G          D
Ah, for / just one / time,
          Em
I would / take the Northwest / Passage
      C                 G
To / find the hand of / Franklin,
           D                  Em
Reaching / for the Beaufort / Sea.
D         G          D
Tracing / one warm / line,
            Em
Through a / land so wide and / savage, and
C                  D            G
Make a Northwest / Passage, to the / sea. / /

[Verse 1]
C                   G
Westward from the / Davis Strait,
       D                   G
'Tis / there was said to / lie,
      C                  G
The / sea route to the / Orient,
      D                G
For / which so many / died,
C                  G
Seeking gold and / glory,
          D                  Em
Leaving / weathered broken / bones, and
    C                D            Em
A / long forgotten / lonely cairn of / stones. / /

[Chorus]
D          G          D
Ah, for / just one / time,
          Em
I would / take the Northwest / Passage
      C                 G
To / find the hand of / Franklin,
           D                  Em
Reaching / for the Beaufort / Sea.
D         G          D
Tracing / one warm / line,
            Em
Through a / land so wide and / savage, and
C                  D            G
Make a Northwest / Passage, to the / sea. / /

[Verse 2]
        C                   G
Three / centuries there - / after,
         D              G
I take / passage over / land,
         C                    G
In the / footsteps of brave / Kelso,
            D                       G
Where his / "sea of flowers" be - / gan.
           C                  G
Watching / cities rise be - / fore me,
            D                  Em
Then be - / hind me sink a - / gain,
       C               G
This / tardiest ex - / plorer,
          D                     Em
Driving / hard, a - cross the / plains. / /

[Chorus]
D          G          D
Ah, for / just one / time,
          Em
I would / take the Northwest / Passage
      C                 G
To / find the hand of / Franklin,
           D                  Em
Reaching / for the Beaufort / Sea.
D         G          D
Tracing / one warm / line,
            Em
Through a / land so wide and / savage, and
C                  D            G
Make a Northwest / Passage, to the / sea. / /

[Verse 3]
      C                        G
And / through the night be - / hind the wheel,
      D                  G
The / mileage clicking / west,
    C                  G
I / think upon Mac - / kenzie,
        D                   G
David / Thompson, and the / rest,
      C                      G
Who / cracked the mountain / ramparts, and
      D                 Em
Did / show a path for / me,
     C                  D                Em
To / race the roaring / Fraser, to the / sea.  / /

[Chorus]
D          G          D
Ah, for / just one / time,
          Em
I would / take the Northwest / Passage
      C                 G
To / find the hand of / Franklin,
           D                  Em
Reaching / for the Beaufort / Sea.
D         G          D
Tracing / one warm / line,
            Em
Through a / land so wide and / savage, and
C                  D            G
Make a Northwest / Passage, to the / sea. / /

[Verse 4]
      C              G
How / then am I so / different,
           D                        G
From the / first men through this / way,
       C                G
Like / them, I left a / settled life,
    D                  G
I / threw it all a - / way,
     C                  G
To / seek a Northwest / Passage,
         D              Em
At the / call of many / men,
     C                     D                    Em
To / find there, but the / road back home a - / gain. / /

[Chorus]
D          G          D
Ah, for / just one / time,
          Em
I would / take the Northwest / Passage
      C                 G
To / find the hand of / Franklin,
           D                  Em
Reaching / for the Beaufort / Sea.
D         G          D
Tracing / one warm / line,
            Em
Through a / land so wide and / savage, and
C                  D            G
Make a Northwest / Passage, to the / sea. / /