Ah, for just one time I would take the Northwest Passage
To find the hand of Franklin reaching for the Beaufort Sea;
Tracing one warm line through a land so wild and savage
And make a Northwest Passage to the sea.

Westward from the Davis Strait 'tis there 'twas 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.

Ah, for just one time I would take the Northwest Passage
To find the hand of Franklin reaching for the Beaufort Sea;
Tracing one warm line through a land so wild and savage
And make a Northwest Passage to the sea.

Three centuries thereafter, I take passage overland
In the footsteps of brave Kelso, where his "sea of flowers" began
Watching cities rise before me, then behind me sink again
This tardiest explorer, driving hard across the plain.

Ah, for just one time I would take the Northwest Passage
To find the hand of Franklin reaching for the Beaufort Sea;
Tracing one warm line through a land so wild and savage
And make a Northwest Passage to the sea.

And through the night, behind the wheel, the mileage clicking west
I think upon Mackenzie, David Thompson and the rest
Who crossed the mountain ramparts and did show a path for me
To race the roaring Fraser to the sea.

Ah, for just one time I would take the Northwest Passage
To find the hand of Franklin reaching for the Beaufort Sea;
Tracing one warm line through a land so wild and savage
And make a Northwest Passage to the sea.

How then am I so different from the first men through this way?
Like them, I left a settled life, I threw it all away.
To seek a Northwest Passage at the call of many men
To find there but the road back home again.

Ah, for just one time I would take the Northwest Passage
To find the hand of Franklin reaching for the Beaufort Sea;
Tracing one warm line through a land so wild and savage
And make a Northwest Passage to the sea.


Ah, for just one time I would take the Northwest Passage
To find the hand of Franklin reaching for the Beaufort Sea;
Tracing one warm line through a land so wild and savage
And make a Northwest Passage to the sea.

You're a living sin
You're the harlequin in a one-act play
And you've given up
Even though you can't say why

So your hero died back in '69
Well that's no excuse
To go lose yourself
In a FM headphone high

Oh, it's a heartless world
Oh, it's a heartless world

Have you had enough?
Are you going back to that crazy place?
Are you listening?
Am I talking to myself?

Well it's sad to say but it's just that way
And it'll never change, never change
Have you won or lost?
You know it's hard to tell

Oh, it's a heartless world
Oh, it's a heartless world

And some room to breathe may be all you need
To get on your feet
And the time to step outside and see the sky

Oh, no, no, no, it's a heartless world
Oh, no, no, no, it's a heartless world

Would you control me?
Would you please hold me?
Don't let me show my vicious side

If you disown me
If you've outgrown me
I'll change my name, and say goodbye

It's a heartless world
A heartless world
A heartless world

Would you control me?
Would you please hold me?
Don't let me show my vicious side

If you disown me
If you've outgrown me
I'll change my name, and say goodbye

It's a heartless world
A heartless world
A heartless world