Althouse: The windstorm coming tonight is being compared to "to the storm that sank the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald in Lake Superior in 1975."

October 25, 2010

The windstorm coming tonight is being compared to "to the storm that sank the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald in Lake Superior in 1975."

The midwest is warned.

***

32 comments:

chickelit said...: I've tweeted and linked to that video a couple times in the past. I love it.
Thanks for giving it some attention that it deserved. The guys who made it appear briefly at the end.; 10/25/10, 8:09 PM
traditionalguy said...: The November storm is early. Batten down the porch furniture and pray.; 10/25/10, 8:14 PM
jungatheart said...: The captain wired in he had water comin' in..; 10/25/10, 8:20 PM
chickelit said...: I wonder if this is same the system that swept over CA a week ago and lasted a couple days. We had a respite, but the rains started again last night. You might have a wet Halloween.; 10/25/10, 8:22 PM
rhhardin said...: I compare the song to Bernard Bolan's Not Many Fish (real audio, modern player may ask to download old codec).

Probably it's the ballad form.; 10/25/10, 8:23 PM
Ann Althouse said...: I actually can't stand that song. The endless singsong melody....; 10/25/10, 8:27 PM
chickelit said...: I'm not touting the song. The video is awesome though. Good use of archived video, most of which people hadn't seen before.; 10/25/10, 8:33 PM
Big Mike said...: You & Meade keep safe, you hear?; 10/25/10, 8:39 PM
MadisonMan said...: It will compare to the November storm of 1998. This one will be a bit stronger. The 1998 storm killed 5 people in Wisconsin, if I recall correctly, and peeled the roofs off a couple schools -- Janesville Parker, for one.

If it would blow down the tree in front of my house, I'd be grateful.; 10/25/10, 8:50 PM
MadisonMan said...: Next time I'll read the link first :); 10/25/10, 8:55 PM
Big Mike said...: If it would blow down the tree in front of my house, I'd be grateful.

Not if it took out your power for a bunch of days. If you hate the tree that much just call a professional arborist.; 10/25/10, 8:56 PM
bill said...: Minnesota Public Radio, scroll down to November 26, 2005

Gales of November is a concert version of the acclaimed play, "Ten November," examining the freighter's final voyage. Kevin Kling narrates this haunting tale and is joined by a stellar cast of musicians, including Peter Ostroushko, Dan Chouinard, Prudence Johnson, Claudia Schmidt, Ruth MacKenzie, Eric Peltoniemi and Jeff Willkomm. The program features the music of composer Eric Peltoniemi and the narration, recitation and monologues of playwright Steven Dietz from the original play.; 10/25/10, 8:56 PM
Bob Ellison said...: It relieves me a little to know that 1975's news reporters sucked at English just as much as today's do. Honey, I shrank the Edmund Fitzgerald.; 10/25/10, 9:05 PM
MamaM said...: We witnessed a water level drop caused by a sieche during a storm on Lake Michigan several years ago. We were in a cottage above the shore and watched the water pulled back 30-40 feet from the shoreline. It was amazing to see, making real for us one of the possible contributing factors behind the Edmund Fitzgerald's demise.; 10/25/10, 9:15 PM
Unknown said...: Hold onto something substantial. Your husband, f'rinstance.

Ann Althouse said...

I actually can't stand that song. The endless singsong melody....

Not one of his best, Same Old Obsession and a few others are much better, I always thought, but such was the public's taste in music in the 70s.; 10/25/10, 9:25 PM
MadisonMan said...: Big Mike, It's a city tree. It's in the terrace. I'm stuck with it.

I do know an arborist that has something you can paint around the bottom of the trunk, and it kills the tree, but I don't have the gumption to go that far.; 10/25/10, 9:58 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/25/10, 10:25 PM
Aurelian said...: Some have written that they don't like the song. To each their own. Having been on the ocean alot (Navy 1980-2009) I can understand the power of the wind and water. Every time I hear the song I think of the radar picture I saw of the ship that trailed the Fitzgerald. Every time the radar swept the ship you could see its picture on the scope. One time it swept there was nothing. Just thought of those men riding that ship to the bottom.; 10/25/10, 11:43 PM
Aurelian said...: The radar sequence is on the web. Will find the link.; 10/25/10, 11:44 PM
Titus said...: Bad Weather Cycles get me horny.

I loved hurricane warnings and heavy snow accumulation forecasts. The scary signs on the television with a map indicating where "it" is, no one on the streets, possible school closings, people leaving work early to avoid the traffic, grocery stores packed with frantic shoppers. My hog immediately stood at attention considering the possibilities.

For some reason they got me excited and worked up about the thought that I would need to be in bed for the duration just doing it. Movie, sex, eat...Movie, sex, eat-is there anything more enjoyable in life?

Right now in Madison I am just experiencing a few, unsexy rain drops. I want that sky to open up and envelop me NOW.; 10/26/10, 12:08 AM
Anonymous said...: Love the song..very evocative..haunting. Gordon Lighfoot exhausted all his artistic energy on this tune and like the Edmund Fitzgerald, was never heard from again.

"The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee.."; 10/26/10, 6:16 AM
ndspinelli said...: Gordon Lightfoot and that God awful song are a much bigger tragedy.; 10/26/10, 7:50 AM
Largo said...: Could Titus be a writer for 30Rock?; 10/26/10, 8:19 AM
AllenS said...: I have a 5' x 8' American flag, on a 25' pole. I just took the flag down. Listening to a local station, WEVR (River Falls) the air pressure is so low that it's unreadable on their barometer. Bad news.; 10/26/10, 8:28 AM
Misty said...: I love Gordon Lightfoot, including this song. I had never seen the video before though; it's the faces of the children holding the picture of their father that I find haunting.; 10/26/10, 8:45 AM
Anonymous said...: AllenS:

Take care.; 10/26/10, 9:05 AM
AllenS said...: Lars,

I'm in the process of putting a steel roof on my house, and I had to take down 2 20' ladders that were leaning against the house. The steel that's up there is screwed down, and I'm glad that it's there, and not the old shingles that would have been exposed to the wind. Trying to think ahead.; 10/26/10, 9:13 AM
kjbe said...: For myself, growing up in Wisconsin and in Milwaukee, with the Great Lakes right there and all of their shipwrecks - it was always a big part of our shared history. I've always loved this song - maybe that's why.

I've never seen that video - it brings back a lot memories.; 10/26/10, 9:27 AM
Robert Burnham said...: In September 1976, not long after the song came out, I was on a small car-ferry — it was a sunny morning, no wind — crossing from Amherst Island to Millhaven, Ontario, when this song came on the radio. The crossing, though short and uneventful, was long enough for the whole song to play through. Good song or bad, it is now forever in my mind.; 10/26/10, 9:28 AM
Lynne said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/27/10, 12:59 PM
Lynne said...: ...And today is the anniversary of the sinking the Andrea Gail, btw.; 10/28/10, 10:05 AM
Anonymous said...: Great Song, Great Lyrics, captures the essence of a tragic event.

Is the video actual footage taken from the ship of 'the storm' on that tragic day and recovered from the wreck, or just archival footage taken on another sojourn?

Regardless well done; 10/28/10, 10:38 AM