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When Cabot landed on our rocky shores,
Over five hundred years ago,
Codfish teamed on the banks and the bays,
"Food basket of the world," we're told.
With generous quotas and ships of steel,
They pillaged it endlessly,
Now it's make-work projects, moratoriums,
Instead of a living from the sea.
Will the sun ever shine on those pine-clad hills,
Where our fathers stood long ago?
Will mountains crumble, seas run dry,
Before our people ever know?
Will there ever be a time on this wind swept rock,
When have-not will be forever banned?
While we're awaiting for the sun to shine,
Tell me, who's guarding Newfoundland?
The mighty Churchill River with its endless power,
Keeps rolling on down to the sea,
Lighting up the parks in Disneyland,
For all the world to come and see.
But with big time bargaining and little foresight,
The devil's pact was signed,
Sixty more years of profit margins,
Stalled on the dotted line.
Will the sun ever shine on those pine-clad hills,
Where our fathers stood long ago?
Will mountains crumble, seas run dry,
Before our people ever know?
Will there ever be a time on this wind swept rock,
When have-not will be forever banned?
While we're awaiting for the sun to shine,
Tell me, who's guarding Newfoundland?
Oh, Hibernia, you've been our hope,
For a quarter century or more,
Billion dollar rigs in the North Atlantic,
Sucking up oil through the ocean floor.
But accords and agreements have short ended sticks,
Handled up in Ottawa,
So it's high expectations and low returns,
Not what the prophets foresaw.
Will the sun ever shine on those pine-clad hills,
Where our fathers stood long ago?
Will mountains crumble, seas run dry,
Before our people ever know?
Will there ever be a time on this wind swept rock,
When have-not will be forever banned?
While we're awaiting for the sun to shine,
Tell me, who's guarding Newfoundland?
Those nickel deposits up in Labrador,
Sent stock markets all in a spin,
Speculation, smelters and shares,
Setting our dreams on fire again.
But heavy-handed companies with high bottom lines,
Pushed all those dreams in the shade,
So it's watch and wonder, waffle and wait,
Trust in the tourist trade.
Will the sun ever shine on those pine-clad hills,
Where our fathers stood long ago?
Will mountains crumble, seas run dry,
Before our people ever know?
Will there ever be a time on this wind swept rock,
When have-not will be forever banned?
While we're awaiting for the sun to shine,
Tell me, who's guarding Newfoundland?
Won't you tell me who's guarding Newfoundland??....
