2026, History, In Memorium, Music

The Edmund Fitzgerald

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Yesterday was the 51st anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald.  Good grief, how can it have been that long?

The EF was commissioned in 1958 and was a taconite hauler from the northern Minnesota mines to various iron works in ports on the Great Lakes.  When she was launched, she was the largest ship on the Great Lakes and remains the largest to have sunk there as well.  She was carrying over 26,000 tons of taconite on that last voyage and she lies 530 below the surface — just 17 miles from Whitefish Bay, where she was headed.  Although life rafts were found deployed, no one survived.  Only one body was found on the wreck itself, no others have been discovered.

I found this interesting animation online:

Of course most of us remember the Edmund Fitzgerald because of The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot.  I’m guessing that it’s cemented in many of our minds because it was a staple on the Late Great Morning Show.

He wrote it in early 1976, after having read about the tragedy after it happened.  Lightfoot was up for two Grammys, best song and best male pop vocal, but was beaten out by I Write the Songs and Stevie Wonder.  I’m pretty sure that all of us here on the Trail would have voted for one of our classics.  I still tear up when I hear it.  And then after I play it again, I usually put on The Mary Ellen Carter as well!

Any other good historical ballads that you like?

31 thoughts on “The Edmund Fitzgerald”

  2. Played the Gordon Lightfoot first thing in the morning yesterday. Do it every year.

    I’m no longer on Twitter, but the Lake Superior account did posts of the names of each of the crew throughout the day.

    Sobering to consider the power of the lake so many of us love.

    We have had a tragedy in my extended neighborhood: an apartment on Randolph across the street from St Kate’s has been destroyed by fire.

    It is believed a kitten was the only casualty. All other residents have been accounted for, but the property and it’s contents are a total loss.

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    1. I drove by there – I thought it looked familiar on the TV coverage. I recall parking in front of that building a couple of times when attending events at O’Shaughnessy. Very sad for the residents.

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  3. Rise Again, Baboons,

    The Mary Ellen Carter is a classic that always brings a tear to my eye. Does this count as a ballad? It is a ballad of womens’s work life.

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  8. I was looking up some Pink Floyd lyrics. Specifically just about all the songs on the album ‘Final Cut’. There are so many songs reflecting on war and it’s consequences.

    And the Edmund Fitzgerald. I was in the show ‘Ten November’ about the sinking. We did the show in 1988. We were planning to do it again in 2020… and, well, that got lost.

    Part of one of my speeches, at the dedication: “Northwestern Mutual, Proud owner of this new vessel…” so everytime I see a Northwester Mutual building name I think of that.
    I also had a speech about baking a pie. The men in the show all had speeches about someone on the ship.

    Here is one Pink Floyd song lyrics:

    The Gunner’s Dream

    Floating down through the clouds
    Memories come rushing up to meet me now.
    In the space between the heavens
    and in the corner of some foreign field
    I had a dream.
    I had a dream.
    Goodbye Max.
    Goodbye Ma.
    After the service, walking slowly to the car
    And the silver in her hair shines in the cold November air
    You hear the tolling bell
    And touch the silk in your lapel
    And as the tear drops rise to meet the comfort of the band
    You take her frail hand
    And hold on to the dream.

    A place to stay
    “Oi! A real one …”
    Enough to eat
    Somewhere old heroes shuffle safely down the street
    Where you can speak out loud
    About your doubts and fears
    And whats more no-one ever disappears
    You never hear their standard issue kicking in your door.
    You can relax on both sides of the tracks
    And maniacs don’t blow holes in bandsmen by remote control
    And everyone has recourse to the law
    And no-one kills the children anymore.
    And no one kills the children anymore.

    Night after night
    Going round and round my brain
    His dream is driving me insane.
    In the corner of some foreign field
    The gunner sleeps tonight.
    What’s done is done.
    We cannot just write off his final scene.
    Take heed of his dream.
    Take heed.

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  10. I have been to the lighting of the Split Rock Lighthouse and reading of the 29 names twice now. There has been a lot of news coverage and talk about the EF and the stories that swirl around it. There were helicopters and news crews here yesterday. The lighting/reading ceremony is incredibly popular and so crowded that people end up parking along Hwy 61. The parking lot at the historic site is full, so people have to park near the wayside rest or along the highway. There were signs alerting drivers to “EVENT CONGESTION” yesterday. There is also discussion about some differences of opinion about the monument that is out in the lake. It’s marked by a buoy with Edmund Fitzgerald on it. The families of the 29 men want to keep it off limits to diving and photography but there are those who disregard the rules. Some people want to make it a dive site, and to look for reasons for the sinking of the ship, or to take photos. Families want it left alone since it is a gravesite.

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  14. Yesterday I came across the Newsweek article that inspired Gordon Lightfoot. It begins, “According to a legend of the Chippewa tribe, the lake they once called Gitche Gumee “never gives up her dead,” and ends with the account of the bell tolling 29 times. It’s as if Lightfoot wrote the song as he was reading.

    When I was in Girl Scouts, we sang a song about the Titanic–don’t remember much of it. Mary Ellen Carter always chokes me up.

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    1. I just saw something online that says that they now ring the bell 30 times since the passing of Gordon Lightfoot. I hope that’s true because that would be truly bittersweet.

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