The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald Cifra

THE WRECK OF THE EDMUND FITZGERALD
As recorded by the Headstones
(2019 release)
 
 
 
[Intro]
A   Em  G D A   Em  G D A
G  D  A
 
 
[Verse 1]
A                                Em
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
           G         D               A
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
                            Em
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
         G             D            A
When the skies of November turn gloomy
                                    Em
With a load of iron ore, twenty-six thousand tons more
         G          D                  A
Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighted empty
                               Em
That good ship and crew were a bone to be chewed
         G                 D       A
When the gales of November came early
 
 
[Verse 2]
A                              Em
The ship was the pride of the American side
                 G    D             A
Comin' back from some mill in Wisconsin
                                Em
As big freighters go, it was bigger than most
       G                D            A
With a crew and good captain well seasoned
                                    Em
Concludin' some terms with a couple steel firms
               G     D               A
When they left fully loaded for Cleveland
                           Em
Later that night, when the ship's bell rang
            G              D              A
Could it be the north wind they'd been feelin'?
 
 
[Interlude]
A   Em  G D A
G  D  A
 
 
[Verse 3]
A                                   Em
The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound
      G          D           A
And a wave broke over the railing
                                   Em
And every man knew, as the captain did too
        G          D               A
Was the witch of November come stealin'
                         Em
The dawn came late, breakfast had to wait
         G             D        A
When the gales of November came slashin'
                            Em
When afternoon came, it was all freezin' rain
       G         D              A
In the face of a hurricane west wind
 
 
[Verse 4]
A                                  Em
When suppertime came, the old cook came on deck sayin'
G             D            A
"Fellas, it's too rough to feed you"
                 Em
At 7 p.m. a main hatchway caved in
          G            D                 A
He said, "Fellas, it's been good to know you"
                             Em
The captain wired in, he had water comin' in
    G             D            A
The good ship and crew were in peril
                                     Em
And later that night when his lights went out of sight
         G            D          A
Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
 
 
[Interlude]
A    Em  G D A
G  D  A
 
 
[Verse 5]
A                               Em
Does anyone know where the love of God goes
         G              D          A
When the waves turn the minutes to hours?
                                       Em
The searchers all say, they'd had made Whitefish Bay
          G           D            A
If they'd put fifteen more miles behind her
                                         Em
They might've split up, or they might've capsized
     G              D         A
They may have broke deep into water
                             Em
And all that remains are the faces and names
       G             D                 A
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters
 
 
[Interlude]
A    Em  G D A
G  D  A
 
 
[Verse 6]
A                   Em
Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
       G            D         A
In the rooms of her ice-water mansion
                           Em
Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams
    G           D                 A
The islands and bays of the sportsmen
                          Em
And farther below, Lake Ontario
      G            D        A
Takes in what Lake Erie can send her
                              Em
And the iron boats go, as the mariners all know
         G          D        A
When the gales of November remembered
 
 
[Verse 7]
A                        Em
In a musty old hall in Detroit where they prayed
       G        D             A
In the Maritime Sailors' Cathedral
                                Em
The church bell chimed, it rang twenty-nine times
         G          D          A
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald
 
 
[Interlude]
A   Em  G D A
G  D  A
 
 
[Outro]
A                                Em
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
           G         D           A
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
                            Em
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
         G             D            A
When the skies of November turn gloomy
X