Gordon Lightfoot The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald (1979)

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down Of the big lake they call 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 twentysix thousand tons more Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty Former version: That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed Latter version: That good ship and crew 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 Then 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 tattletale sound When the wave broke over the railing And every man knew, as the captain did too Twas the witch of November come stealin The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait Whe