"The Great Gitche Gumee "
[Instrumental: Start softly with acoustic guitar and cello, backed by ambient wind textures and a low, slow drumbeat. Capture the ominous calm before a storm. Include brief brass accents and distant thunder-like drum rolls as the verse nears.]
[Intro]
The sky was calm at the break of day, but Big Lake told a different tale
Clouds rolled down from Ontario, hitching a ride on a northern gale
They say she sleeps but never slumbers, this inland sea of stone and glass
And those who challenge her proud domain might never make it past
[Verse 1]
My granddad hauled ore from Marquette down through the shipping lanes
Through sleet and hail, and bitter-cold nights, with lines of salt in his veins
He spoke of storms that rose up like raging fists to split the darkness in two
Where prayers were whispered into the wind, but not all dreams came true
[Chorus]
Oh Superior, with waters azure blue and wide
A stunning beauty that truly hides a hungry side
From Saint Mary’s River to Old Duluth’s shore
You’ve swallowed the best and asked for more
With waves ten stories high and skies of thunder
Crashing many a ship, dragging mariners under
And yet, millions of visitors see a gentler side
For those who boat or fish or enjoy a ferry ride
[Verse 2]
I walk the dogs near Pictured Rocks where pretty sandstone cliffs meet the sky
And think of all those poor lost souls far beneath who have never said goodbye
Like the crew of the Edmund Fitzgerald, whose helpless cries still echo in the fog
Each wind gust gnaws at the frozen shore, and the undertow tugs at the dogs
[Instrumental Interlude: a haunting saxophone, drums and piano melody]
[Verse 3]
I’ve seen her glass-like surface reflect a spectacular dawn with nary a ripple near
But cursed her name the next midday when thunder and lightning cracked the pier
I’ve seen the autumn colors of The Keweenaw, its lighthouses and copper mines
And witnessed epic snow storms that made ice sculptures of houses and signs
[Bridge]
And yet we still come, we stubborn fools, to laugh at her wrath and ride her gales
To pull sturgeon from her depths, mine her treasures or simply fill out our sails
She humbles the hardest hearts—she swallows pride—she teaches without a sound
Hard-fought lessons carved in the granite cliffs and in fog that hugs the ground
[Verse 4]
Now I bring my two children to this shore, their hands tucked warmly into mine
Hunting for the flattest stones and skipping them over her water under the pines
Even though I fear what Superior can bring any moment, I love what she bestows
A deep dark wildness full of moose, deer and wolves and secrets only she knows
[Chorus]
Oh Superior, with waters azure blue and wide
A stunning beauty that truly hides a hungry side
From Nipigon Bay passed Copper Harbor’s shore
You’ve swallowed the best and asked for more
With waves ten stories high and skies of thunder
Crashing many a ship, dragging mariners under
And yet, millions of visitors see a gentler side
For those who boat or fish or enjoy a ferry ride
[Final Chorus]
Oh Gitche Gumee, so proud—so vast
We heed your call from the first to the last
You pull the careless under but raise the wise
You disguise your truth behind cloudy skies
And though we know you will never yield
We find ourselves with our fate being sealed
In awe of a power that no one can control
The ‘Big Sea Water’ has become a soul
[Outro – soft instrumental fade out]
Song Description
