Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald – English Lyrics

• By: Gordon Lightfoot
• Album: Summertime Dream

Lyrics & Translation

Delve into the compelling narrative of "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" by Gordon Lightfoot, a masterpiece that not only tells a gripping true story but also offers a unique opportunity to experience the rich vocabulary and storytelling tradition of English folk music. Through its vivid lyrics and haunting melody, you can explore themes of maritime history, the power of nature, and human resilience, making it a powerful and educational listening experience for language learners.

[English]

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down

Of the big lake they called Gitche Gumee

The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead

When the skies of November turn gloomy

With a load of iron ore, 26 thousand tons more

Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty

That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed

When the gales of November came early

The ship was the pride of the American side

Coming back from some mill in Wisconsin

As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most

With a crew and good captain well seasoned

Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms

When they left fully loaded for Cleveland

And later that night when the ship's bell rang

Could it be the north wind they'd been feelin'?

The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound

And a wave broke over the railing

And every man knew, as the captain did too

T'was the witch of November come stealin'

The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait

When the Gales of November came slashin'

When afternoon came it was freezin' rain

In the face of a hurricane west wind

When suppertime came, the old cook came on deck sayin'

"Fellas, it's too rough to feed ya"

At 7 p.m. a main hatchway caved in, he said

"Fellas, it's been good t'know ya"

The captain wired in he had water comin' in

And the good ship and crew was in peril

And later that night when his lights went outta sight

Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Does anyone know where the love of God goes

When the waves turn the minutes to hours?

The searches all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay

If they'd put fifteen more miles behind her

They might have split up or they might have capsized

They may have broke deep and took water

And all that remains is the faces and the names

Of the wives and the sons and the daughters

Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings

In the rooms of her ice-water mansion

Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams

The islands and bays are for sportsmen

And farther below Lake Ontario

Takes in what Lake Erie can send her

And the iron boats go as the mariners all know

With the Gales of November remembered

In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed

In the Maritime Sailors' Cathedral

The church bell chimed till it rang 29 times

For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down

Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee

Superior, they said, never gives up her dead

When the gales of November come early

...

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
legend /ˈledʒənd/ B2	noun - a traditional story sometimes popularly regarded as historical but not authenticated
lake /leɪk/ A1	noun - a large body of water surrounded by land
skies /skaɪz/ A2	noun - the region of the atmosphere and outer space seen from the earth
November /noʊˈvembər/ A1	noun - the eleventh month of the year
ship /ʃɪp/ A1	noun - a large boat for transporting people or goods by sea
gales /ɡeɪlz/ B2	noun - very strong winds
pride /praɪd/ B1	noun - a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one's own achievements
captain /ˈkæptɪn/ A2	noun - the person in command of a ship
night /naɪt/ A1	noun - the period from sunset to sunrise
wind /wɪnd/ A1	noun - air in natural motion
wave /weɪv/ A2	noun - a disturbance that transfers energy through matter or space
witch /wɪtʃ/ B1	noun - a woman thought to have magic powers
rain /reɪn/ A1	noun - moisture condensed from the atmosphere that falls visibly in separate drops
deck /dek/ A2	noun - a floor or platform on a ship
lights /laɪts/ A1	noun - the natural agent that stimulates sight and makes things visible
wreck /rek/ B1	noun - the destruction or serious damage of a ship verb - to destroy or severely damage a ship

Key Grammar Structures

• The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead

  ➔ Parenthetical insertion with "it is said"

  ➔ The phrase "it is said" is inserted within the main clause for emphasis or to indicate that the information is commonly known or believed, but not necessarily verified. It adds a sense of folklore or legend. It acts as a parenthetical remark interrupting the flow of the sentence.

• Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty

  ➔ Comparative clause using "than"

  ➔ This uses the comparative conjunction "than" to compare the weight of the iron ore to the empty weight of the Edmund Fitzgerald. It expresses a degree of difference. The structure is: more + noun + "than" + noun.

• That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed

  ➔ Metaphorical use of "bone to be chewed"

  ➔ The phrase "bone to be chewed" is a metaphor suggesting that the ship was a difficult or challenging thing for the gales to deal with. It implies a struggle or conflict.

• When the gales of November came early

  ➔ Adverbial clause of time using "when"

  ➔ This uses "when" to introduce a clause that indicates the time at which the main clause event occurs. The subordinate clause (the gales came early) provides the temporal context for the main clause event.

• Could it be the north wind they'd been feelin'?

  ➔ Inversion for interrogative, past perfect continuous tense (they had been feeling)

  ➔ The sentence is a question. The auxiliary verb "could" is placed before the subject "it", inverting the typical subject-verb order to form the question. "They'd been feelin'" is a contraction of "they had been feeling", which is the past perfect continuous tense. It implies that the feeling of the north wind had been happening for some time before the moment in question.

• They might have split up or they might have capsized

  ➔ Modal verb "might" with perfect infinitive "have + past participle" expressing speculation about the past

  ➔ "Might have split up" and "might have capsized" indicate possibilities about what could have happened to the ship. The use of "might" shows uncertainty. The structure expresses speculation about past events.

• Takes in what Lake Erie can send her

  ➔ Relative clause using "what" as a fused relative pronoun.

  ➔ The word "what" functions as a fused relative pronoun, combining the roles of both a relative pronoun and its antecedent. So, "what Lake Erie can send her" means "the things that Lake Erie can send her". It acts as the direct object of the verb "takes in".