Posted on 11/10/2004 1:52:38 PM PST by Rakkasan1
Edmund Fitzgerald ping.
Actually, there is a way. Just start singing the chorus from "The Night Chicago Died" to yourself, and you'll be rid of "The Girl from Iponema". Unfortunately, you'll then have "The Night Chicago Died" stuck in your head for months.
BTTT
To those who've been in a major blow while underway, this stanza hits the heart.
I'm surprised that it has not been replaced by a new freighter.....called the Gordon Lightfoot !
Thank you sir!
The song has haunting words and haunting melody in a minor key, one of my all-time favorites since I first heard it.
I only wish the freighter crusied the lakes like they use to.... Up until the mid to late 80's they were still some small coal carriers that went up and down lake michigan...It would have been cool to see one named the gordon lightfoot. :)
A long time ago, 1972, I think.
About halfway through the song he loses it - goes completely blank, and can't remember the lyrics. He asks the audience to bear with him for a moment, and the band keeps vamping. Finally after about a minute he gets his head together and finishes the song.
I imagine once you've done a song like that so many times you sort of go on autopilot while singing it. Apparently his autopilot had a malfunction that night!
U.S. Navy Hymn: Eternal Father, Strong to Save
By William Whiting
Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bidd'st the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!
O Christ! Whose voice the waters heard
And hushed their raging at Thy word,
Who walked'st on the foaming deep,
And calm amidst its rage didst sleep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!
Most Holy Spirit! Who didst brood
Upon the chaos dark and rude,
And bid its angry tumult cease,
And give, for wild confusion, peace;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!
O Trinity of love and power!
Our brethren shield in danger's hour;
From rock and tempest, fire and foe,
Protect them wheresoe'er they go;
Thus evermore shall rise to Thee
Glad hymns of praise from land and sea.
Having been in a rather a couple of precarious situations on submarines, I agree with you on that line.
I love that song. I remember the disaster clearly, and I was living overseas at the time!
I just emailed one of the DJ's of a popular Detroit station that I always listen to, to remind him to play this song.
The music stations have their songs preprogrammed, but you would think they could work this into their queue, especially if it is a country music station.
Mariner's Church on Jefferson Ave. in Detroit has a "disclaimer" on their board that they are a Methodist church, not a "cathedral" (which they associate, I suppose, with Catholicism).
The church was founded in 1859, and moved to its current location in the '60's or '70's. It is a very prominent landmark of Detroit.
Right "next door" to the church is the Tunnel to Canada.
I meant to say "moved to its current location in the 1960's or 1970's" although it might have been in the 1940's. Well, I am sure that it was sometime in the 20th Century!
if you're able to listen to WI public radio at 7pm central
time on KUWS they'll play the last radio transmission
of the Fitz.
What's the frequency???
I probably missed it already.
But never mind, I have a download.
Great Museum. Visit again. http://www.shipwreckmuseum.com/fitz.phtml
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