Ice Road

by Michael Faubion

It ain't a super highway, but it's all that we got.
It's there when it's cold and it ain't when it's hot.
You might make it to the village, then again you might not
On the Ice Road...
You can cruise it in a Buick but it isn't advised.
Sometimes it's even risky in a four-wheel drive.
You can come back dead or you can come back alive
on the Ice Road.

In the summer it's the river called the Kuskokwim,
Fulla boats and barges, skiffs and fishermen.
In the winter time it's something else again,
It's an Ice Road.
It's an Ice Road.
I didn't say it's a nice road.
I said it's an Ice Road!

Take a cab around the island to Napaskiak.
For Slavic you can make it up to Akiak.
Sometimes you can even get to Aniak
on the Ice Road.
Better take a shovel and a rope and some flares,
some extra boots and blankets and some fish strips to spare.
You just don't know, you might get stuck out there
on the Ice Road.

The Ice Road Blues maybe get you down
but it's the only way you're gonna get outta town.
Come on, Baby, we'll go cruise up and down
on the Ice Road.
It's an Ice Road.
I didn't say it's a nice road.
I said it's an Ice Road!

Start out in the morning whenIt's 20 below.
By noon It's up to zero and It's started to snow.
In the afternoon yer splashin through the overflow
on the Ice Road.
It's a hairy experience if you know what I mean,
Dodgin seven year old kids racin snow machines.
Yield the right oí way to the sled dog teams
on the Ice Road.

In the summer It's the river called the Kuskokwim,
Fulla boats and barges, skiffs and fishermen.
In the winter time It's something else again,
It's an Ice Road.
It's an Ice Road.
I didn't say it's a nice road.
I said it's an Ice Road!

Maybe drivin on the river ain't to your likin.
It's made for truckin, it ain't for bikin.
I never did see anybody hitch-hikin
on the Ice Road.
Now you Lower 48ers got yer Route 66,
Four-lane interstaters from the burbs to the sticks.
Up here in Alaska we all get our kicks
on the Ice Road.

In the summer It's the river called the Kuskokwim
Full a boats and barges, skiffs and fishermen.
In the winter time It's something else again,
It's an Ice Road.
It's an Ice Road.
I didn't say it's a nice road.
I said it's an Ice Road!

©1996 by Far Beyond Publishing

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