I love them both. In fact, I always like to tell people about Ballad Of Yarmouth Castle, because most people have never heard it. It was never recorded in the studio, and appears only on the live Sunday Concert album. I always say that it proves that Wreck isn't just a fluke - that Gordon Lightfoot can write a TRUE shipwreck song any time he pleases and it will be outstanding.
Like Wreck, YC is based on a true story. The YC shipwreck occurred 10 years before the EF, almost to the day (Nov 13/14, 1965 for YC; Nov 10, 1975 for EF). And both songs were inspired by magazine articles. The YC article was in the 11/26/65 issue of Look Magazine; the EF article in the 11/24/65 issue of Newsweek.
While the Newsweek article was just a short news summary of the event, the Look story was - in the style of that magazine - long, detailed and poignant. It is fascinating to see just what Gord took from each article, and how he wove each of them into ballads that rank among the best ever written. All the facts in the YC are true, including the amazing fact that the captain left the burning ship on a lifeboat, leaving the passengers still on board to die (about 1/4 of them died; the rest were rescued).
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Valerie Magee
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