The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald Harmonica Tabs

Verse 1:
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The le-gend lives on

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From the Chip-pe-wa on down

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Of the big lake they call

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Git-che Gu-mee.

The lake, it is said ne-ver gives up her dead
When the skies of No-vem-ber turn gloo-my. v

Verse 2:
With a load of iron ore – 26,000 tons more
Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty. v
That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
When the gales of November came early. ^

Verse 3:
The ship was the pride of the American side
Coming back from some mill in Wisconson. v
As the big freighters go it was bigger than most
With a crew and the Captain well seasoned. ^

Verse 4:
Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
When they left fully loaded for Cleveland. v
And later that night when the ships bell rang
Could it be the North Wind they’d been feeling. ^

Verse 5:
The wind in the wires made a tattletale sound
And a wave broke over the railing. v
And every man knew, as the Captain did, too,
T’was the witch of November come stealing. ^

Verse 6:
The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
When the gales of November came slashing. ^
When afternoon came it was freezing rain
In the face of a hurricane West Wind. ^

Verse 7:
When supper time came the old cook came on deck
Saying fellows it’s too rough to feed ya. v
At 7PM a main hatchway caved in
He said fellas it’s been good to know ya. ^

Verse 8:
The Captain wired in he had water coming in
And the good ship and crew was in peril. v
And later that night when his lights went out of sight
Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. ^

Verse 9:
Does anyone know where the love of God goes
When the words turn the minutes to hours? v
The searchers all say they’d have made Whitefish Bay
If they’d fifteen more miles behind her. ^

Verse 10:
They might have split up or they might have capsized
They may have broke deep and took water. v
And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters. ^

Verse 11:
Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
In the ruins of her ice water mansion. v
Old Michigan steams like a young man’s dreams,
The islands and bays are for sportsmen. ^

Verse 12:
And farther below Lake Ontario
Takes in what Lake Erie can send her. v
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
With the gales of November remembered. ^

Verse 13:
In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed
In the Maritime Sailors’ Cathedral. v
The church bell chimed, ‘til it rang 29 times
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald. ^

Verse 14:
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee. v
Superior, they say, never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early. ^