’The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald’: Gordon Lightfoot and the Ultimate Story Song

Rock 'n' Roll Rabbit Hole

On this episode, Kevin and Butch take a deep dive into "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," a classic true story song by the great Gordon Lightfoot about the freighter that sank into Lake Superior in 1975, taking all 29 crew members down with her. A few notes:

• Beer of the Week is, of course, Edmund Fitzgerald Porter by Great Lakes Brewing Co. What else would it be?
• Wait, there's no chorus in this song?
• It's based on an Irish tune Lightfoot remembered hearing as a child, and he basically just told the story in the song as factually as possible, albeit with some enhancements to add visuals and drama.
• It narrowly missed winning a Grammy and narrowly missed being a No. 1 tune in America (though it did hit No. 1 in Lightfoot's native Canada).
• Interestingly, new evidence as to what caused (or didn't cause) the wreck came to light in recent years, prompting Lightfoot to change one part of the lyric when he performs the song live.
• The song got a shout-out in an episode of "Seinfeld." You can check out a clip here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A57tT30peaM
• And if you ever wondered what the first two hours of MTV looked like, here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJtiPRDIqtI (So much Rod Stewart ...)