Back in 1976, Gordon Lightfoot’s song “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” made it to #2 in the Billboard charts. For those not familiar, the song tells the tale of an iron ore freighter which capsized during a severe storm on Lake Superior a year earlier, claiming the lives of its entire crew of 29. Lightfoot read about it in Newsweek magazine and immediately sat down and composed perhaps his best-known song, finishing it two weeks later. Basically a dirge, not only was it distinctive due to its lack of fleeting melody or a catchy refrain at a time when disco was coming of age, it was distinctly overkilled by AM radio (just like Hotel California a year later.)

Anyway, perhaps due to the song’s popularity, the case of the Edmund Fitzgerald has never really rested. Initially, the cause of the accident was attributed to human error, as is usually the case when catastrophe meets insurance company. A Canadian television documentary Dive Detectives (History Television, March 31) has re-examined the case and concludes that the Fitz suffered its fate at the mercy of a huge rogue wave, combined with the boat’s age and enormous payload.

The result? The film’s findings have prompted Gordon Lightfoot to slightly change the lyrics of his iconic song in his live performances in order to more or less exonerate whatever crew member may have been responsible for when that “main hatchway gave in.” Hatchway or none, the classic song remains one of the most lyrically poignant ever recorded.

Lightfoot, the lyrics and the film