Canadian railroad trilogy

{  }   There was a time in this fair land when the railroads did not run   When the wild majestic mountains stood alone against the sun   And long before the white man and long before the wheel   When the green dark forest was too silent to be real            But time has no beginnings and history has no bounds   As to this verdant country they came from all around   They sailed upon her waterways and they walked the forests tall   And built the mines the mills and the factories for the good of us all      And when the young man’s fancy was turning in the spring   The railroad men grew restless for to hear the hammers ring   Their minds were overflowing with the visions of the day   With many a fortune won and lost and many a debt to pay... For they   Looked in the future and what did they see   They saw an iron road runnin’ from the sea to the sea   Bringin the goods to a young growin’ land   All up from the seaports and into her hands   Look away said they across this mighty land   From the eastern shore to the western strand   Bring in the workers and bring up the rails    We’ve gotta lay down the tracks and tear up the trails   Open ’er heart let the lifeblood flow   Gotta get on our way cause we’re moving too slow   Bring in the workers and bring up the rails    We’ve gotta lay down the tracks and tear up the trails   Open ’er heart let the lifeblood flow   Gotta get on our way cause we’re moving too slow   Get on our way cause we’re movin’ too slow        Behind the blue Rockies the sun is declinin’   The stars they come stealin’ at the close of the day Across the wide prairie our loved ones lie sleeping    Beyond the dark oceans in a place far away   We are the navies who work upon the railway    Swingin our hammers in the bright blazin’ sun Livin’ on stew and drinking bad whiskey   Bendin’ our old backs till the long days are done   We are the navies who work upon the railway    Swingin our hammers in the bright blazin’ sun Layin’ down track and buildin’ the bridges   Bendin’ our old backs till the railroad is done   So over the mountains and over the plains   Into the muskeg and into the rain   Up the St. Lawrence all the way to Gaspe   Swingin’ our hammers and drawin’ our pay   Drivin’ ’em in and tyin’ ’em down   Away to the bunkhouse and into the town   A dollar a day and a place for my head   A drink to the livin’ a toast to the dead   Oh the song of the future has been sung all the battles have been won    O’er the mountain tops we stand all the world at our command   We have opened up this soil with our teardrops...and our toil...  For there   Was a time in this fair land when the railroads did not run   When the wild majestic mountains stood alone against the sun   And long before the white man and long before the wheel   When the green dark forest was too silent to be real   When the green dark forest was too silent to be real                          {n/c}                         And many are the dead men     too silent...      to be real