{"id":3574,"date":"2025-11-10T10:17:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T18:17:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/?p=3574"},"modified":"2025-11-10T23:11:00","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T07:11:00","slug":"open-letters-to-lake-erie-and-lake-ontario-on-their-treatment-by-gordon-lightfoot-in-the-sixth-verse-of-the-wreck-of-the-edmund-fitzgerald","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/2025\/11\/open-letters-to-lake-erie-and-lake-ontario-on-their-treatment-by-gordon-lightfoot-in-the-sixth-verse-of-the-wreck-of-the-edmund-fitzgerald\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Letters to Lake Erie and Lake Ontario on their Treatment by Gordon Lightfoot in the Sixth Verse of \u201cThe Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Satellite<\/a>
At least he didn’t mention the toxic algae blooms! Via NOAA<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Dear Lake Erie,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Look, I think we all know that you\u2019re never going to be able to fully compete with the other four lakes. You are the shallowest. Murkiest. Unmistakably Ohio-y. But\u2014and don\u2019t forget this\u2014you are still one of the five Great Lakes. Freshwater seas! Containing 21% of the world\u2019s surface fresh water! Well, I mean, you contain 1\/50 <\/sup>of that 21%, but you get my drift. Least of the greatest is still quite an accomplishment. And here is my point:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You are so<\/em> much more than what you send Lake Ontario.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gord knew this, too, I think. He was looking at a song that was already pushing past the 6-minute mark. He was trying to cram all five of you into one verse. Someone was bound to get the short shrift. I\u2019m sorry it was you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately, this is a song about Lake Superior, so not surprising that Gord spends most of the runtime on it. Frankly, ol\u2019 Gitche Gumee doesn\u2019t come out looking great. Killing husbands and fathers and refusing to give up their corpses. Not a great look!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s the others that smart. I am sure that you\u2019ve been known to steam like a young man\u2019s dreams in your day. I am sure there have been at least a couple people who have felt inspired and wondered what their lives held for them while gazing out on your green, musty waters. And don\u2019t get me started on \u201cthe islands and bays.\u201d WTF? They get a whole line? As if the Great Lakes\u2013even you, Lake Erie\u2013 are not <\/em>for sportsmen?!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At least Gord didn\u2019t bring up that Cuyouhoga River incident like certain other singer-songwriters<\/a> of the \u201870s. One tributary catches on fire one time*, and people forever associate you with it and assume that they\u2019re going to end up coated in industrial waste if they go anywhere near your 871 miles of shoreline. Ridiculous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s not forget that there are a couple of songs out there specifically about you. <\/em>At least Google tells me there are. \u201cLake Erie Love<\/a>\u201d by Walker Hayes. \u201cLake Erie<\/a>\u201d by Wild Pink. Of course none of them were Billboard Top 10 hits, or get articles written about them every freakin\u2019 November. Does the \u201cErie Canal\u201d song count? Kinda, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyway, this is all just to say: Keep on rolling. Lake Huron could give you some pointers, I\u2019m sure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Respectfully,
Bill<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*OK, at least a dozen times<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dear Lake Ontario,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know Gordo didn\u2019t give you a very good shoutout, but I also know it doesn\u2019t faze you. You don\u2019t have a fragile ego like some other lakes I could name. You know who I\u2019m talking about. Keep taking in what she can send you. LOL.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\"Share\"<\/a>\n