— Pee Wee Herman Melville (@PeeMelville) September 12, 2022
I have poked my fair share of fun at the song, and will probably continue to do so. But there is something affecting about those lyrics. I think maybe it’s the idea of calm acceptance in the face of certain death.
The wreck occurred when I was in high school, so it was a topic of mild interest, this being Michigan and all. I was never enthralled with it, that much, just another song on the radio.
But when I started to play music in a band, mostly saxes, I also played some rhythm guitar. I had several different guitars, but when I got an acoustic 12 string I learned The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, and while I let our two girls, or women I should say, sing it with their sisterly harmonies, along with the haunting doing of the acoustic 12 string guitar, it really was chilling.
I read just over the weekend that Gordon was still touring. I remember buying one of my first albums, Gord’s Gold. He was kind of Canada’s James Taylor, but without ever going into the rock side very much.
At least he was able to leave still doing what he loved.
Have a great week.