Editing 2910: The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

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==Explanation==
 
==Explanation==
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The comic features [[Cueball]] performing a {{w|narrative song}}, which parodies {{w|Gordon Lightfoot}}'s song '{{w|The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald|The Wreck of the ''Edmund Fitzgerald''}}'. This song, which was one of the most recognizable and successful of Lightfoot's career, recounts the fate of the {{w|SS Edmund Fitzgerald|SS ''Edmund Fitzgerald''}}, a {{w|Great Lakes}} freighter which famously sank during a storm on {{w|Lake Superior}}, resulting in the deaths of the entire crew.
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{{incomplete|Created by ONE OF THE FBI'S MOST WANTED, FOR CRIMES AGAINST SHIPPING - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
  
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Cueball's song begins with lyrics based on the original song (though heavily modified), but quickly shifts into a (completely fictional{{citation needed}}) account of Lightfoot deciding to bribe a mechanic to sabotage the ship, implicitly causing the disaster for the purpose of writing a song about it.
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The comic features [[Cueball]] identifiable as a {{w|minstrel}}, {{w|bard}} or {{w|Folk music|folk singer}}, performing a {{w|narrative song}} on a jetty. It parodies {{w|Gordon Lightfoot}}'s song '{{w|The Wreck of the ''Edmund Fitzgerald''}}', recounting the fate of the {{w|SS ''Edmund Fitzgerald''}}, a vessel famously wrecked on the {{w|Great Lakes}} and thus a promising subject for a musical retelling. The words begin with some of the original lyrics of Lightfoot's song, but soon become a direct reference to the art of songwriting itself. Rather than describing the disaster itself, the song turns out to be a description of how the disaster occurred ''for the sake of'' the song.
  
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In real life, the cause of the ship sinking remains unknown, but it's speculated that the ship's hull broke up in the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIg90sVSwSE rough waters of a storm.] Lightfoot, who wasn't involved with the ship at all, [https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/the-ship-sank-all-over-again-families-of-victims-in-wreck-recall-gordon-lightfoot/article_8cb6b84d-5576-5344-ba20-d5b06e3370d9.html] devoted considerable time, effort and money to the families of the disaster's victims. In addition, while the parody presents Lightfoot as desperate for a career-making song, he was already internationally famous, with multiple hits, when the wreck occurred.  
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In real life, the reason for sinking is still unknown, but it's speculated that her hull broke up in the rough waters of a storm on {{w|Lake Superior}}.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIg90sVSwSE] This comic implies that the ''real'' reason for her sinking is that the songwriter bribed a mechanic to intentionally engineer her sinking and give him sufficient material for a new song.
  
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As a punchline, the verse goes on to claim that a greater maritime disaster, the {{w|Sinking of the Titanic|sinking of the RMS ''Titanic''}}, was somehow caused by director {{w|James Cameron}}, implying that he did so in order to make a {{w|Titanic (1997 film)|film about it}}. While the tale of Lightfoot causing the first disaster is theoretically possible (the song came out only a few months after the accident), the second tale clearly is not. The ''Titanic'' sank in 1912, 85 years before the film was made, and over 40 years before Cameron was even born.
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As a punchline, the verse goes on to reveal that another even greater maritime disaster, the {{w|Sinking of the Titanic|sinking of the RMS ''Titanic''}}, occurred for the sake of a {{w|Titanic (1997 film)|film}}. While the tale of Lightfoot causing the first disaster is feasible, since the song came out a few months after the accident, this second tale is not, since director of the film, {{w|James Cameron}}, was born more than 40 years after the ''Titanic'' sank.
  
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The title text continues this particular cycle by suggesting that an even bigger potential disaster was orchestrated {{tvtropes|RecycledInSpace|in space}}, as the real life basis for yet another film, ''{{w|Armageddon (1998 film)|Armageddon}}''.
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The title text continues this particular cycle by suggesting that an even bigger potential disaster was orchestrated {{tvtropes|RecycledInSpace|in space}}, as the real life basis for yet another film, {{w|Armageddon (1998 film)|Armageddon}}.
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All 3 of these are rather unrealistic conspiracy theories.{{citation needed}}
 
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A YouTuber has turned Randall's text [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGsi9Ry6TsU into a song] in March 2024.
 
  
 
==Transcript==
 
==Transcript==
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{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
  
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:[Cueball is holding a guitar and singing on a pier. Two pairs of connected eighth notes are on the left and right of Cueball, as well as a detached eighth note on his right. Three seagulls fly in the background on his left. Four pillars of the pier and the water below it are also shown. Throughout the comic, alternate pairs of lines of the song are indented as indicated below.]
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:[Cueball is holding a guitar and singing on a pier.]
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:Cueball:
 
 
:The ship was the pride
 
:The ship was the pride
 
:of the American side
 
:of the American side
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::It was due to set
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:It was due to set
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::sail for Cleveland
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:sail for Cleveland
 
:As the big freighters go,
 
:As the big freighters go,
 
:it was bigger than most
 
:it was bigger than most
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::With a crew and good
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:With a crew and good
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::captain well seasoned
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:captain well seasoned
  
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:[Zoom on Cueball facing to his right, still holding the guitar, without the pier, water, and seagulls. A pair of connected eighth notes to his right, a half note and a detached eighth note to his left.]
 
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:Cueball:
 
 
:But taking a walk on
 
:But taking a walk on
 
:the shore by the dock
 
:the shore by the dock
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::Was a songwriter named
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:Was a songwriter named
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::Gordon Lightfoot
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:Gordon Lightfoot
 
:He was humming a tune
 
:He was humming a tune
 
:but it didn't have words
 
:but it didn't have words
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::For it's challenging
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:For it's challenging
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::trying to write good
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:trying to write good
  
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:[Close-up on Cueball's face. A quarter note and a pair of connected eighth notes to his right, a detached eighth note and a quarter note to his left.]
 
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:Cueball:
 
 
:Poor Gordon sought glory
 
:Poor Gordon sought glory
 
:but needed a story
 
:but needed a story
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::His career in folk
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:His career in folk
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::music imperiled
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:music imperiled
 
:He mulled over this as
 
:He mulled over this as
 
:he watched them do work
 
:he watched them do work
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::On the hull of the
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:On the hull of the
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::''Edmund Fitzgerald''
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:''Edmund Fitzgerald''
  
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:[Zoom back to second panel. Cueball is now facing to his left. A pair of connected eighth notes to Cueball's right, a separated eighth note and a pair of connected eighth notes to his left.]
 
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:Cueball:
 
 
:Perhaps it was wrong,
 
:Perhaps it was wrong,
 
:what he did for a song
 
:what he did for a song
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::He should never have
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:He should never have
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::bribed that mechanic
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:bribed that mechanic
 
:But his maritime crimes
 
:But his maritime crimes
 
:are no worse than the time
 
:are no worse than the time
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::Young James Cameron
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:Young James Cameron
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::sank the ''Titanic''
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:sank the ''Titanic''
  
 
{{comic discussion}}
 
{{comic discussion}}

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