Lizard, what do you think of this?

ledmag

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Aug 31, 2001
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i love this song. As a matter of fact, im playing it. I love the little creepy leads and stuff. There are 4 guitars, and im pieceing them together, for one guitar.

WHat made me think to ask you of this song came from way back when you and I were chatting about THE BAND, and then i saw where you added some lyrics to the S&Gunkle thread.

You know the title, and artist, im sure. the date was 1976 for the song, 1975 for the wreck.



The legend lives on from the chippewa on down
Of the big lake they called "Gitche Gumee"
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy
With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more
Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty.
That good ship and crew was a bone to be chewed
When the "Gales of November" came early.

The ship was the pride of the American side
Coming back from some mill in Wisconsin
As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most
With a crew and good captain well seasoned
Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
When they left fully loaded for Cleveland
And later that night when the ship's bell rang
Could it be the north wind they'd been feelin'?

The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound
And a wave broke over the railing
And every man knew, as the captain did too,
T'was the witch of November come stealin'.
The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
When the Gales of November came slashin'.
When afternoon came it was freezin' rain
In the face of a hurricane west wind.

When suppertime came, the old cook came on deck sayin'.
"Fellas, it's too rough to feed ya."
At Seven P.M. a main hatchway caved in', he said
"Fellas, it's been good t'know ya"
The captain wired in he had water comin' in
And the good ship and crew was in peril.
And later that night when 'is lights went outta sight
Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Does any one know where the love of God goes
When the waves turn the minutes to hours?
The searches all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
If they'd put fifteen more miles behind her.
They might have split up or they might have capsized;
May have broke deep and took water.
And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters.

Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
In the rooms of her ice-water mansion.
Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams;
The islands and bays are for sportsmen.
And farther below Lake Ontario
Takes in what Lake Erie can send her,
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
With the Gales of November remembered.

In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed,
In the "Maritime Sailors' Cathedral."
The church bell chimed till it rang twenty-nine times
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call "Gitche Gumee".
"Superior", they said, "never gives up her dead
When the 'Gales of November' come early!"
 
yeah, its a good song to strum too. but its even better if you take the guitar playing a bit more to the brain, and really play the song. I had played it for yrs, but just the otehr day i really started to listen to all teh subtle guitar changes and leads. SOme stuff that really stands out, really good sounding stuff, thats only done one time. The song clocks in at over 7 minutes.

have you ever checked teh history of teh wreck? Its pretty cool to check into. The song follows teh real history pretty good, all but the dieing hungry parts, adn a few other small things. They didnt die hungry, they didnt even know they were gonna die. They thought they were safe. The storm changed directions before the weather channels could report it. The boat sank very fast.

WHat other styles other than metal do you dig CHromo?
 
i learned a little about it here and there, since i liked the song so much, and the guy who played it gave some background from time to time, that was back in my young boyscout days, heh.. I was actually having a convo about that with some friends a few weeks ago, how I should learn to play it since we hadn't heard it in years, but forgot completely until this thread :D

hmm, other than metal, I'm in jazz, especially john coltrane, miles davis, .. and classic rock, 70's prog rock... and other random things, like trip-hop, ambient chill stuff.
 
hey, i have some miles davis. True light digs him as well. Have you tried LArry Carlton? Jazz guitar guy. Real good stuff.

I think you and I share some likes in the other styles section. If your interested, i could probably email you the way i play "the wreck OTEF", and the way Gordon plays the song. I do it like Gordon, but i try to stick the other guitar parts with the rythem when it sounds good.

Hmm, wonder if Lizard saw this thread?
 
you know LIZ, it seems a lot of good bands, and solo artists of that age came from Canada, in the genre we are speaking of here anyway. .

Yeah, its eerie as hell. That lead man, its like the epitome of eerie. Glad ya like it.
 
You guys should see Superior when it's nasty, fucking unreal. The waves just don't come from one direction, they come from every direction. And the spray covers everything in feet of ice. I went to the Great Lakes Ship Wreck Mueseum (Sp? I've been in the wine!) and they have a whole display of the wreck and a display with Gordon Lightfoot. Pretty cool, not the way I would have wanted to go. It's sister ship in moored in the Saginaw River. Amamzing how something that big was twisted up and sent down, the force of nature is pretty intense.:cool:
 
Joint smoker>>>Thanks for the info pal. Good stuff you posted.

NOLORDY>>>YEp, what LOM said. Check into it. ITs very good....

NEAL>>>Look at LOMs post. DO check the song out.