North of the border by the great Hudson Bay,
Smoke rises from an old shack
And he sits at his table and sips from his cup,
While the snow wanders in through the cracks.
At his feet rests an old dog from the Labrador line,
The big kind that don’t mind the snow,
He’s a trusted companion, a serious friend,
A keeper of the secrets he’s told.
As the night falls and they’re sharing the northern lights
Under a blanket of stars
He tells his old friend he’s out on a limb again
He’s left the door to his heart ajar.
He reads an old letter from some faded love
He wishes that the mail train would come.
He puts down his papers and he grabs his guitar,
And quietly he starts to strum.
As the night falls and they’re sharing the northern lights
Under a blanket of stars
He tells his old friend he’ll never go back again
This time, they’ve both gone too far
Well a man’s gotta be just as strong as he can
The north country’s no place for tears
They look out a place that’ll freeze to your face
But they’re the last of your soul’s souvenirs.
Well I hear there’s big medicine in a good woman’s love
I hear there ain’t much it can’t do
With the strength of a polar bear, the fate of a dove
Turning the old into new
When the night falls and you’re sharing the northern lights
Under a blanket of stars
Give your hand up to fate, don’t let go, celebrate
Time to find out who you are
North of the border, by the great Hudson Bay
Smoke rises from an old shack
It seems it burnt to the ground when no one was around
And I doubt that they’ll ever be back