Standard (EADGBE)
Westward from the / Davis Strait,
'Tis / there was said to / lie,
The / sea route to the / Orient,
For / which so many / died,
Seeking gold and / glory,
Leaving / weathered broken / bones, and
A / long forgotten / lonely cairn of / stones. / /
Chorus
Three / centuries there - / after,
I take / passage over / land,
In the / footsteps of brave / Kelso,
Where his / "sea of flowers" be - / gan.
Watching / cities rise be - / fore me,
Then be - / hind me sink a - / gain,
This / tardiest ex - / plorer,
Driving / hard, a - cross the / plains. / /
Chorus
And / through the night be - / hind the wheel,
The / mileage clicking / west,
I / think upon Mac - / kenzie,
David / Thompson, and the / rest,
Who / cracked the mountain / ramparts, and
Did / show a path for / me,
To / race the roaring / Fraser, to the / sea. / /
Chorus
How / then am I so / different,
From the / first men through this / way,
Like / them, I left a / settled life,
I / threw it all a - / way,
To / seek a Northwest / Passage,
At the / call of many / men,
To / find there, but the / road back home a - / gain. / /