[Spoken] Papa never said much but now Papa say, "It is best so." Though I'm not certain because after he speak, our mama cleared her throat Come on! [x16] Yeah he had drag us all over these Americas From Buenos Aires up to Billings, Montana Today we're in the southern states of America Somewhere, somewhere, working in some iron cave My papa had his pick axe propped above his head And without another swing, he heard that voice And he heard what is said, and he cried out Christ, oh not again He dropped his pick axe right there on the cave floor Headed on up out and made a left turn That's north east to you and I My 13 years old sister she gathered up the rest of the family To see what our papa was going this time, this time We got outside, we could tell by the hitch in his walk By the stoop in his shoulder By the angle of his mining boots He was going back home Back home to Labrador Where we were welcome no more And she called Christ, we gotta stay right here We got places here We cannot disappear Yeah the whole family got caught up in his hullabaloo Picking up those mining rocks whipping them at my papa My sister, she took her pick axe Tried to spade it through my father's back But she missed cause she throws like a woman But my sweetheart, my mama, she took off her iron necklace And she cranked my father in the back of the head He slowed down, and with a sweep of his great right arm He swept up all these articles He swept up that pick axe He swept up them mining rocks He swept up that iron necklace And he put ‘em in his sack He headed back to Labrador Where we were welcome no more Back home to Labrador Where we were welcome no more Come on! [x16] Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he went to Buffalo, New York He came to Montreal, spoke to some of my relations there He made a left turn at Trois-Rivières And he came to Churchill Falls He looked 127 meters up into the sky I don't know your American conversion And a blanch came over his face And his decision was made So he took out my sister's pick axe Started hacking away at this maple tree He cut 16 even pieces Put them in a shape of a barrel
He started hacking away at the stump of this maple tree To make a bottom for the barrel He started hacking away at this stump of a maple tree To make a top for the barrel He put the barrel on his back Hitched about a mile up Churchill River Threw the barrel in the water, into the river Threw himself into the barrel, into the water, in the river And started floating down Churchill River Inside the barrel, he came to Churchill Falls Went down Down [x14] And down He was a bit pissed off at the good fortune of his continued life You see, he'd been making holes his whole life Hiding down inside And now this one he made from his daughter's own pick axe He made too well, too well So he took this hole of a barrel Propped it underneath Churchill River Let it fill up with water from Churchill Falls He took his rucksack Emptied out the mining rocks Put ‘em inside the barrel He took that pick axe, put it inside the barrel He took my sweetheart, my mama's necklace wrapped around his wrist He got inside that barrel And he held that top of the barrel above his head And the water sent him down! You see, there were all these people gathered around To see what this man was doing at Churchill Falls He was crouched down inside that barrel Those mining rocks rubbing against his bu*tocks That pick axe rubbing against his groin, rubbing against his chin And that iron necklace wrapped around his wrist And the people outside, they swore they heard my father say this Immerse me full Fall River to deliver me my crimes [x2] Ladies and gentlemen That is the fabulous history of the Churchill Falls Barrel Races And to this day, the contestants of the barrel races For some reason unbeknownst to them They must were an iron necklace around their wrist And the caller of the race, he doesn't call 1, 2, 3 He doesn't call "ready, steady, go" He doesn't call "on your marks" But he calls this Come on [x16] [Spoken] Papa, where you goin' this time Kept walking, with this hitch in his legs My sister burn up We gotta stay right here Keeps on, with the northern angle to his boots We gotta face this hell