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32 Down on the Robert Mackenzie Lyrics
Robert Mackenzie
32 men on a Great Lakes boat
Quit the pier at Thunder Bay
28,000 tons of coal
On a cold November day
800 feet and 10 more long
80 feet across
The steel mills of Detroit
Our destination through the frost
At 2 AM on the 2nd
Waves were runnin' up to 40 feet
Winds were blowing 60 miles
Our engines crankin' heat
At 3:13 we took a wave
Our wheelhouse left behind
The radar slipped beneath the waves
And we were runnin' blind
Hear me call across the waves
If I don't come home tonight
I will make it home some day
(Steel boats and iron men)
32 down on the Robert Mackenzie
(Steel boats and iron men)
32 down on the Robert Mackenzie
(Steel boats and iron men)
32 down on the Robert Mackenzie
A captain name of Phillips
Seekin' shelter from the storm
Turned us south of Bête Grise Bay
By way of Keweenaw Point
But the wind was blowing at such a rate
We ended up driftin' north
A wave broke over a knife of rock
Six Fathom Shoal
Mackenzie she was cut in half
The stern she rammed the bow
The men were caught in metal jaws
Flames burned out of hell
Stern kept runnin' all her lights ablaze
Not one man would be found
Captain's last transmission read
32 men down
32 men down
Hear me call across the waves
If I don't come home tonight
I will make it home some day
(Steel boats and iron men)
32 down on the Robert Mackenzie
(Steel boats and iron men)
32 down on the Robert Mackenzie
(Steel boats and iron men)
32 down on the Robert Mackenzie
Down Down Down Down Down Down Down Down
And they call across the waves
If I don't come home tonight
I will make it home some day
Yes, I call across the waves
If i don´t come home tonight
I will make it home some day
32 men on a Great Lakes boat
Quit the pier at Thunder Bay
28,000 tons of coal
On a cold November day
800 feet and 10 more long
80 feet across
The steel mills of Detroit
Our destination through the frost
Waves were runnin' up to 40 feet
Winds were blowing 60 miles
Our engines crankin' heat
At 3:13 we took a wave
Our wheelhouse left behind
The radar slipped beneath the waves
And we were runnin' blind
Hear me call across the waves
If I don't come home tonight
I will make it home some day
32 down on the Robert Mackenzie
(Steel boats and iron men)
32 down on the Robert Mackenzie
(Steel boats and iron men)
32 down on the Robert Mackenzie
Seekin' shelter from the storm
Turned us south of Bête Grise Bay
By way of Keweenaw Point
But the wind was blowing at such a rate
We ended up driftin' north
A wave broke over a knife of rock
Six Fathom Shoal
The stern she rammed the bow
The men were caught in metal jaws
Flames burned out of hell
Stern kept runnin' all her lights ablaze
Not one man would be found
Captain's last transmission read
32 men down
32 men down
If I don't come home tonight
I will make it home some day
32 down on the Robert Mackenzie
(Steel boats and iron men)
32 down on the Robert Mackenzie
(Steel boats and iron men)
32 down on the Robert Mackenzie
Down Down Down Down Down Down Down Down
If I don't come home tonight
I will make it home some day
If i don´t come home tonight
I will make it home some day
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This was written by Paul Gross for the TV show "Due South". They had originally wanted to use Gordon Lighfoot's classic "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald". Lightfoot agreed on the condition that the families of the men lost agreed as well. Paul Gross decided against it "bothering" the families for the sake of a television show and this song was written.
The song was based on the Edmund Fitzgerald and Paul Gross wanted to use the song "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" by Gordon Lightfoot. Lightfoot agreed to let Gross use it on contingency that the families of the men lost on the Fitzgerald gave permission. Paul Gross, out of respect for the families, decided against it.