I like it! But you know, Northwest Passage is already written as a retrospective.
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.
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.
Because the singer is modern, the chorus "Ah, for just one time / I would take the Northwest Passage" is about wishing to identify a lonely life with the grandeur of the past. A verse about the loss of the historical arctic would tie right back into this without needing to change the chorus a jot.
Rereading the post I managed to leave out something important: this isn't a replacement for the chorus, it's a tag you can sing after the rest of the song.
Singing Stan Rogers' Northwest Passage with friends this evening I realized these days it needs an update. People suggested lyrics, and here's a filked tag to sing after the song:
In this warm clime, I have sailed the Northwest Passage
Opened by our fires, of coal and industry
Tracing one warm line through a land no longer frozen
Until we cool our planet down again
Sequester all this carbon once again
Lyrics by Kip, Mel, Lisa, me, and others.
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