How Gordon Lightfoot’s ‘The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald’ became a cultural phenomenon

“The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down, of the big lake they called Gitche Gumee” - From “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”

First come the mournful notes - an electric guitar layered over a 12-string acoustic. Then come the haunting lyrics. At no time is Gordon Lightfoot’s iconic song, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” played on more radio stations and music streaming services than in the fall across Great Lakes towns large and small.

The song started as a touchstone to an era’s tragic shipwreck. But over the decades, it has morphed into much more. It’s clearly become a cultural phenomenon. Maritime historians say the song helped bring public pressure to create changes in shipwreck law. And with just an opening riff, it can bring the minds of thousands of people back to a