Gordon Lightfoot has died. There are so many of his songs that are part of my Canadian soul — “If You Could Read My Mind,” “Sundown,” “Rainy Day People,” “Did She Mention My Name” — but this one has haunted me more and more over the years. From “Canadian Railroad Trilogy”:
Behind the blue Rockies the sun is declinin’
The stars they come stealin’ at the close of the day
Across the wide prairies our loved ones lie sleeping
Beyond the dark ocean in a place far away
We are the navvies who work upon the railway
Swingin’ our hammers in the bright blazin’ sun
Livin’ on stew and drinkin’ bad whiskey
Bendin’ our backs ’til the long days are done
We are the navvies who work upon the railway
Swingin’ our hammers in the bright blazin’ sun
Layin’ down track and buildin’ the bridges
Bendin’ our backs ’til the railroad is done
. . .
Oh, there was a time in this fair land when the railroad did not run
When the wild majestic mountains stood alone against the sun
Long before the white man and long before the wheel
When the green dark forest was too silent to be real
