Maggie’s The Wreck of the Hillary Clinton... by Gordon AthletesFoot
- Thread starter sirhrmechanic
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Sirh you will probably be the only one to appreciate this obscure bit of history but years ago we pulled into Ketchikan to refuel and moored up to a buoy tender at the pier. I walked out onto the fantail and my boatswain was staring at the buoy tender with a funny look on his face and he proceeded to tell me that was his first unit out of boot camp and they were the first ones on scene when the Edmund Fitzgerald went down, he said they did search patterns for days.
Nope, not just him. I can appreciate it. That story has always captivated me since I first heard that song as a kid. Regarding your boatswain's search, "The lake it is said never gives up her dead, when the skies of November turn gloomy."
Interesting reading about the wreck here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Edmund_Fitzgerald#Wreck_discovery
As a musician and sometime-songwriter, Gordon Lightfoot's song is fascinating to me. Some of the lines seem a bit "forced," but necessary to tell the story, whereas others are absolutely masterful. I particularly like how he set the stage and painted a majestic picture of the ship and her huge 26K ton load of ore, i.e. "pride of the American side," etc. But my favorite line is, "Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours." That line puts you right on the ship in the middle of the storm and paints the picture of despair as the realization sets in that they're going down. It is a tragic story that could have been avoided, but he wrote an epic tale of an epic event that many would never have known about had ol' Gordon not taken a shine to breathing some life into it.
The original is, indeed, a remarkable song! The story of the Edmund Fitzgerald is also remarkable. If you search YouTube, there are several good documentaries on the wreck. I distinctly remember it as a kid. Growing up on the Canadian border, we got Canadian TV often better than US TV. And it was the biggest news story for days. We even had a class project in elementary school clipping newspapers and following the search on a map of the Great Lakes.
But, yes, VH... I bet without the song it would have faded into history. And your analysis of some of the lines is spot on. Some really powerful writing there.
Though I will stand behind my long assertion that we will never see an album called "Gordon Lightfoots Party Dance Singles."
Cheers,
Sirhr
But, yes, VH... I bet without the song it would have faded into history. And your analysis of some of the lines is spot on. Some really powerful writing there.
Though I will stand behind my long assertion that we will never see an album called "Gordon Lightfoots Party Dance Singles."
Cheers,
Sirhr
Long time ago we lived in the upper peninsula of Michigan about 5 miles off Lake Superior. I remember going to the shoreline in January.... You would NOT want to be out there in any size boat/ship. Geez. Looked like frozen icebergs piled up on shore.
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