DOWNLOAD THE SONGSHEET
Wreck of the Edmund Fitzergerald, The (C)(ABRIDGED)(WORD)
Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, The (C)(ABRIDGED)(PDF)
Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, The (G)(ABRIDGED)(WORD)
Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, The (G)(ABRIDGED)(PDF)
Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, The (G)(FULL-LENGTH)(WORD)
Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, The (G)(FULL-LENGTH)(PDF)
We'll use the ABRIDGED (C) song sheet at the BUG Jam! To play along with the recording, put your capo on the 4th fret and use the full-length (G) songsheet!
Lightfoot drew his inspiration from Newsweek's article on the event, "The Cruelest Month", which it published in its November 24, 1975, issue. Lightfoot considers this song to be his finest work.
Appearing originally on Lightfoot's 1976 album Summertime Dream, the single version hit number 1 in his native Canada on November 20, 1976, barely a year after the disaster. In the United States, it reached number 1 in Cashbox and number 2 for two weeks in the Billboard Hot 100, making it Lightfoot's second-most-successful single behind "Sundown".