Monday marks the 50th anniversary of the sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, a tragedy on Lake Superior that claimed the lives of 29 men. In the days after the disaster, songwriter Gordon Lightfoot read about it in Newsweek and immediately used his God-given gifts.
‘The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald’, as the maritime disaster will forever be known, was Lightfoot’s Homeric ode to the courage of the crew of the American freighter on their final, fateful voyage. The song was released in August 1976, less than a year after the shipwreck.
Lightfoot was at the top of the music game when the Fitz, as “the pride of the American side” was affectionately known, was loaded with 26,000 tons of iron ore. “Sundown” reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart in June 1974, with commercial hits including the title song and “Carefree Highway”. In other words, Gord was gold.
Gordon Lightfoot sings and plays acoustic guitar for the television concert series “Midnight Special” in the 1970s. (Getty Images)
Yet the Canadian troubadour did not intend to write another hit when composing this song. If that had been his intention, he certainly wouldn’t have written a dirge, let alone one that lasts well over six minutes and contains no chorus. Driven by empathy, Lightfoot wanted to honor the courageous dead in a fitting way.
THE FIELDS OF FREDERICKSBURG STILL SPEAK. I PRAY THAT AMERICA WILL LISTEN TO THE ECHO OF FREEDOM
He didn’t think the Newsweek article from which he learned about the wreck was enough praise, so he did what real artists do: he created the beauty he longed to hear. More than 6,000 ships have been wrecked in the Great Lakes. We still sing about it today because Lightfoot immortalized it so sublimely.
The Great Lakes freighter Edmund Fitzgerald, in 1959. It disappeared on November 10, 1975, during a storm on Lake Superior. (AP)
Of course, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” was a hit anyway, reaching No. 1 in Canada and No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. It is also perhaps Lightfoot’s best-known song and was a lifelong achievement of exceptional importance to him. I believe this is no coincidence.
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In “Mere Christianity,” C.S. Lewis wrote, “Aim at heaven and you’ll get earth ‘thrown in’: aim at earth and you’ll get neither.” Seek the higher and you get the lower: Lightfoot did exactly this. He was not concerned with creating a hit, but with creating beauty. The hit status was just thrown in there.
After the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald was confirmed, the rector of the Mariners’ Church in Detroit rang the bell 29 times to honor the life of each member of her crew. Of this sad and lonely labor, Lightfoot sang elegiacally “the church bell rang until it rang 29 times” in his ballad.
Gordon Lightfoot performs at the Ottawa Folkfest at Hogs Back Park on September 8, 2013 in Canada. (Mark Horton/WireImage)
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This lyrical greeting was not forgotten by the sturdy Anglican congregation. Every anniversary the Mariners’ Church rings the bell 29 in memory of the crew. Following Lightfoot’s death in May 2023, the bell was rung for the thirtieth time, the final toll to honor the songwriter who used his gifts to ensure that their fathers, sons, brothers and husbands would never be forgotten.
It was a nice gesture. That’s another reason to create beauty in the world with the purity that Gordon Lightfoot did. It’s contagious.
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