Well, first of all, it is a song about a FREIGHTER, NOT a tanker. And the slow, funeral like dirge melody brings to mind a cold, slate-grey lake and a sad sense of hopelessness. Lightfoot has painted an aural picture that is hard to forget, and the song endures because of it. The Fitzgerald was lost in a hurricane storm in Canadian waters just shy of Whitefish Bay in Lake Superior on the 10th of November, 1975. The "Musty old Hall in Detroit" mentioned in the song, is Mariners Church at the mouth of the tunnel exit in Detroit. The song pays fitting tribute to real men, doing what a real husband and Daddy should do. Work to provide food for their families. They were killed on the job. Nameless facelless, yet heros nonetheless.
Well, first of all, it is a song about a FREIGHTER, NOT a tanker. And the slow, funeral like dirge melody brings to mind a cold, slate-grey lake and a sad sense of hopelessness. Lightfoot has painted an aural picture that is hard to forget, and the song endures because of it. The Fitzgerald was lost in a hurricane storm in Canadian waters just shy of Whitefish Bay in Lake Superior on the 10th of November, 1975. The "Musty old Hall in Detroit" mentioned in the song, is Mariners Church at the mouth of the tunnel exit in Detroit. The song pays fitting tribute to real men, doing what a real husband and Daddy should do. Work to provide food for their families. They were killed on the job. Nameless facelless, yet heros nonetheless.