The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

"The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald is a 1976 hit song written, composed and performed by the Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot to memorialize the sinking of the bulk carrier SS Edmund Fitzgerald in Lake Superior on November 10, 1975. Lightfoot considered this song to be his finest work.
Appearing originally on his 1976 album Summertime Dream, Lightfoot re-recorded the song in 1988 for the compilation album Gord's Gold, Vol. 2.
==Lyrics==
The song chronicles the final voyage of the Edmund Fitzgerald as it succumbed to a massive late-season storm and sank in Lake Superior with the loss of all 29 crewmen. Lightfoot drew inspiration from news reports he gathered in the immediate aftermath, particularly "The Cruelest Month", published in Newsweek magazine's November 24, 1975, issue. Lightfoot's passion for recreational sailing on the Great Lakes informs his ballad's verses throughout.
Recorded before the ship's wreckage could be examined, the song contains some artistic conjectures, omissions and paraphrases. In later interviews, Lightfoot recounted how he had agonized over possible inaccuracies while trying to pen the lyrics until his lead guitarist Terry Clements convinced him to do what Clements' favourite author Mark Twain would have advised: just tell a story.
In March 2010, Lightfoot changed a line during live performances to reflect new findings that there had been no crew error involved in the sinking. The line originally read, "At 7 p.m. a main hatchway caved in; he said..."; Lightfoot began singing it as "At 7 p.m. it grew dark, it was then he said..." Lightfoot learned about the new research when contacted for permission to use his song for a History Channel documentary that aired on March 31, 2010. Lightfoot stated that he had no intention of changing the original copyrighted lyrics; instead, from then on, he simply sang the new words during live performances.
==Production==
The song was recorded in December 1975 at Eastern Sound, a recording studio composed of two Victorian houses at 48 Yorkville Avenue in a then-hippie district of downtown Toronto. The famous studio was later torn down and replaced by a parking lot.
Pee Wee Charles and Terry Clements came up with "the haunting guitar and steel riffs" on a "second take" during the evening session.
The song was the first commercial digital multitrack recording on the 3M 32-track digital recorder – a prototype technology at the time.
==Chart success==
Lightfoot's single version hit number 1 in his native Canada (in the RPM national singles survey) on November 20, 1976, barely a year after the disaster. In the United States, it reached number 1 in Cashbox and number 2 for two weeks in the Billboard Hot 100 (behind Rod Stewart's "Tonight's the Night"), making it Lightfoot's second-most successful single, behind only "Sundown". Overseas it was at best a minor hit, peaking at number 40 in the UK Singles Chart.
===Weekly charts===
Weekly chart performance for "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"
Chart (1976–1977) 	Peakposition
Australian KMR 	46
Canadian RPM Top Singles 	1
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks 	1
Canadian RPM Country Tracks 	1
US Billboard Hot 100Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 -	2
US Billboard Easy Listening 	9
US Billboard Hot Country Singles 	50
US Cash Box Top 100 	1
2023 weekly chart performance for "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"
Chart (2023)	Peakposition
===Year-end charts===
Year-end chart performance for "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"
Chart (1976) 	Rank
Canada RPM Top Singles 	12
US (Joel Whitburn's Pop Annual)	36
US Cash Box 	22
== Personnel ==
* Gordon Lightfoot – 12-string acoustic guitar, vocals
* Terry Clements – electric guitar
* Pee Wee Charles - pedal steel guitar
* Rick Haynes – electric bass
* Barry Keane – drums
* Gene Martynec - Moog synthesizer
==See also==
* Rock music of Canada
* Music of Canada
==References==
== Further reading ==
==External links==
* Lyrics from gordonlightfoot.com
* Column by Mark Steyn—"Of Rain and Wrecks"—Song of the Week #338
* Anchored in Rich History
Category:1976 singles
Category:1976 songs
Category:1970s ballads
Category:Cashbox number-one singles
Category:Gordon Lightfoot songs
Category:Maritime music
Category:Reprise Records singles
Category:Rock ballads
Category:RPM Top Singles number-one singles
Category:Song recordings produced by Lenny Waronker
Category:Songs based on American history
Category:Songs based on Canadian history
Category:Songs written by Gordon Lightfoot
Category:Vehicle wreck ballads