The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down

Of the big lake they called 'gitche gumee'

The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead

When the skies of November turn gloomy

With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more

Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty

That good ship and crew was a bone to be chewed

When the gales of November came early

The first stanza is telling about a story that has been passed down about the lake called 'gitche gumee' that never has any survivors when the weather turns cold. The ship named Edmund Fitzgerald had a 26 ton load of iron ore and thought they would be safe on the lake, but the cold weather and winds came early.

The ship was the pride of the American side

Coming back from some mill in Wisconsin

As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most

With a crew and good captain well seasoned

Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms

When they left fully loaded for Cleveland

And later that night when the ship's bell rang

Could it be the north wind they'd been feelin'?

The ship was American, and was coming back from Wisconsin. It was bigger than most ships, but the crew and captain knew what they were doing. They loaded the ship and took off for Cleveland thinking that the cold air was just the wind.

The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound

And a wave broke over the railing

And every man knew, as the captain did too,

T'was the witch of November come stealin'

The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait

When the gales of November came slashin'

When afternoon came it was freezin' rain

In the face of a hurricane west wind

The wind had gotten significantly stronger and when a wave crashed over the side of the ship all of the men, including the captain, knew what was coming. The sunrise came late for them, because they were facing a hurricane.

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 t'know ya

The captain wired in he had water comin' in

And the good ship and crew was in peril

And later that night when his lights went outta sight

Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

When the evening came the cook said he could no longer feed the crew, because a hatchway caved in. He told the crew it was nice knowing them, because they all knew they were in danger. Later that night when the lights went out, was the last of the ship.

Does any one know where the love of God goes

When the waves turn the minutes to hours?

The searches all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay

If they'd put fifteen more miles behind her

They might have split up or they might have capsized

They may have broke deep and took water

And all that remains is the faces and the names

Of the wives and the sons and the daughters

Does anyone know where they go since the waves slowed them down. If they would have traveled a little faster, then they would have made it to Whitefish Bay. They had a lot of difficulties, and now all that is left to remember them are their families.

Lake Huron rolls, superior sings

In the rooms of her ice-water mansion

Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams

The islands and bays are for sportsmen

And farther below Lake Ontario

Takes in what Lake Erie can send her

And the iron boats go as the mariners all know

With the gales of November remembered

Lake Huron has a lot of waves, lake Superior has a lot of wind, and you can sail very easily in the cold water of lake Michigan. Lake Ontario takes all of the sailors that come from lake Erie. All the boats that sail know the story of the wreck, and what happens in the cold weather.

This ballad is telling the story of how the Edmund Fitzgerald sank in Lake Superior. It uses a lot of personification and the author, Gordon Lightfoot, uses a sentimental tone. The only characteristic that makes this song a ballad is that it has rhyming in it.