The Wreck of the ”Edmund Fitzgerald”
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1. The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
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of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee.
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The lake, it is said, never gives
up her dead,
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when the
skies of November turn gloomy.
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2. With a load of iron ore, twenty-six thousand tons more,
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than the
Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty.
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That good ship and true was a bone
to be chewed,
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when the
gales of November came early.
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3. The ship was the pride of the American side,
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coming back
from some mill in
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As the big freighters go, it
was bigger than most,
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with a crew and good captain
well seasoned.
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4. Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms,
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when they
left fully loaded for
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And later that night when the
ship's bell rang,
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could it be the north wind
they'd been feeling.
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5. The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound,
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and a wave broke over the
railing.
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And every man knew, as the
captain did too,
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‘twas the witch of November
come stealing.
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6. The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait,
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when the Gales of November
came slashing.
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When afternoon came it was
freezing rain,
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in the face
of a hurricane west wind.
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7. When suppertime came, the old cook came on deck, saying,
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“Fellas,
it's too rough to feed ya.”
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At
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“Fellas,
it's been good to know ya.”
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8. The captain wired in he had water coming in,
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and the good ship and crew was
in peril.
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And later that night, when his
lights went, out of sight,
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came
the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
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9. Does any one know where the love of God goes,
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when the
waves turn the minutes to hours.
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The searchers all say they'd
have made
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if they'd put fifteen more
miles behind her.
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10. They might have split up, or they might have capsized,
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they may have broke deep and took water.
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And all that remains is the
faces and the names
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of the wives
and the sons and the daughters.
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11.
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in the rooms
of her ice water mansion.
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Old
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the islands and bays are for
sportsmen.
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12. And farther below
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takes in what
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And the iron boats go as the mariners
all know,
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with the Gales of November
remembered.
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13. In a musty old hall in
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in the
Maritime Sailors' Cathedral.
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The church bell chimed, till
it rang twenty-nine times,
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for each man
on the Edmund Fitzgerald.
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14. The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
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of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee.
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when the
gales of November come early.
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(orig. = capo 2nd) (Gordon
Lightfoot)