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Comment by AlexandrB | Hacker News Reader

Obligatory link to the Gordon Lightfoot song about this disaster: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuzTkGyxkYI

I was introduced to this song by a music teacher in elementary school, and I remember being wow'd by the story and thinking the song sounded cool as hell. I've almost never listened to it since then, but it has remained ingrained in my head for almost 30 years. Every couple of weeks it pops into my head, clear as a bell.

Not sure why I'm sharing this, but yeah...

Rheostatics also do a great cover, here’s the version from their live album (studio recording is also good): https://youtu.be/7J5hJQtMlE0

To me, the old cook was the hero of that song.

Yes!

  When suppertime came, the old cook came on deck sayin'
  "Fellas, it's too rough to feed ya"
  At seven PM, a main hatchway caved in, he said
  "Fellas, it's been good to know ya"

That's the lyric Lightfoot changed when sung live, to take into account the more recent hypothesis on how it sank:

    At seven p.m. it grew dark; it was then

Which is nicer to the crew (doesn't imply it was a mistake on their part) but doesn't really quite flow as nicely.

One of my favorite songs. So many haunting lyrics. I've always been fascinated by "Superior, they said, never gives up her dead..." I've read it is in reference to the fact that because the lake is so cold, sunken bodies will not decompose and resurface. Of course, it could just be folklore.

There’s a well known wreck (SS Kamloops) popular among divers that has a body in the engine room. Divers call it “Whitey” because it has saponified, and thus appears similar to a bar of soap.

Kamloopsian here - TIL.

Story of Alice Bettridge[0] is chilling.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Kamloops

For anyone who is interested, there's a youtube channel ("Ask A mortician") which did an excellent video on the Fitzgerald: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0Lg9HygEJc

Relatedly, the Punch Brothers recently cover-albumed Tony Rice's cover of the track:

https://youtu.be/DhTRNU1mnVA

What a song — chills me every time. I can’t think of another historical and/or tragedy song that grips me as much as this one.

Iron Maiden's adaptation of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner comes close. You have to get into the original work and perhaps have similar life experiences to appreciate it I suppose.

The wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald is more accessible.

http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1696/brief-review-t...

Extremely overplayed, "American Pie" by Don McLean is about the plane crash that killed 4 American rock stars all at the same time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_the_Music_Died

That song was always more about the narrator of the song, to me.

Hellsongs' cover of "Run to the Hills" (originally by Iron Maiden) is worth a listen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AguuHDW42OQ

(Since Iron Maiden got another mention for Rime of the Ancient Mariner, I'd bet they have more to offer, but I'm not that knowledgeable about their work.)

On a less historical, more personal tragedy level, "Cat's in the Cradle" has always hit me way harder than I would expect (both as a kid and an adult):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat%27s_in_the_Cradle

... gotta make a phone call now ... :-/

Well, if we're listing songs that hit ya in the feels, J Frank Wilson and The Cavaliers "Last Kiss" is right there

https://youtu.be/bh4se9YMV3A

As it's listing similar songs time, Genesis' Driving the last spike https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driving_the_Last_Spike fits in the historical(ish) story as ten minute long popular song territory.

Arguably you could also include Telegraph Road (Dire Straits, 1982) although its story is even more generic.

I'm not sure if this is a sea shanty, but it reminds me of "Blow the Man Down"[0] which is one.

[0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blow_the_Man_Down

Obligatory link to the Paul Gross song, 32 Down on the Robert Mackenzie, which was composed after the show (Due South) was planning to do a story (featuring the song) about the Edmund Fitzgerald, but was convinced by the families of the deceased that it was better to craft something fictional: https://youtu.be/_d-t0959C3A

Oh wow... I haven't seen (or really even thought about) that show in ~25 years. That was one of my favorite shows in my early teens. I wonder how well it would hold up these days. I remember it being super campy (in a fun way).

Yeah, it's insanely campy, but other than that, I think it's really timeless.

Obligatory link to the parody of the Gordon Lightfoot song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udZFnUb4Q6A

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