The Edmund Fitzgerald

[sharkeeper]

Gordon Lightfoot is 67 today.

 

[nakedfrog]

...

 

[echo4747]

45yrs. today

 

[AdamK47]

iamwiz82
Last seen Mar 17, 2017

May he RIP

 

[Fritzo]

Cliffs?

Sailing...la la la
Ooo...that sky looks bad
Yike! Sinking!
RIP

 

[Captante]

RIP

 

[DigDog]

Hey you, don't watch that, watch this!*

*Madness reference

 

[NesuD]

If you aren't over 50 and from Michigan you probably wouldn't understand the significance of the event the song is about. The song is great but the actual event is the real story.

 

[Captante]

If you aren't over 50 and from Michigan you probably wouldn't understand the significance of the event the song is about. The song is great but the actual event is the real story.

I was 11 years old in 1975 and heard about it right after it happened. Lived in NY State at the time. (Northern Westchester Cty.)

Original story ~ 1975

I can also clearly recall singing along to the song with my mom on AM radio in the car.

 

[DigDog]

if i understand correctly, the shock at the time was due to the E.F. being a totally ok ship. Not old, not broken, nothing wrong with it. And so it sank when there was no reason to expect it to sink.
Wikipedia has a few theories as to why it sank, but as of today we do not really know. This isn't a subject that i know enough about, but my take-home was that it sank due to "really bad luck".

 

[JulesMaximus]

If you aren't over 50 and from Michigan you probably wouldn't understand the significance of the event the song is about. The song is great but the actual event is the real story.

I'm from upstate NY and I am over 50. My mom is from Michigan (Grand Rapids area). I was 8 years old when this happened.

 

[IronWing]

...

It's an interesting example of the five degrees of separation idea. I went to school with a kid whose uncle died in the sinking.

 

[nakedfrog]

It's an interesting example of the five degrees of separation idea. I went to school with a kid whose uncle died in the sinking.

I can't say I've specifically run into other folks related to those that died on the ship, but it doesn't exactly come up much when you're under 50 and not from Michigan
My grandmother is in the video footage from when they did the bell ceremony thing after they brought it up.

 

[Captante]

This isn't a subject that i know enough about, but my take-home was that it sank due to "really bad luck"

Of that there can be no question!

Personally I think they "bottomed out" in a trough between huge waves and fractured the hull based on the wreck's condition. Ultimately however you are correct we'll most likely never know for sure.

 

[zinfamous]

thought this was going to be another beer thread

 

[AdamK47]

thought this was going to be another beer thread

Disastrously delicious

 

[RLGL]

Interesting. a few years ago when I was still working one of the younger co-workers heard the song and asked if the song referred to a real event. When I told him it was factual, it blew him away.