"Iron Ribbon" lyrics

From the Saint Lawrence to the Great Shield's edge
We traded our sweat for a mountain ledge
Ten thousand hands and a million tons of stone
Building a spine for a land we call our own

The muskeg swallowed the heavy track
But not a man among us was looking back
Through the Rockies' teeth and the winter cold
The story of the steel was being told

It's an Iron Ribbon, hear the engines sing
From the East to the West, let the hammer's swing
From the mountain peaks to the rocky post
A locomotive at a time, coast to coast

In the Kicking Horse Pass where the shadows run deep
The promise of a nation was a promise we'd keep
From the sweat of the worker to the blood on the shale
Driving our lives to the length of the rail

November morning , the air is thin
Donald Smith holds the sledge , and the crowd pulls in
Craigellachie stands in the mountain light
As the Last Spike is driven, ending the fight

Oh, can you hear that iron ribbon ring?
From the East to the West , let the hammer's swing
From the mountain peaks to the rocky post
A locomotive at a time, coast to coast

Oh, can you hear that iron ribbon ring?
From the East to the West, let the hammer's swing
From the mountain peaks to the rocky post
A locomotive at a time, coast to coast