The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald

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Song Name:	The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald	By:	Gordon Lightfoot
Posted By:	gene	Difficulty:	Beginner
Key:	B	Genre:	General
Harp Type:	Diatonic
Created:	2007-04-22 02:04:02	Modified:	2008-01-15 02:01:28

Song:

This song has 14 verses, and each verse has two sentences.
The last syllabe of the first sentence in each verse is blow 4. (The
midi I tabbed from indicates a draw 4, but I don't agree.)
The last syllable of the second sentence in each verse is blow 7.
Just play the first sentence over and over, except for the blow
7'�And counting syllables, I guess.

Verses 1 and 6 are different, though.  In verse 1, both sentences end
with blow 4, and in verse 6, both sentences end with blow 7. After the
sentences in the non-tabbed verses, below, I indicate the higher note
with a "^", and the lower note with a "v" (pointing the direction
of the pitch).

I chose a B harp because there are no unresolved or bent notes.

Verse 1:
6   7  7     7   7
The le-gend lives on

-8   7    -6 6  6  6   6
From the Chip-pe-wa on down

6   -6 -6   -6   -6   -6
Of the big lake they call

6  -5   6  4
Git-che Gu-mee.


The lake, it is said ne-ver gives up her dead
When the skies of No-vem-ber turn gloo-my.    v

Verse 2:
With a load of iron ore - 26,000 tons more
Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty.     v
That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
When the gales of November came early.        ^

Verse 3:
The ship was the pride of the American side
Coming back from some mill in Wisconson.      v
As the big freighters go it was bigger than most
With a crew and the Captain well seasoned.    ^

Verse 4:
Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
When they left fully loaded for Cleveland.      v
And later that night when the ships bell rang
Could it be the North Wind they'd been feeling. ^

Verse 5:
The wind in the wires made a tattletale sound
And a wave broke over the railing.           v
And every man knew, as the Captain did, too,
T'was the witch of November come stealing.   ^

Verse 6:
The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
When the gales of November came slashing.     ^
When afternoon came it was freezing rain
In the face of a hurricane West Wind.         ^

Verse 7:
When supper time came the old cook came on deck
Saying fellows it's too rough to feed ya.     v
At 7PM a main hatchway caved in
He said fellas it's been good to know ya.     ^

Verse 8:
The Captain wired in he had water coming in
And the good ship and crew was in peril.      v
And later that night when his lights went out of sight
Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.      ^

Verse 9:
Does anyone know where the love of God goes
When the words turn the minutes to hours?        v
The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
If they'd fifteen more miles behind her.         ^

Verse 10:
They might have split up or they might have capsized
They may have broke deep and took water.        v
And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters.    ^

Verse 11:
Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
In the ruins of her ice water mansion.     v
Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams,
The islands and bays are for sportsmen.    ^

Verse 12:
And farther below Lake Ontario
Takes in what Lake Erie can send her.     v
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
With the gales of November remembered.    ^

Verse 13:
In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed
In the Maritime Sailors' Cathedral.       v
The church bell chimed, 'til it rang 29 times
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.    ^

Verse 14:
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee.   v
Superior, they say, never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early.    ^