It’s sort of awful, isn’t it? The accident was so dreadful, but it’s such a great song. I feel like Gordon Lightfoot was completely inspired by God in writing that song. I know that is true of many songs, but I was just struck by it after I watched a documentary about the sinking.
Everything I read about the sinking indicates that it was a relatively quick event. It didn’t drag on for hours like the song indicates. If they knew that the ship was in real danger, it would have been only for a few minutes.