The story behind this song is pretty crazy. It's basically about the doomed Franklin Expedition for the Northwest Passage. The Passage was believed to be an oceanic route between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Captain Franklin took the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror through the passage. The day when they passed into the mouth of the Passage was the last time any of them were seen alive ever again. The crew died quite horribly if I'm honest. Lead poisoning, hypothermia, pneumonia and TB pretty much simultaneously.
For those who may not now, both the ships were found off the coast of King William island in 2016. Over 160 years later, the ships are perfectly preserved in the ice.
Genuinely beautiful rendition. I honesty found myself tearing up. You've done all the sailors that never made it home a great service, mates. Fair winds and following seas to the lot of you.
Here I am, 3 years on, an American hearing a British group singing a great Canadian anthem. Here's to the Anglosphere. May she never die. We'll ever have eachother's backs, should shit go down.
I have English roots on both sides of my now American family, and it’s a lasting sense of grief to me, that the United States failed to enter WW II much sooner. How TF could we not help reduce the brutal bombing of London?
We play a club here in my hometown where Stan Rogers used to play when I was young. When you go there you can't be unaware that he played that same stage and be in awe even though it's a small venue.
As someone who lives on the shores of the roaring Fraser, I've always felt touched by this song. Here's to the Northwest Passage, after long generations, finally being traversed by the children of Canada's long-gone explorers. May we shepherd it well in your honour.
CHORUS Ah, for just one time I would take the Northwest Passage To find the hand of Franklin reaching for the Beaufort Sea; Tracing one warm line through a land so wild and savage And make a Northwest Passage to the sea. Westward from the Davis Strait 'tis there 'twas said to lie The sea route to the Orient for which so many died; Seeking gold and glory, leaving weathered, broken bones And a long-forgotten lonely cairn of stones. [Chorus] Three centuries thereafter, I take passage overland In the footsteps of brave Kelso, where his "sea of flowers" began Watching cities rise before me, then behind me sink again This tardiest explorer, driving hard across the plain. [Chorus] And through the night, behind the wheel, the mileage clicking west I think upon Mackenzie, David Thompson and the rest Who cracked the mountain ramparts and did show a path for me To race the roaring Fraser to the sea. [Chorus] How then am I so different from the first men through this way? Like them, I left a settled life, I threw it all away. To seek a Northwest Passage at the call of many men To find there but the road back home again. [Chorus]
I'm so glad you enjoyed it, please visit their web site & Facebook. They perform all over the country so you might be able to catch a live performance.
@@grahamedarley5106 Didn't know that. I'm with a band Grainneogg, you can find on You tube. I totaly Love all of The Longest John's stuff, amazing harmonies and sooooo tight....
As a USA citizen and happy neighbor, this song and this rendition is what I think of when I think of Canada, brave, courageous, adventurous. God bless her! She is the Northwest Passage.
WOWOW!! I'm a FAN!!!! I particularly enjoy the spot-on harmonies and, not to speak ill of the other voices, the BASS is very gorgeous - ie, his voice, lol.
Ah, for just one time...I am tempted to come hear you in person from my desert home! This is amazing. Love the harmonies, dynamics, and feeling =O) Well done!
Dawn Bradbury I will pass your comments on. If you would like to see more they will be on the Gareth Malone's best of British 9pm on BBC2 Tuesday night
You dear. I don't get BBC here in Northern Utah. I stumbled on your group accidentally while searching for something else! But I have your CD and will check back for new videos. I love Haul Away Joe and also the Grey Funnel Line. I think because the vocals are not written out, but felt for--- they are so fresh and vibrant.
Hey Grahame, tell the guys I love this version of this song and they have inspired me and a group of friends to sing it as well. We have a problem though because we don't understand the meaning of the song, we was wondering if you could give simple meaning for us. It would help a lot. Keep up the good work guys!
This might give you a taster: basically the explorers of old. Copied from "wiki" of course:- Franklin's lost expedition was a British voyage of Arctic exploration led by Captain Sir John Franklin that departed England in 1845. A Royal Navy officer and experienced explorer, Franklin had served on three previous Arctic expeditions, the latter two as commanding officer. His fourth and last, undertaken when he was 59, was meant to traverse the last unnavigated section of the Northwest Passage. After a few early fatalities, the two ships became icebound in Victoria Strait near King William Island in the Canadian Arctic. The entire expedition, 129 men including Franklin, was lost.[2]
The songwriter also name checks the early Canadian explorers Alexander MacKenzie, Henry Kelsey, and David Thompson, and, himself a Canadian folk-musician, compares his experience of traveling across Canada to theirs.
The singer(s) is going on a journey of self-exploration, heading to the West of Canada and thinking of the white men who traced this way before him. He's trying to find himself; they were expanding knowledge of the world. But the journey is only ever complete when you return to home, wherever that may be.
Their harmonies are rock solid, and the tenor lad has an especially lovely voice. The early verses by the soloist felt a bit rushed to me. Still, great stuff!
Nope, if you can believe it, it’s actually the guy in the checkered shirt. They do livestreams on their TH-cam channel and he showcases that baritone voice solo sometimes.
They have two baritones, Andy (Far right) who commonly sings lead in their songs, and Dave (middle left) who unfortunately left the band, he usually took the lower baritone parts, unfortunately it's hard to pick out his voice sometimes
You guys are great. No offense though but this and old Maui i have no choice but to compare you to stan Roger's and between the two stan did it better That said my first instict is to compare you to a legend so well done
Yeah, I've noticed that. It seems like he's rushing, but it's actually pretty accurate to most versions. I'd still say he's slightly fast, but not by much. Notice how he slows down for the last line of each verse? That's how you know.
@ Nigel Vaillancourt, i think the guy is afraid to not own the verses if he sings them at the slow tempo of the refrain, or the band think that verses aren't interesting.
@@jdshf9732hf2 Watch the original by San Rogers. He maintains the same lethargic pace through every verse that you hear in the chorus here. That's how it's meant to be sung. @bob bobblob here is correct that the verses are sped up here, and it sounds wrong to my ear as well.
@@-rockmusiclover- How can you not notice that? It's pretty huge. You must not have the ear for it. I find it quite impossible to miss. The rythme accellerates like almost double during his solos.
@@-rockmusiclover- Every single time he sings solo. If you run a metronome during the chorus, you'll find that it does not keep up to the accelerated beat during the solo parts. There isn't much of a rythm either as he accelerates and slows down all the time. You can search google for a metronome and set it to 65 bpm while you listent to both the song and the metronome tics, the beat will be close enouph during chorus, but it becomes messed up during the solo parts... Of course, it you don't have the ear for rythm, I don't recon you'll understand to follow the beat yourself... like the singer! :\ He does it right when he plays with musicians though. Since the musicians follow a strict rythm. They have to.
@@Lavoye I don't think anyone in the crowd or the others on stage gave a shit my guy, and I highly doubt some random dude will watch this and go "The singer accelerates the song exactly (insert BPM) more than this part, it sucks now because of that extremely minor thing that only I noticed"
Lyrics Edit The narrator states that he is taking "passage overland in the footsteps of brave Kelso" three centuries after. This refers to Henry Kelsey, an English explorer and trader apprenticed to the Hudson's Bay Company in 1684, who was commissioned to explore the prairies in response to the competition posed by French Traders.[3] Rogers confessed in an interview in 1982 that during the writing of the song, he had not been sure of Kelsey's name, and had guessed it was Kelso when recording the song.[3] The lines "To find the hand of Franklin reaching for the Beaufort Sea" and "seeking gold and glory, leaving weathered broken bones/and a long-forgotten lonely cairn of stones" commemorate the Franklin expedition.[4]
zackary cooper , hi, after Stan Rogers wrote this song he admitted that he got the name wrong, it is actually Henry Kelsey that he was writing about. sea-of-flowers.ca/wp/?p=6. I hope you don’t mind but I’m sure using the right name is in no way being disingenuous to the song writer.
The story behind this song is pretty crazy.
It's basically about the doomed Franklin Expedition for the Northwest Passage. The Passage was believed to be an oceanic route between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Captain Franklin took the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror through the passage. The day when they passed into the mouth of the Passage was the last time any of them were seen alive ever again.
The crew died quite horribly if I'm honest. Lead poisoning, hypothermia, pneumonia and TB pretty much simultaneously.
For those who may not now, both the ships were found off the coast of King William island in 2016. Over 160 years later, the ships are perfectly preserved in the ice.
thanks debbie downer
Thanks from an aussie. Puts it in context
@@issintf925 Erebus was found to have practically made the passage. They raised the bell off the wreck
Don't forget about the cannibalism!
I sing this drunk and walking home from places. Excellent.
Its relieving to find a kindred spirit in this.
I do it in the kitchen - my wife knows I’m into the scotch if I am
Same here, man.
Same
let people never stop singing the works of Stan Rogers
Agreed. matey.
Don't you dare stop listening and don't forget his name
Genuinely beautiful rendition. I honesty found myself tearing up. You've done all the sailors that never made it home a great service, mates. Fair winds and following seas to the lot of you.
That tenor’s voice is so freakin good!
I know! Josh was one of the best tenors I've ever seen
Fr, Josh needs more recognition
Josh's tenor line in this is just so wonderfully done. It's all beautiful but that in particular just stands out so well and is really lovely.
Who's Josh?
@@TheRealSkeletor the one on the far left
@@jackeroy I thought that was Robbie.
@@TheRealSkeletor what? no, robbie is taller than dave and also doesn't have glasses. that's josh bowker
@@jackeroy Shows what I know!
Beautiful harmonies lads :)
Well done. EH!
@@spongebobsquarepants8403 Oh, so you're really stupid.
Here I am, 3 years on, an American hearing a British group singing a great Canadian anthem. Here's to the Anglosphere. May she never die. We'll ever have eachother's backs, should shit go down.
Brothers, Sisters, all !
Rule Britannia, her Commonwealth and her Great American Brothers
I have English roots on both sides of my now American family, and it’s a lasting sense of grief to me, that the United States failed to enter WW II much sooner. How TF could we not help reduce the brutal bombing of London?
We play a club here in my hometown where Stan Rogers used to play when I was young. When you go there you can't be unaware that he played that same stage and be in awe even though it's a small venue.
As someone who lives on the shores of the roaring Fraser, I've always felt touched by this song. Here's to the Northwest Passage, after long generations, finally being traversed by the children of Canada's long-gone explorers. May we shepherd it well in your honour.
This performance is kind of brilliant. Thanks for posting.
CHORUS
Ah, for just one time I would take the Northwest Passage
To find the hand of Franklin reaching for the Beaufort Sea;
Tracing one warm line through a land so wild and savage
And make a Northwest Passage to the sea.
Westward from the Davis Strait 'tis there 'twas said to lie
The sea route to the Orient for which so many died;
Seeking gold and glory, leaving weathered, broken bones
And a long-forgotten lonely cairn of stones. [Chorus]
Three centuries thereafter, I take passage overland
In the footsteps of brave Kelso, where his "sea of flowers" began
Watching cities rise before me, then behind me sink again
This tardiest explorer, driving hard across the plain. [Chorus]
And through the night, behind the wheel, the mileage clicking west
I think upon Mackenzie, David Thompson and the rest
Who cracked the mountain ramparts and did show a path for me
To race the roaring Fraser to the sea. [Chorus]
How then am I so different from the first men through this way?
Like them, I left a settled life, I threw it all away.
To seek a Northwest Passage at the call of many men
To find there but the road back home again. [Chorus]
Phenomenal !!!!! So perfect harmonies. Every word of the story can be heard. What resonance!
I'm so glad you enjoyed it, please visit their web site & Facebook. They perform all over the country so you might be able to catch a live performance.
Totally hairs on my arms, fantastic, guys....keep em coming, you have a following here in Aotearo/New Zealand.
hel6ova9 So glad you enjoy them. Not sure if you are aware but they do a monthly live streams on TH-cam now as well.😄
@@grahamedarley5106 Didn't know that. I'm with a band Grainneogg, you can find on You tube. I totaly Love all of The Longest John's stuff, amazing harmonies and sooooo tight....
We do shanties and whaling songs and very trad Kiwi, almost forgotten stuff, even have a saw player
I may be a few years late but dear God this is amazing.
Look for the original musician and prepare to be amazed Stan Rogers is his name. He died in a plane fire on the ground in Cincinnati, Oh.
In the book “Songs from Fogarty Cove” there is a quote regarding this song “my god he’s written a new national anthem” sums up the song for me.
As a USA citizen and happy neighbor, this song and this rendition is what I think of when I think of Canada, brave, courageous, adventurous. God bless her! She is the Northwest Passage.
Another excellent rendering of this Stan Rogers masterwork.
WOWOW!! I'm a FAN!!!! I particularly enjoy the spot-on harmonies and, not to speak ill of the other voices, the BASS is very gorgeous - ie, his voice, lol.
Many thanks! Can you guess which one it is?
the guy on the very left
This might give it away th-cam.com/video/_dkpPrIbuRE/w-d-xo.html
Seriously? Had me fooled. I was thinking the bearded fellow as well
Bass has to be the fella in the shorts 🩳. Brilliant song by Stan Rogers very well executed.
EDIT: it’s the fella that sings the lead as well.
Wow whoever is the baritone has the sexiest voice ever
Mrsqtfactory it’s the dude singing the verses lol
Yeah, watch their last live stream and the guy singing the verses ends up being the baritone or bass voice
Agreed! He's JD.
Oh how I wish I could see these folks live! They sing all the good stuff I grew up singing at Folk Festivals on the East Coast US.
Outstanding, lads! You blend beautifully! Everything you do gives me goosebumps!
TheContragypsy I completely agree my friend
@@clonetrooper7934 The singers are the longest johns you can look them up they have a channel
Ah, for just one time...I am tempted to come hear you in person from my desert home! This is amazing. Love the harmonies, dynamics, and feeling =O) Well done!
Dawn Bradbury I will pass your comments on. If you would like to see more they will be on the Gareth Malone's best of British 9pm on BBC2 Tuesday night
You dear. I don't get BBC here in Northern Utah. I stumbled on your group accidentally while searching for something else! But I have your CD and will check back for new videos. I love Haul Away Joe and also the Grey Funnel Line. I think because the vocals are not written out, but felt for--- they are so fresh and vibrant.
This was really well done, you guys harmonize amazingly.
I sing this when Im in the garden , never gets old
really beautiful, epic version of a great song!
nice job guys!
Beautiful
Whenever I hear this I remember the frozen body of Mr.Torrington being pulled from the ice those pictures are haunting and sad.
Man you guys do this song so well
Beautiful.
Interesting to compare this to their last versions of it. They really came a long way
The world will never see the likes of dear old Stan.
Splendid, gentlemen!
Beautiful!
Sounds amazing! Is Josh the one singing the higher harmony part?
Yes it is, Robbie has taken over that mantle now
@@grahamedarley5106 Nice! Thank you for responding. 😊
Such a shame that Josh left, his tenor really added something.
Fr, Robbie is still amazing but it's usually hard to pick his voice out unlike Josh
I think this is excellent.
I would like to know which one of them is extending some of the words and give him a metal for making it sound even more of a shanty
far right
Not far left?
Far (stage) left. His name is Robbie, if I recall correctly.
@@robertlarson7224 That was Josh, he was the original tenor until he had to leave so Robbie took over
Hey Grahame, tell the guys I love this version of this song and they have inspired me and a group of friends to sing it as well. We have a problem though because we don't understand the meaning of the song, we was wondering if you could give simple meaning for us. It would help a lot. Keep up the good work guys!
This might give you a taster: basically the explorers of old. Copied from "wiki" of course:- Franklin's lost expedition was a British voyage of Arctic exploration led by Captain Sir John Franklin that departed England in 1845. A Royal Navy officer and experienced explorer, Franklin had served on three previous Arctic expeditions, the latter two as commanding officer. His fourth and last, undertaken when he was 59, was meant to traverse the last unnavigated section of the Northwest Passage. After a few early fatalities, the two ships became icebound in Victoria Strait near King William Island in the Canadian Arctic. The entire expedition, 129 men including Franklin, was lost.[2]
+Grahame Darley Thanks very much helped a lot. Can't wait for another video of these guys. They are amazing
The songwriter also name checks the early Canadian explorers Alexander MacKenzie, Henry Kelsey, and David Thompson, and, himself a Canadian folk-musician, compares his experience of traveling across Canada to theirs.
The original was by a Canadian called Stan Rogers, it's worth looking up.
The singer(s) is going on a journey of self-exploration, heading to the West of Canada and thinking of the white men who traced this way before him. He's trying to find himself; they were expanding knowledge of the world. But the journey is only ever complete when you return to home, wherever that may be.
Well done lads. Well done.
Even six years ago these guys had it
brilliant
The last ever episode of ’Due South’ from back in the 90s
Stan would approve.
Unleash the Archers just wants u to scream chorus when they play this song
Their harmonies are rock solid, and the tenor lad has an especially lovely voice. The early verses by the soloist felt a bit rushed to me. Still, great stuff!
Which one is the soprano, the alto, the tenor and the bass? I can't figure it out
JD is the bass but he's singing the lead for the verse & drops down to bass for the chorus.
The tenor is the Guy on the left. He's called Josh. In the Chorus Andy (on the right) sings the Melody and Dave (middle left) is doing the last part.
Ace guys
The bloke in the chequered shirt sounded like Nizlopi as in The JCB song.
If i were to guess which state. I'd have two guesses.
Are people just chatting? Kinda rude.
Is baritone in stripes?
Nope, if you can believe it, it’s actually the guy in the checkered shirt.
They do livestreams on their TH-cam channel and he showcases that baritone voice solo sometimes.
@@rucarnuts13 Check shirt is the bass.
@@rucarnuts13 Checkered shirt is the bass. Striped shirt and shorts is the baritone.
They have two baritones, Andy (Far right) who commonly sings lead in their songs, and Dave (middle left) who unfortunately left the band, he usually took the lower baritone parts, unfortunately it's hard to pick out his voice sometimes
You guys are great. No offense though but this and old Maui i have no choice but to compare you to stan Roger's and between the two stan did it better
That said my first instict is to compare you to a legend so well done
Excellent harmonies, but the guy singing the verses has to slow down and not rush through them.
+Nigel Vaillancourt Several of the versions of this I've heard are sung that way - the verse is quite a bit faster than the chorus. No idea why...
Yeah, I've noticed that. It seems like he's rushing, but it's actually pretty accurate to most versions. I'd still say he's slightly fast, but not by much. Notice how he slows down for the last line of each verse? That's how you know.
@ Nigel Vaillancourt, i think the guy is afraid to not own the verses if he sings them at the slow tempo of the refrain, or the band think that verses aren't interesting.
Spot on.
@@jdshf9732hf2 Watch the original by San Rogers. He maintains the same lethargic pace through every verse that you hear in the chorus here. That's how it's meant to be sung. @bob bobblob here is correct that the verses are sped up here, and it sounds wrong to my ear as well.
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Ok:)
the main guy can't keep tempo when singing solo. That's a bit irritating, other then that, the harmony is fucking good.
I don't notice anything wrong with the tempo
@@-rockmusiclover- How can you not notice that? It's pretty huge. You must not have the ear for it. I find it quite impossible to miss. The rythme accellerates like almost double during his solos.
@@Lavoye Where does it do that? I've listened through it about 3 times now and have not noticed anything wrong with it
@@-rockmusiclover- Every single time he sings solo. If you run a metronome during the chorus, you'll find that it does not keep up to the accelerated beat during the solo parts. There isn't much of a rythm either as he accelerates and slows down all the time. You can search google for a metronome and set it to 65 bpm while you listent to both the song and the metronome tics, the beat will be close enouph during chorus, but it becomes messed up during the solo parts... Of course, it you don't have the ear for rythm, I don't recon you'll understand to follow the beat yourself... like the singer! :\ He does it right when he plays with musicians though. Since the musicians follow a strict rythm. They have to.
@@Lavoye I don't think anyone in the crowd or the others on stage gave a shit my guy, and I highly doubt some random dude will watch this and go "The singer accelerates the song exactly (insert BPM) more than this part, it sucks now because of that extremely minor thing that only I noticed"
Goof alert: Kelso, not Kelsey.
Lyrics
Edit
The narrator states that he is taking "passage overland in the footsteps of brave Kelso" three centuries after. This refers to Henry Kelsey, an English explorer and trader apprenticed to the Hudson's Bay Company in 1684, who was commissioned to explore the prairies in response to the competition posed by French Traders.[3] Rogers confessed in an interview in 1982 that during the writing of the song, he had not been sure of Kelsey's name, and had guessed it was Kelso when recording the song.[3] The lines "To find the hand of Franklin reaching for the Beaufort Sea" and "seeking gold and glory, leaving weathered broken bones/and a long-forgotten lonely cairn of stones" commemorate the Franklin expedition.[4]
ITS PRONOUNCED "KEL-SO"
zackary cooper , hi, after Stan Rogers wrote this song he admitted that he got the name wrong, it is actually Henry Kelsey that he was writing about. sea-of-flowers.ca/wp/?p=6. I hope you don’t mind but I’m sure using the right name is in no way being disingenuous to the song writer.
Too high pitched
No, the tenor part is correct. The bass and baritone fill out the lower bits in harmony with that.