AmCGAm
[Verse 1]
AmCGAm
Oh the wife she tried to tell me that 'twas nothing but the thrumming
AmCG
Of a woodpecker a-rapping on the hollow of a tree;
GAmCGAm
Amd she thought that I was fooling when I said it was the drumming
AmCG
Of the mustering of legions and 'twas calling unto me;
GAmCG
'Twas calling me to pull my freight and hop across the sea.
[Verse 2]
GAmCGAm
Amd a-mending of my fish-nets sure I started up in wonder,
AmCGAm
For I heard a savage roaring and 'twas coming from afar;
AmCGAm
Oh the wife she tried to tell me that 'twas only summer thunder,
AmCGAm
Amd she laughed a bit sarcastic when I told her it was War:
AmCG
'Twas the chariots of battle where the mighty armies are.
[Verse 3]
AmCGAm
Then down the lake came Half-breed Tom with russet sail a-flying
AmCG
Amd the word he said was "War" again, so what was I to do ?
GAmCGAm
Oh the dogs they took to howling and the missis took to crying,
AmCG
As I flung my silver foxes in the little birch canoe;
GCGAm
Yes, the old girl stood a-bubbling till an island hid the view.
[Verse 4]
AmCGAm
Says the factor, "Mike, you're crazy! They have soldier men a-plenty.
AmCG
You're as grizzled as a badger and you're sixty year or so."
GAmCGAm
"But I haven't missed a scrap," says I, "Since I was one and twenty.
AmCG
Amd shall I miss the biggest? You can bet your whiskers? no!"
GAmCG
So I sold my furs and started ... and that's eighteen months ago.
[Verse 5]
AmCGAm
For I joined the Foreign Legion and they put me for a starter
AmCG
In the trenches of the Argonne with the Boche a step away;
GAmCGAm
Amd the partner on my right hand was an apache from Montmartre;
AmCG
Amd on my left there was a millionaire from Pittsburgh, U.S.A.
AmCG
(Poor fellow! They collected him in bits the other day.)
[Verse 6]
CAmCGAm
Well I'm sprier than a chipmunk, save a touch of the lumbago,
AmCG
Amd they calls me Old Methoosalah, and blagues me all the day.
GCAmGC
I'm their exhibition sniper and they work me like a Dago,
CAmCG
Amd laugh to see me plug a Boche a half a mile away.
GAmCG
Oh I hold the highest record in the regiment, they say.
[Instrumental]
AmCGAmA5Am
[Verse 7]
AmCGAm
Amd at night they gather round me, and I tell them of my roaming
AmCG
In the Country of the Crepuscule beside the Frozen Sea,
GAmCAm
Where the musk-ox run unchallenged and the cariboo goes homing;
AmCG
Amd they sit like little children, just as quiet as can be:
FCG
Men of every clime and color, how they harken unto me!
[Verse 8]
AmCGAm
Amd I tell them of the Furland, of the tumpline and the paddle,
AmCG
Of secret rivers loitering, that no one will explore;
GAmCGAm
Amd I tell them of the ranges, of the pack-strap and the saddle,
AmCG
Amd they fill their pipes in silence, and their eyes beseech for more;
GFCAm
While above the star-shells fizzle and the high explosives roar.
[Verse 9]
AmCGAm
Amd I tell of lakes fish-haunted where the big bull moose are calling,
AmCG
Amd forests still as sepulchers with never trail or track;
AmCGAm
Amd valleys packed with purple gloom, and mountain peaks appalling,
AmCG
Amd I tell them of my cabin on the shore at Fond du Lac;
GFCG
Amd I find myself a-thinking: Sure I wish that I was back.
[Verse 10]
AmCGAm
So I brag of bear and beaver while the batteries are roaring,
AmCG
Amd the fellows on the firing steps are blazing at the foe;
GAmCGAm
Amd I yarn a fur and feather when the marmites are a-soaring,
AmCG
Amd they listen to my stories, seven poilus in a row,
GFCG
Seven lean and lousy poilus with their cigarettes aglow.
[Verse 11]
AmFCGAm
Amd I tell them when it's over how I'll hike for Athabaska;
AmCG
Amd those seven greasy poilus they are crazy to go too.
GFCAm
Amd I'll give the wife the "pickle-tub" I promised, and I'll ask her
AmCG
The price of mink and marten, and the run of cariboo,
GFCAm
Amd I'll get my traps in order, and I'll start to work anew.
[Verse 12]
AmCGAm
For I've had my fill of fighting, and I've seen a nation scattered,
AmFCG
Amd an army swung to slaughter, and a river red with gore,
GFCGAm
Amd a city all a-smolder, and ... as if it really mattered,
AmCG
For the lake is yonder dreaming, and my cabin's on the shore;
FAmCFC
Amd the dogs are leaping madly, and the wife is singing gladly,
AmCG
Amd I'll rest in Athabaska, and I'll leave it nevermore,
GEmAm
Amd I'll leave it nevermore.