The Lake Michigan Gale
Take B delivers a driving sea-shanty rhythm powered by brisk banjo picking, stomping group choruses, and urgent narrative tension.
The stories behind The Lake Michigan Gale
- Acoustic Grit and Driving Rhythm on The Lake Michigan Gale — Take B delivers a driving sea-shanty rhythm powered by brisk banjo picking, stomping group choruses, and urgent narrative tension.
- When Frozen Intake Dampers Threaten Hospital Power — A Great Lakes maritime ballad captures the urgent physical labor required when rooftop emergency generators freeze during severe winter storms.
Lyrics
November winds off Michigan shore
City grid down, roof dampers frozen shut
Climb the ladder, son!
The girl came down from the northern lakes
All the way With 69 winds and freezing shakes
All the way The hospital shuttered from roof to base
As darkness covered the clinic space
The roof generator choked for air
Had the louvers frozen in winter's glare
Ten minutes left on the battery line
Before the ICU breath would decline
So hold on the iron
Climb through the sleep
Keep the life beating
On Michigan Street 20 miles out
Where the old freighters roll
The biomed works for the sick in the hole
Hey, hey, chisel the ice
No runaway blizzard will shut off the lights
I climbed the iron ladder in the freezing spray
Rung by rung through the blinding gray
A heavy crowbar tucked in my sleeve
Fighting for every breath they breathe
I reached the house and I swung the bar
Cracked off the ice
Like a shooting star
The damper popped open
The diesel breathed deep
A roar, roar that woke up the city from sleep
So haul on the iron
Climb through the sleet
Keep the life beating
On Michigan Street
Twenty miles out where the oil freighters roll
The biomed works for the sick in the hole
Hey, hey, chasel the ice, no runaway
Blizzard will shut off the lights
Current restored across all wars
The Big Lake Gale didn't win tonight
Pack the tools, boys
