Am  C G Am

[Verse 1]
Am                       C                  G               Am
Oh the wife she tried to tell me that 'twas nothing but the thrumming
Am                C              G
Of a woodpecker a-rapping on the hollow of a tree;
G       Am                 C              G               Am
Amd she thought that I was fooling when I said it was the drumming
Am                  C                 G
Of the mustering of legions and 'twas calling unto me;
G     Am            C                   G
'Twas calling me to pull my freight and hop across the sea.


[Verse 2]
G     Am            C                G             Am
Amd a-mending of my fish-nets sure I started up in wonder,
Am                   C                 G           Am
For I heard a savage roaring and 'twas coming from afar;
Am                       C                  G           Am
Oh the wife she tried to tell me that 'twas only summer thunder,
Am                    C                G               Am
Amd she laughed a bit sarcastic when I told her it was War:
Am                    C                G
'Twas the chariots of battle where the mighty armies are.


[Verse 3]
Am                      C                   G             Am
Then down the lake came Half-breed Tom with russet sail a-flying
Am                        C              G
Amd the word he said was "War" again, so what was I to do ?
G      Am                C               G              Am
Oh the dogs they took to howling and the missis took to crying,
Am                   C            G
As I flung my silver foxes in the little birch canoe;
G        C                G                Am
Yes, the old girl stood a-bubbling till an island hid the view.


[Verse 4]
Am                             C                G             Am
Says the factor, "Mike, you're crazy! They have soldier men a-plenty.
Am                      C                 G
You're as grizzled as a badger and you're sixty year or so."
G      Am               C                      G             Am
"But I haven't missed a scrap," says I, "Since I was one and twenty.
Am                   C                G
Amd shall I miss the biggest? You can bet your whiskers? no!"
G    Am               C                      G
So I sold my furs and started ... and that's eighteen months ago.


[Verse 5]
Am                       C               G            Am
For I joined the Foreign Legion and they put me for a starter
Am                     C                G
In the trenches of the Argonne with the Boche a step away;
G       Am            C                 G           Am
Amd the partner on my right hand was an apache from Montmartre;
Am                         C                G
Amd on my left there was a millionaire from Pittsburgh, U.S.A.
Am                 C                G
(Poor fellow! They collected him in bits the other day.)


[Verse 6]
C        Am            C                G            Am
Well I'm sprier than a chipmunk, save a touch of the lumbago,
Am                    C                G
Amd they calls me Old Methoosalah, and blagues me all the day.
G         C          Am              G              C
I'm their exhibition sniper and they work me like a Dago,
C   Am              C              G
Amd laugh to see me plug a Boche a half a mile away.
G    Am               C             G
Oh I hold the highest record in the regiment, they say.


[Instrumental]
Am C G Am A5 Am


[Verse 7]
Am                       C               G               Am
Amd at night they gather round me, and I tell them of my roaming
Am                    C            G
In the Country of the Crepuscule beside the Frozen Sea,
G                     Am                   C            Am
Where the musk-ox run unchallenged and the cariboo goes homing;
Am                       C                 G
Amd they sit like little children, just as quiet as can be:
F            C                         G
Men of every clime and color, how they harken unto me!


[Verse 8]
Am                     C               G                Am
Amd I tell them of the Furland, of the tumpline and the paddle,
Am               C               G
Of secret rivers loitering, that no one will explore;
G     Am               C              G                  Am
Amd I tell them of the ranges, of the pack-strap and the saddle,
Am                           C                  G
Amd they fill their pipes in silence, and their eyes beseech for more;
G     F                     C              Am
While above the star-shells fizzle and the high explosives roar.


[Verse 9]
Am                       C                 G                  Am
Amd I tell of lakes fish-haunted where the big bull moose are calling,
Am                   C               G
Amd forests still as sepulchers with never trail or track;
Am                      C                 G              Am
Amd valleys packed with purple gloom, and mountain peaks appalling,
Am                    C            G
Amd I tell them of my cabin on the shore at Fond du Lac;
G     F             C                G
Amd I find myself a-thinking: Sure I wish that I was back.


[Verse 10]
Am                    C                G             Am
So I brag of bear and beaver while the batteries are roaring,
Am                     C                G
Amd the fellows on the firing steps are blazing at the foe;
G     Am             C                G              Am
Amd I yarn a fur and feather when the marmites are a-soaring,
Am                    C              G
Amd they listen to my stories, seven poilus in a row,
G     F              C                 G
Seven lean and lousy poilus with their cigarettes aglow.


[Verse 11]
Am    F                   C             G            Am
Amd I tell them when it's over how I'll hike for Athabaska;
Am                     C               G
Amd those seven greasy poilus they are crazy to go too.
G        F                  C             Am
Amd I'll give the wife the "pickle-tub" I promised, and I'll ask her
Am                    C               G
The price of mink and marten, and the run of cariboo,
G        F               C               Am
Amd I'll get my traps in order, and I'll start to work anew.


[Verse 12]
Am                      C                  G             Am
For I've had my fill of fighting, and I've seen a nation scattered,
Am     F             C                G
Amd an army swung to slaughter, and a river red with gore,
G     F          C                G               Am
Amd a city all a-smolder, and ... as if it really mattered,
Am                     C                G
For the lake is yonder dreaming, and my cabin's on the shore;
F       Am               C              F               C
Amd the dogs are leaping madly, and the wife is singing gladly,
Am                   C               G
Amd I'll rest in Athabaska, and I'll leave it nevermore,
G        Em            Am
Amd I'll leave it nevermore.