Requiem

400 years ago a seed, chance fallen, grew

In virgin forest land that never white man knew

In woodland silence it rose and flourished

By northern wind was shaped, from earth and sky was nourished

White pine, silver birch

Sing their names in requiem

Giants of our northern land

We'll never see your likes again

White pine, silver birch

Sing their names in requiem

Giants of our northern land

We'll never see your likes again

200 years ago the giants ruled the Shield

'Til white man came and saw the profits they could yield

They fell like thunder and left no trace

But giant stumps that stand as headstones in their place

White pine, silver birch

Sing their names in requiem

Giants of our northern land

We'll never see your likes again

In north Ontario some giants still remain

Though few in number now the axe-man comes again

What will you tell them when your children ask you why

Our last remaining forest giants had to die

White pine, silver birch

Sing their names in requiem

Giants of our northern land

We'll never see your likes again

And what gives them the right, I ask, to take what's not their own

To kill a living beauty that 400 years has grown

To take and sell our heritage to fill pockets for a day

And when this crop is gone, what will they say

And when this crop is gone and the trees are gone

The wild is gone and the beasts are gone

And the tourist gone and the money gone

What will they say?

White pine, silver birch

Sing their names in requiem

Giants of our northern land

We'll never see your likes again

White pine, silver birch, requiem