontario and every time I go to Detroit (1 mile away) I go thru the tunnel ad go past the Mariners church. It is humbling. Gordon is a Canadian treasure.

Light foot never wanted to be a singer. He hated the sound of his own voice. He just wanted to write. But his label gave him the kick in the pants he needed, and pressured him into releasing an album. Sometimes it just takes one good friend to believe in you.

I was in grade school in Dearborn, Michigan when the Edmund Fitzgerald went down. In the lyrics, he sings "the Lake they call Gitche Gumee". That's the Native American name for Lake Superior. I remember everyone, kids, adults, stayed glued to their TV sets and radios listening for updates. It was all anyone talked about for weeks and months afterwards. This was the 70s...even cable TV didn't exist. No cell phones, no cable, no internet, no social media. Personal computers didn't exist yet. And the TVs were not flatscreens, either!! I will never forget it. Just hearing the opening chords of the song today gives me chills. And yes, Whitefish Bay in the Upper Peninsula of MI would have been shelter from the storm and not far from the Soo Locks at Sault St Marie where they would have gotten help.

We lived on the American side, (my group of teenaged friends), so when this happened the oldest one in our group that could drive borrowed his dad's car and we packed sandwiches and took off to Michigan to watch and see the recovery efforts. There were thousands of people on the shore and everyone was crying. This was when it happened and way before G.L.'s hit song was on the radio. It was just terrible. Us young people took it hard. We met teens from all over and we prayed together. Such a tragedy.

ANOTHER great Gordon Lightfoot song to watch... "Sundown" also epic story telling...

I grew up in Michigan as well. My father was a Commadore in the Coast Guard for Lake Michigan. This was such a tragic event storm came in quick. Captain McSorley was well respected and loved. He also was a music lover nicknamed Captain DJ as he used the ships PA system to blast music. Always blues in Chicago ports, Motown in Detroit, Rock and Roll in Cleveland and so on.

i remember the story on the national news. Gordon donated all the profits from the song to the surviving families.

Every year there has been a memorial for those who died on the Edmund Fitzgerald, including the tolling a bell 29 times - once for each lost life. When Gordon Lightfoot died a few months ago, they rang it 30 times.

Shon my brother...great review...At 40 I couldn't swim...I quit cigarettes and needed to compensate with a lot of exercise...I went to my local YMCA and the swim coaches were delighted to have a Newby willing to learm...so I bought a speedo and goggles...left the ego at home and went 3-5 times a week as they taught me to become slippery in the water...6 months after my first masters class I swam a 2 mile open ocean race in big surf...im pretty sure I came in last but I was now a real swimmer...when I crossed the finish line my coaches were there so proud and cheering me on...I has given me so much confidence and now I enjoy surfing, boating and swimming...Its amazing!

I was in school when this happened up in the Great Lakes. There are a lot of theories of what happened--some are on RU-vid. I was told the waves were the equivalent of 100 ft high--and the ship crashed and broke under the weight of the water. The Great Lakes are large bodies of water. Think seas. Was one of the worst American maritime disasters. He wrote the song b/c of lack of media attention--donated the proceeds from the song to the surviving families. He passed recently and the Cathedral rang out for him.

The Edmund Fitzgerald lovingly called the Fitz was somewhat of a famous ship locally, because the Captain would blare rock music and jazz and the like when she was sailing through areas where there were a lot of people. They were very well respected and very well-liked by everyone on their route. And true to the spirit of her Captain and her crew her last communique over radio was "We are holding our own." Class acts all of them, may they know smooth waters and friendly skies in paradise.

Gordon Lightfoot sang this song the proceeds went to the families from the wreck. When Gordon Lightfoot passed away the mariners rang the bell for him 29 times. The respect in all this was amazing. RIP GORDON! Amazing story all the way around.

You've again shown your feelings and compassion and never feel bad in that. I know you've made me respect you and your reviews more today.

I read that after this song became big, Gordon got a letter from the minister of the Maritime Sailors' Cathedral, mentioned in the song, who said that while he appreciated the men who had been lost being memorialized in song, he was a little bothered by the line that describes the church as a "musty old hall"...He said that their church was actually a very warm and welcoming place that had provided a lot of support to the community in the days after the sinking...From then on, when Gordon played the song, he changed the line to a "rustic old hall". I just thought it was cool that he would do that...

There are times in the musical history of songs that one comes along that is so well crafted that it puts you right in the middle of it and feel like you experience it. This is one for me. God bless the sailors and there families.

The last recorded words of the Edmund Fitzgerald's captain were "We're holding our own, going along like an old shoe... " Whitefish Bay was not their destination, but it would have been a safe place to wait out the storm.

The year was 1975, I'm from Michigan and I was 18 years old when this happened! When it came over the radio I was holding my young child and I just held him closer to me and cried silent tears. The Great Lakes are every bit as dangerous as the ocean, maybe even more-so because it's unexpected, storms form over the Great Lakes out of it seems like nothing! It seems they could have lived if they had put just fifteen more miles behind them, which just means there was land ahead! As always I loved your reaction to this Shon! I too keep away from the big lakes, I cannot swim, I can dog-paddle really well, but my arms just won't move correctly to swim!

Gordon Lightfoot was an amazing songwriter and storyteller. To add to the haunting feeling is when you understand how quickly the Fitzgerald "disappeared". They were being followed closely by another lake freighter, the Arthur M Anderson, who was assisting them with navigation as the Fitzgerald's radar had gone out. Also the pumps on the Fitzgerald were working hard. At one point the captain of the Anderson radioed Captain McSorley on the Fitzgerald asking how they were doing. Captain McSorley responded with a simple "We are holding our own." then shortly after the Fitzgerald just vanished from radar and sight. White Fish Bay is at the East end of Superior and a safe haven during storms. They went down 15 nautical miles short of safety. It's possible they still would have gone down in the bay, but the crew would have had a better chance of survival. Later the Fitzgerald's lifeboats were found washed ashore, ripped up and torn open.

I envy you being so young and getting to discover all this great music from the past. Lot of good stuff these days too. I'm 55 and just getting into KPOP! Never lose that desire to sample new things, even if they only new to you.

Today in Ojibwe language, thanks to dialectic differences, you are more likely to see gichi-gami, gitchi-gami or kitchi-gami for Lake Superior.The big water,big lake is Lake Superior.There is a video of the ship from its launching to its career travel across the Lake that gives you a better perspective of the size of the ship.When Lightfoot passed away recently the Maritime Cathederal chimed its bell thrity times in honor of the man who by singing this song honored the men on the Edmond Fitzgerald and their memeories.

Whitefish Bay is at the southeast corner of Lake Superior at the border between Michigan and Ontario, Canada. What the searchers were saying is the ship was roughly 15 miles from Whitefish Bay when she sank. Pretty good estimate- when the wreck was located, it was determined she sank about 17 miles from the bay. The bay's mouth is oriented north, opening onto Superior. The storm winds started out of the North-Northeast, but swung around eventually such that the winds as the wreck approached and occured were out of the west. This means if she had made the mouth of the bay, they would have been protected from the west winds, and the protected water in the bay would have been drasticaslly less violent than Superior, which was experiencing sustained seas of 30+ feet, with intermittent waves much larger. If you're interested, re-listen to the song with this additional info and you can hear that (for the most part), Lightfoot was very accurate. After describing the ship, crew and load, the first mention of the storm that sank her is "later that night when the ship's bell rang, could it be the north wind they'd been feelin?" As the storm struck, the first of the storm winds the Fitz would have felt would indeed have come from the North, or maybe just to the East of due north. As the storm (and song) progressed and conditions worstened, the wind shifted around the compass such that at peak, the wind was out of the west. Sustained winds were at 50 knots (about 58 mph), with a ship near the Fitz ( the Arthur M. Anderson) reporting gusts to 75 knots (about 86 mph). Hurricane force winds are winds greater than 74 MPH, so while the storm was not a "hurricane" (by definition, a tropical cyclone), the wind at times were as strong as a hurricane, and out of the west. So when Lightfoot sings later in the song, "later that night it was freezin' rain, in the face of a hurricane west wind", he was accurate.

I recommend a simple search on RU-vid for storms or massive waves on Lake Superior. Although they are the Great Lakes, they are really more like small oceans. Some of these storm videos will help you understand how violent these waters can be.

Its a very, very sad song, but yet its hauntingly beautiful at the same. Gordon just recently passed away himself, which also was very sad. It breaks my heart to admit I like this song, cause it's so amazingly told...its one of those songs you hate to love it.

A great song is “Please Please Please let me get what I want” by The Dream Academy

2 iron haulers were in that storm. The "Big Fitz" and the Anderson. The Fitz suddenly disappeared off Anderson's radar and was never heard from again. The Anderson had a good lead on the Fitz and survived the storm

lake superior can be a very dangerous lake. fickle, hungry. one spring when i lived in Sault Ste. Marie, back in the day when the lake still froze, during spring melt, a wild wind from the west came up sudenly. it broke up the ice, and was pushing it to shore. as the ice accumulated on shore, it build mountains. EIGHTY FEET HIGH. when word spread in the city, we all jumped in our cars, and went out to Point aux Pins to see. Awestruck. Gordon Lightfoot had the ability craft the words that was unequaled. if he came back again, he would rap. Love to u from Toronto (on Lake Ontario now). :(

My father in law was born and raised in Green Bay Wisconsin. He said once that he and his dad were returning from fishing and saw the ship leaving Port. And everyone wondered why they were going out in such bad weather.

The lyrics in the song that says "...When supper time came the old cook came on deck saying its too rough at 7pm a main hatche=way caved in..." was changed to “When supper time came the old cook came on deck Saying ‘Fellows it’s too rough to feed ya’ At 7 p.m. it grew dark, it was then He said, ‘Fellas it's been good to know ya’,” He made this change to remove implication of human error after he saw a TV documentry where evidence was presented that a 50 foot rogue wave caused the ships holds to flood.

This is 70's pop/folk and since I'm older than mathusala sandles I grew up with storyteller song writing.. this used to be why you would write a song, to tell a story.

Shon. One other amazing “tragedy song” I can think of is Ohio. By Neil Young.

"Does anyone know where the love of God goes, when the waves turn the minutes to hours". I heard it growing up as a kid, and now, again, every time I hear that passage it just puts chill in my blood. It makes you feel like you were there. This song truly captures such a sad tale.

This one puts tears in my eyes at night time. Great but sad song

So melancholy hearing this these days with the recent passing of Gordon, a Canadian treasure, master storyteller. 🥺 I came home from school that 10Nov and my parents were glued to the TV. News had broken, and the search had begun. Days went by. Being a teenager, I quickly moved on, but my mom was really affected. She never forgot that day. 😢 They mention November gales, ships need to get off the lakes b4 they freeze, and this storm was early and fast. There is a good documentary on The Edmund Fitzgerald out there you might find interesting. 👍🏽 With Gordon gone, they now toll the bell 30 times in the Twin ports, Duluth/Superior. Treasure this one.

It's great to see you understanding import of this tale and how well it is musically presented. As far as Treading Water, I know it's easier said than done but, it's actually not that hard. Just make big giant bicycle loops with your legs pushing against the water to keep it slow motion but keep your buoyancy up. And then do exactly the same thing only in the lateral plane with your arms going back and forth to stabilize yourself and also dipping down to generate some fine-tuned lift. But the point is to do all of that in a very relaxed way, not like a calisthenic workout, that way your conserving the maximum amount of energy while keeping your blood flowing and ready to react to things but also conserving your energy.

Thoughtful, respectful reaction.

the east coast of canada loves this shit so much.

Other amazing Gordon Lightfoot songs: Sundown Carefree Highway If you could read my mind

Being in the bay would have offered protection from the worst of the weather.

Gordon makes you feel like you were there. Such a terrible tragedy.

You should watch a documentary about it. Another ship, the Aurthur Anderson, was following a few miles behind the Fitz and saw her lights disappear.

Relatable yet extraordinary storytelling. Just a harrowing gut-punch of a song. Every. Time. I thought of it while watching A Perfect Storm 😭

Their is a documentary here on RU-vid that is about the wreck and the dive team going down to bring up the ships bell and replace it with a bell engraved with the names of all the sailors who went down with the Edmund Fitzgerald.

One of our Canadian treasures thank for watching friend

Gives me chills every time I hear this song!

November 10 1975. The big Fitz went down, they were crossing Lake Superior they knew STORM was coming so they tried to stay on the north side of the lake for protection. The Edmund Fitzgerald was traveling in tandem with the Arthur Anderson another ore carrier. They were in almost constant contact with each other never getting more than twenty miles apart. The Anderson was in the rear they could see the Fitzgeralds lights most of the time. As they reached the eastern side of the lake the Fitz slowed as she was faster than the Anderson. They were only seven miles apart at 7pm. The radio operator asked how they were doing, this is the last word heard from the Fitzgerald, "We are holding our own" Fifteen minutes later they were gone. Their" lights had gone out of sight "

Beautiful moment of silence 😢🙏

1975, Darling! One to remember!

I knew a cook on the ore boats of the Great Lakes who said he saw the Fitzgerald leave Superior, WI for the last time.

The waters in bays, like Whitefish Bay are generally calmer. They may have been safer. Lake Superior is great, but dangerous.

My favorite song by him. Def hurt when i found out he passed away.

He has alot of "70'S GOLD" I have great memories of my childhood, and my biological mother, and GORDON LIGHTFOOT music

Hey Shon, I thought I'd drop off another new artist for you to give a listen, if interested. "Yusuf/Cat Stevens - Peace Train (Live, Majikat - Earth Tour/1976)" Yusuf Islam commonly known by his stage name as Cat Stevens is British singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist and has sold over 100 million records world-wide. I really enjoyed your reaction thanks so much and have a great day

Hey Shon!!! Thank you for the amazing, genuine, and heart-felt RESPECT that you showed the song, and the RESPECT that you showed the surviving wives, sons and the daughters of the dead, and thank you for taking a moment of respect too for the 29 dead men. Your reaction was amazing. By the way, to answer your question, The EDMUND FITZGERALD went down on November 10th, 1975 in Lake Superior! ........As a young boy in the early 1970's, I would sit on the banks of the Detroit River with my fishing rod in the water, and I would watch the big ships as they would slowly come up and down the Detroit River which was/is one of the connections thru The Great Lakes, and, I'd make it a point to make sure to read the names on the side of each ship as they would pass by, and I'd make a point of remembering each name, and many many many times I'd see THE EDMUND FITZGERALD go by, and, who could have known that this massive ship would one day sink to the bottom of the Lake taking all of it's good men and crew along with it? Anyways, thanks for the genuine reaction! Sincerely, Frankie

Yeah whitefish Bay was where other ships were sheltered from storm

I have zero fear of water, except for Lake Superior, and the Behring Sea, they want to take your life. I would happily wade out in a Swan boat into the Bermuda Triangle, bc it is as scary as a plush toy to me

Great reaction. Thank you!

They found the wreckage, it broke it half. Google it. They have pictures.

There is a video on utube they took of the wreak when they located it, yhey also recoverd the ships bell and is at the Maritime Museum.

Welcome to the Great Lakes

Great song and well Done !!

I was 11 y/o when this truly sad and horrific tragedy happened. Were there lifeboats on board? Did the crew have survival suits issued to each of them? I'm sure the Edmond was supplied with both. As Gordon says .. Was She blindsided by a rogue wave and 'capsized'? Rogue waves can be large. They are vicious, merciless and could suddenly appear from out of nowhere. When a captain sounds the alarm of a oncoming wave .. each crewman has mere seconds to grab onto anything to keep from going overboard all the while praying for the best. However .. if She was taking on water and sank .. it seems as tho She floundered so extremely fast that the crew didn't even have enough time to down their suits and make it to a life boat. Nine years later, I found myself on a fish processor on the Behring Sea from April to October 1985. She was a large ship on dry land .. 360 ft .. but on water, just another 'needle in a haystack'. We fished as far north to Nome Alaska. I saw it all .. ice beds as thick as 3-4 ft., icebergs of all shapes and sizes and yes .. our captains made it through and we survived a few rogue waves. We sailed through 25 ft - 40 ft swells. We were so close to international waters, Russia was just a stones throw away. Had we ever had to signal mayday, it would have been the Russians on scene first to rescue us. I wouldn't change my life experience then .. but unless one has never been out to sea before .. it can be difficult to express just how vulnerable one feels when Mother nature is in complete control of the ocean. Even to this very day .. I WILL NOT go swimming in the ocean or ANY streams/lakes attached to the ocean because of the movie "Jaws". Bull sharks have evolved enough that they are now found in both fresh and sea waters. RIP G. Lightfoot

Shon, ya done good on this song. I remember when this happened.

The breakfast had to wait and it was too rough to feed them supper, the guys died with empty bellies.

Does any one know where the love of God goes When the waves turn the minutes to hours? Such a powerful line & song! ♥

Not only is this based on a true shipwreck its not that old of a story. I lived in a small town on Lake Superior and the families of those lost are still around.

Thanks for this one. Sundown is another great one by Gordon Lightfoot. It's a banger. I promise it's not a sad one. It's also one of my favorite songs, even though it's older than me.

🙏Gordon.

7:10 so yea basically they sank when they were just 15 miles away from safety. Had they made it, the ship would’ve never sank

Yes they would hv missed the storm

I get emotional every time I listen. I'm in Ohio. PS. Looking great to start your Dreadlocks. Will be like a young Bob Marlet. Tearjerker Song. 😢

Wikipedia has an informing, succinct article about the ship and its loss if you want further.

Marley. Ha!! ✌️

If they had got to Whitefish Bay before the two big waves arrived they would not have sunk.

Wisconsin 😇

Got a couple of songs for you check out, Marilyn Manson “Beautiful People” and Rob Zombies “Dracula”

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Edmund_Fitzgerald

Hearing of Gordon Lightfoot's passing on May 1 this year made me really sad. He was 84. At 3 PM on May 2, 2023, the Mariner's Church of Detroit rang it's bell 30 times - 29 times for the men of the Edmund Fitzgerald and once for Gordon Lightfoot.

It's horribly sad especially because it's 100 % true! Nobody else other than Gordon Lightfoot could have told this sad story! The verse that drops me is " Does anyone know where the love of God goes, when the waves turn the minutes to hours?"😢 This tragedy happened, November 10, 1975

One of the saddest, most haunting songs ever written. This song gets me "right there" every single time I listen to it. A true story immortalized by the great Gordon Lightfoot. RIP Gordon.

He donated all the proceeds/ profits from this song to the victims families. 10 or 15 years ago I saw him in concert on PBS, he was very old and frail looking but sounded great 😊

RIP Bruce Hudson 22 - North Olmsted, Ohio - Deckhand on Edmund Fitzgerald

I was thirteen when this happened . There was not a single sole here in Michigan that did not grieve when this happened. Superior is a very unforgiving wench.

"The lake it is said never gives up her dead" is about how the bottom water of Superior (the deepest of the Great Lakes) is so cold that when ships sink, the bodies don't float to the surface.

I was so sad to hear of Gordon Lightfoot's passing away recently. Loved his music! This song is a beautiful tribute by one of the best Canadian songwriters & storytellers. This is based on a true story & the lyrics tell the sad tale of the sinking of the ship & loss of lives in 1975. Gordon Lightfoot has had many hits through his long career such as "Sundown", "Early Morning Rain", "Steel Rail Blues", "Ribbon Of Darkness", "Carefree Highway", "Rainy Day People", "Cotton Jenny", "Black Day In July", "Canadian Railroad Trilogy" etc.

November 10, 1975. I was twenty-three yrs old. I live in Western NY, between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. I'm very familiar with the Witch of November, I can imagine it. Living so near the Canadian border, we heard and appreciated a lot of Canadian music. Gordon Lightfoot was a popular artist. RIP Gordon. May 1, 2023. Thank you, Shon, for your nice, respectful reaction.

Honestly the most haunting song ever written.. I get goosebumps every time. RIP 🕊

I grew up on an island in Lake Michigan; I was 12 when the Edmund Fitzgerald sank. It really hit hard. Although nobody from my small community had relatives aboard, many had family that worked on the ships of the Great Lakes. November is no joke up there. In 1958 the freighter Carl D. Bradley sunk just south of the island I'm from. 33 men died and two miraculously survived. There wasn't a musician with Mr. Lightfoot's mastery to tell the tale until later. Needless to say, I listened to a lot of Gordon Lightfoot music in my day. BTW - great respectful reaction!

I was stationed in Wurtsmith Air Force Base when the storm sank the Eddie Fitz By the next day, the storm reached Wurtsmith. I worked in a wing of the hanger where they worked on planes. As I stepped into the bay, the wind tore a 300 pound door off from its hinges like it was tissue paper. I was struck and thrown over 12 feet across the bay floor before I came down. The doctors told me they do not know how I lived through it God did not abandon me.

"The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead." This is true. The water is so cold that bodies never come to the surface. They ring the bell 29 times every year on the anniversary of the wreck. Gordon Lightfoot died last year, and they rang the bell 30 times.

He was a phenomenal storyteller. When he passed earlier this year, they rang an extra time from the ships bell at the memorial just for him. I find that extremely moving. I loved your reaction.

Gordon gave all the profit from this tune to the perished crews families. Waves on superior can reach 23' tall. They did recover the ships bell from the bottom of Lake superior

Gordon is from our hometown of Orillia, Ontario Canada and is not only a local hero but respected deeply by his peers and had millions of fans throughout the world. We're very proud of all his accomplishments. RIP Gord