The Cremation of Sam McGee Lyrics
(Robert W. Service)
There's strange things done, in the midnight sun
By the men that toil for gold
The arctic trails have their secret tales
That would make your blood run cold
The northern lights have seen queer sights
But the queerest, they ever did see
Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge
That I cremated Sam McGee
Now Sam McGee was from Tennessee
Where the cotton blooms and blows
Why, he left his home in the south, to roam
'Round the pole, God only knows
He was always cold, but the land of gold
Seemed to hold him like a spell
Though he'd often say in his homely way
I'd sooner live in Hell
On a Christmas day, we were mushing our way
Over the Dawson trail
And you talk of your cold, through the parka's fold
That stabbed like a driven nail
If our eyes we'd close, then the lashes froze
Till sometimes we couldn't see
It wasn't much fun, but the only one
To whimper, was Sam McGee
And that very night, as we lay packed tight
In our robes beneath the snow
And the dogs were fed, and the stars o'er head
Were dancing heel and toe
He turned to me, and "Cap" says he
I'll cash in this trip, I guess
And if I do, I'm asking that you
Won't refuse my last request
Well, he seems so low that I couldn't say, no
Then he says with a sort of a moan
It's the cursed cold, and it's got right hold
Till I'm chilled clean through to the bone
Yet it ain't being dead, it's my awful dread
Of an icy grave that pains
So I want you to swear that foul or fair
You'll cremate my last remains
Well, a pal's last need is a thing to heed
So I swore I, would not fail
And we started on at the break of dawn
But, God, he looked ghastly pale
And he crouched on the sleigh, and he raved all day
Of his home in Tennessee
And before nightfall, a corpse was all
That was left of Sam McGee
With a corpse half hid, that I couldn't get rid
I hurried on, horror driven
There wasn't a breath in that land of death
And because of a promise given
It was lashed to the sleigh, and it seemed to say
You may tax your brawn and brains
But you promised true, and it's up to you
To cremate my last remains
Now, a promise made is a debt unpaid
And the trail has its own stern code
In the days to come, though my lips were numb
In my heart, how I cursed that load
In the long long night, by the lone firelight
While the huskies, round in a ring
Howled out their woes to the homeless snows
Oh God, how I loathed that thing
And every day that quiet clay
Seemed to heavy and heavier grow
And on I went, though the dogs were spent
And the grub was getting low
And the trail was bad, and I felt half mad
But I swore, I would not give in
And I'd often sing to the hateful thing
And it harkened with a grin
Till I came to the marge of Lake LeBarge
And a derelict there lay
It was jammed in the ice, but I saw in a trice
It was called, the Alice May
And I looked at it, and I thought a bit
And I looked at my frozen chum
Then here, said I, with a sudden cry
Is my crematorium
Some planks, I tore from the cabin floor
And I lit the boiler fire
Some coal, I found, that was lying around
And I heaped the fuel higher
Well, the flames just soared and the furnace roared
Such a blaze you never did see
And I burrowed a hole in the glowing coal
And I stuffed in Sam McGee
Then I made a hike, for I didn't like
To hear him sizzle so
And the heavens scowled and the huskies howled
And the wind began to blow
It was icy cold, but the hot sweat rolled
Down my cheeks, and I don't know why
And the greasy smoke in an inky cloak
Went streaking down the sky
I do not know, how long in the snow
I wrestled with grisly fear
But the stars came out and they danced about
Before I ventured near
I was sick with dread, but I bravely said
I'll just take a peek inside
I guess, he's cooked and it's time I looked
Then the door, I opened wide
And there sat Sam, looking cool and calm
In the heart of the furnace roar
And he wore a smile, you could see a mile
And he said, please close that door
It's fine in here, but I greatly fear
You'll let in the cold and storm
And since I left Plumtree, down in Tennessee
This is the first time, I've been warm
There's strange things done, in the midnight sun
By the men that toil for gold
The arctic trails have their secret tales
That would make your blood run cold
The northern lights have seen queer sights
But the queerest, they ever did see
Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge
That I cremated Sam McGee
