story behind the song: a government of canada commercial came on and got me to thinking ...
Lyrics
out of the east the ships they came
amid scenes of do not go
and to the west those ships they ranged
following sun and snow
through wind and sleet, the weather vain
to think it had control
in blizzards of momentous change,
the exploration of man's soul
into the west the ships disappeared
decades of misplaced
and from the east more ships they steered
those passages of distaste
through flakes of wrath and storms of fear
ice breakers living chaste
from see to see the oceans mirrored
smile upon smile retraced
the sun it rose from the east again
after months of having hid
above the clouds and the far horizon
under a moon left long unwed
the polar prowls, bared to the pain
sealing prayers of fish
from coast to coast beyond the plains
past mountains of we wish
and somewhere they're laid to rest
with the treasures of their hopes
the dream of their only success
succumbing to the cold
out of the east the ships they come
amid scenes of now we know
and to the west the ships they roam
following sun and snow
