49 years ago today.

The bell rings 29 times.

I remember it well. Our neighbors son was going up to Milwaukee (I think) a couple of weeks before that. He wanted to work on a lake freighter. No idea if he ever got a job.

This original is even better with radio calls and wind.

Still makes my eyes water every year...

That version gave me chills with the radio call. And, I'm just an Okie who has watched every documentary I can find on it. We obviously have nothing like the Great Lakes.

Thank you for posting.

Remember it well too. They sailed out of my home town. No school that day due to the weather. Morning news only knew that they had lost radio contact. Having abandoned ship in a storm myself I can only imagine the fear those men felt. Must’ve been fast

I think I remember watching a NOVA or something on it after they had found and videoed the wreck. If I remember correctly, the ship was sort of twisted in two somewhere in the middle to middle-forward.

One of the theories on that show was a sudden catastrophic flooding far forward so it sunk fast by the bow. However, the lake there was shallower than the length of the ship and the engine and screw (s) were still on the surface when the bow hit the bottom and they kept going for a bit driving the ship into the bottom causing it to almost twist in half before the engine(s) quite because of flooding in the aft.

A sad night indeed.

Hairs standing on end on my arms right now. If I listened to the song right now i'd surely cry as well. When I do listen to it, I sing along. I cannot continue after the line,
"And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters." After that, I completely lose it.
That song, in my opinion, is the best one ever written both musically and lyrically. Gordon Lightfoot's voice kills.
No other song effects me in that way and I have been around for a while.

I've heard Gordon Lightfoot preform it live I was sitting just out of sight of the audience , as mentioned it's very moving !

Gordon apparently went to all the families that lost someone on the Edmond Fitzgerald and made sure they were all ok with the lyrics. If one family would not have been comfortable with the song he would not have recorded it.

Always reminds me to respect the water

The song certainly stirs a listener.

The part where he sings … Does any one know where the love of God goes
When the waves turn the minutes to hours.

That is what hits me. If you have felt it in or on the ocean, then you know.