The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
Tonight marks the anniversary of the sinking of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald on the Great Lakes in 1975. Those of you who know me well know a bizarre running joke of mine--asking the odd street musician, doo-wop ensemble or barbershop quartet (and once a group of Mariachis) to perform the Gordon Lightfoot song detailing the particulars of this famous shipwreck.
"The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
Superior, they say, never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early."
Amazingly enough, it was two years ago on the way to Kinky Kollege 2007 that I heard a busking musician sing and play the entire song in the concourse of O'Hare Airport. No, it was NOT a request. After he was done I tipped him $5 and he suggested that from now on I ask for the "City of New Orleans" by Arlo Guthrie.
So let's take a moment of silence and ring the bell 29 times, for tonight, the Witch of November came early and 29 good men were drowned on the Edmund Fitzgerald.
The Edmund Fitzgerald