In a cabin in the backwoods

Trapper John would spend his final days

He was four years on the front

He saw death in many ways

Then he came home to Canada

But the city noises triggered fright

Shell shocked is what they called him

And he could never sleep at night

The Veteran Affairs gave a pension

But not enough for him to survive

So he packed a knapsack full of hopes

And dreams of staying alive

So he headed out for the North Woods

An old shack up round Hudson Bay

Ran a trap line across a mountain

He survived year to year from day to day

They found him frozen in a snow bank

At the ripe old age of eighty-two

An empty whisky bottle by his side

His war medals on his chest…it’s true

And in his cabin in the North Woods

In an old Player’s tobacco can

Was every check the government sent him

Wrapped up in a rubber band

"Please won't you give these

to the old soldiers veteran’s home

I don’t need them where I’m going,

and there are so many all alone.”

So they buried him at sundown

As the Bugler played the mournful taps

On hillside in the North Woods

Respectful soldiers tipped their caps…