Dempster Highway

Sittin' in a cafe long about halfway on the all-weather route

Drinkin' coffee black in a Lo-King hat

And a Marlboro hangin' from his mouth

He said, "I'm done, this is my last run, I'm cashin' in my snow chains

I've done ten and eight on the road of

Sleet, and now I'm gonna pack it in"

I've seen 'em come and I've seen 'em go, two-time and double-packed

All the way to Fort McPherson, blowin' smoke from both of my stacks

I've done my time on the DEW line as a lonesome highway wrangler

Tired of growin' my mutton chops like a Yukon riverboat gambler

Through the ice and the snow at forty

Below, I plow right through the storm

Across the Arctic Circle, white knuckles and my gears are worn

And the damned old Dempster Highway couldn't get the best of me

Way up on top of the world, truckin' on my Kamikaze

Skagway Sue with the wolf tattoo, she put a little chew in her lip

Tucked away the can of Copenhagen brand

Said, "I've been tryin' to quit"

But the nicotine like the Eagle plane, she gets right into your blood

Hooked on the tone of the Big Mack's drone growlin' down in the mud

She'd be the first to tell of the

Curse of the diesel and the alloy steel

On the right of way to Mackenzie Bay

There's a magnetic pull on the wheel

There's strange things done in the

Midnight sun by those who plow the roads

Say a prayer on a jackknife rig, keep the treads underneath your loads

Through the ice and the snow at forty

Below, I plow right through the storm

Across the Arctic Circle, white knuckles and my gears are worn

And the damned old Dempster Highway couldn't get the best of me

Way up on top of the world, truckin' on my Kamikaze

The coffee now was down to the grounds, the talk was a-gettin' low

There's a blown valve on the number

Twelve, came the crackle on the radio

If you're goin' south, you better go now before the north takes a hold

Better think quick, 'cause up in Inuvik

They're waitin' for the big wheels to roll

Through the ice and the snow at forty

Below, I plow right through the storm

Across the Arctic Circle, white knuckles and my gears are worn

And the damned old Dempster Highway couldn't get the best of me

Way up on top of the world, truckin' on my Kamikaze

Way up on top of the world, truckin' on my Kamikaze