RIP Gordon Lightfoot 1938-2023
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The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Brings me to tears ("The church bell chimed, and it rang 29 times, for each man..."). R.I.P.
I went to Michigan Tech and have many cousins who live in the Keewenaw. There were a lot of students there in 1983-1988 whose family were involved in Great Lakes shipping. Many of them had family or friends impacted by this disaster. On one road trip in November 1986 to visit my girlfriend at Lake Superior State in the Soo, a bunch of us drove to Paradise and from there up to Whitefish Point. We got shitty drunk on the beach just 17 miles away from the wreck. If the ship had made the lee of Whitefish Point it would have been safe.
Many years later the wife and I took the kids to a family reunion in Copper Harbor. We drove all around the UP following the shoreline. One stop was at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point where the bell from the ship is displayed. The kids missed the significance but I was touched. That bell had sat 550 feet down on the bottom of the Lake for 20 years. A replica of the bell with the 29 names engraved on it was returned to the icy depths to stand guard over the last resting place of these brave sailors.
Sorry for the tangent. Since I was 10 years old, the wreck and Lightfoots haunting ode have always moved my soul.
Thanks for the story, fren. I think all of us in Michigan were touched by the wreck. In a different way, it was a very similar feeling to the Velsicol/PBB cow feed tragedy that took place the year before in St. Louis MI and spread to the whole of the state; another very sad event (the clean up continues to this very day). I was six when the freighter sank, and our elementary school music teacher would revisit the tragedy on or very near the anniversary every year, playing the song and educating us on what happened that day.
I've added the Shipwreck Museum to our vacation bucket list, so thank you for mentioning that as well.
“I can’t think of any Gordon Lightfoot song I don’t like. Every time I hear a song of his, it’s like I wish it would last forever.” - Bob Dylan
Funny, I was about to post Dylan’s quote before he performed “I’m not supposed to care “ where he says something about Lightfoot being his favorite songwriter
I cherished this man and his voice. What he was inside, you could hear it. I could only take listening to his voice for a song or two, it just reminded me of so many things and a lot of them were the most difficult times of all. And a couple, are part of the memories I have wrapped in cotton my whole life, they are so fragile. I am sorry he is gone. We are losing so many. Rest in peace, good Sir. "Tis to a better place'. And I do believe that is true, because life is really just awfully hard.
You have written a beautiful tribute.
Thank you for sharing.He was a true storyteller.
Very nice tribute. Can't updoot you, though, as you're at 17 :)
" If You Could Read My Mind "
RiP...great singer/songwriter...
Sundown you better take care. If I find you been creepin round my back stair.
Never knew what the hell that meant but liked it anyway. Wreck of the EF was my favourite though.
Creepin round his back stair is what you do when there are no cell phones and you are trying to work your way into someone's girlfriend or wife's life.
I spent a lot of time listening to his songs.
He definitely made a huge impact in the lives of many. His music will continue to be cherished by people who appreciate real folk music
I’ve spent some time on the banks of the old Raritan…
I still do. I live about 5 blocks from the wharf in Edison. Great place to get away from it all. Fun fact - I moved from the red shale of the Passaic Formation to the oldest Coastal Plain formation - the Raritan.
Geology, eh. Hmmm. I know a PG who lives in Fords.
yup we see the world differently :-)
Sundown, man. Sundown.
So many great songs
I still remember the first time I heard "If you could read my mind" I was bewitched by the feeling in his voice.
Elvis covered Early Morning Rain, one of his finest 70s recordings. RIP, GL.
My personal fav GLightfoot song. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YdBU-jpJJtA
My first date with my future wife was Gordon in-the-round in the Cleveland area in like 1982. Not sure if the small arena is even there anymore.
One of my favorites of his, rarely mentioned: Don Quixote
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJB0nCv0qxk
😞 This makes me so sad. His music hits you square in the gut always has
He's left a legacy that future generations can enjoy.❤️ RIP
I never could stand Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
That said, wrote many fine songs, my favorite of which was the Canadian Railroad Trilogy.
One of my favorites is, Minstrel of the Dawn.
Voice as smooth as honey. One of the best troubadours of our time.
He originally died around 2002 but I am heavily ME affected
A perfect love song, and one I don't hear enough. Time to update the music collection.
Love this ❤️