E        B
Ah, for just one time
        C#m                A
I would take the Northwest Passage
   C#m              A
To find the hand of Franklin
         F#m              E
Reaching for the Beaufort Sea
        E        B
Tracing one warm line
          C#m              A
Through a land so wild and savage
    C#m              A       B      E
And make a Northwest Passage to the sea


[Verse 1]
C#m               A
Westward from the Davis Strait
     B           B
'Tis there 'twas said to lie
    C#m              A
The sea route to the Orient
    B             C#m
For which so many died
C#m              A
Seeking gold and glory
        B                 C#m
Leaving weathered, broken bones
      A              B               C#m
And a long-forgotten lonely cairn of stones



[Chorus]
C#m B   E        B
Ah, for just one time
        C#m                A
I would take the Northwest Passage
   C#m              A
To find the hand of Franklin
         F#m              E
Reaching for the Beaufort Sea
        E        B
Tracing one warm line
          C#m              A
Through a land so wild and savage
    C#m              A       B      E
And make a Northwest Passage to the sea


[Verse 2]
      C#m            A
Three centuries thereafter
  B            B
I take passage overland
       C#m                A
In the footsteps of brave Kelso
          B                C#m
Where his "sea of flowers" began
         C#m         A
Watching cities rise before me
     B              C#m
Then behind me sink again
     A          B
This tardiest explorer
        C#m             C#m
Driving hard across the plain



[Chorus]
C#m B   E        B
Ah, for just one time
        C#m                A
I would take the Northwest Passage
   C#m              A
To find the hand of Franklin
         F#m              E
Reaching for the Beaufort Sea
        E        B
Tracing one warm line
          C#m              A
Through a land so wild and savage
    C#m              A       B      E
And make a Northwest Passage to the sea


[Verse 3]
    C#m                  A
And through the night, behind the wheel
    B                B
The mileage clicking west
  C#m           A
I think upon Mackenzie
      B                C#m
David Thompson and the rest
    C#m                  A
Who cracked the mountain ramparts
    B               C#m
And did show a path for me
   A                B             C#m
To race the roaring Fraser to the sea



[Chorus]
C#m B   E        B
Ah, for just one time
        C#m                A
I would take the Northwest Passage
   C#m              A
To find the hand of Franklin
         F#m              E
Reaching for the Beaufort Sea
        E        B
Tracing one warm line
          C#m              A
Through a land so wild and savage
    C#m              A       B      E
And make a Northwest Passage to the sea


[Verse 4]
    C#m          A
How then am I so different
         B                      B
From the first men through this way?
     C#m            A
Like them, I left a settled life
  B             C#m
I threw it all away
   C#m              A
To seek a Northwest Passage
       B            C#m
At the call of many men
   A                  B              C#m
To find there but the road back home again



[Chorus]
C#m B   E        B
Ah, for just one time
        C#m                A
I would take the Northwest Passage
   C#m              A
To find the hand of Franklin
         F#m              E
Reaching for the Beaufort Sea
        E        B
Tracing one warm line
          C#m              A
Through a land so wild and savage
    C#m              A       B      E
And make a Northwest Passage to the sea


[Outro]
        E        B
Ah, for just one time
        C#m                A
I would take the Northwest Passage
   C#m              A
To find the hand of Franklin
         F#m              E
Reaching for the Beaufort Sea
        E        B
Tracing one warm line
          C#m              A
Through a land so wild and savage
    C#m              A       B      E
And make a Northwest Passage to the sea