The Boardwalk at Skagway
Words and Music by Tom May


As I walked the streets of this old boomtown, I reflected upon the change in the American personality in the last 100 years. Written in Livingston, Montana.


Verse 1
In the town of old Skagway, the summer ends soon
Colored leaves light the ancient stone ridge
As we turn on a wing, to land into a gale, Alaska seems dreamlike and dim
I have read all the tales of the men who came here
In steamers, life’s savings in hand
On the last great adventure, as the frontier was closed, seeking gold in this beautiful land

Chorus
But the boardwalk at Skagway is quiet and cold, as I walk in this raw autumn wind
The wood is scarred by the boots of the men who passed through
Never to walk here again, never to walk here again

Verse 2
Take a pick and a shovel, a mule and an axe
Enough food to last for a year
Pack it up to the border on many long hikes
Build a lean-to to shelter the gear
Then wait til the snow cracks the Lake Bennet ice
And those Yukon winter tales have been told
Time to put in the boat, that you built in the snow,
To float down to Dawson , and gold

Chorus
But the boardwalk at Skagway is quiet and cold, as I walk in this raw autumn wind
The wood is scarred by the boots of the men who passed through
Never to walk here again, never to walk here again

Verse 3 Now it seems times have changed and most people prefer,
To watch their adventures at home
To the descendants of Robert Service, and Jack London,
Comfort is all that we’ve known
But I can’t help but wonder, as I look up that trail, where so many men and horses did die
In the frost, and the mud, of the harsh Yukon winter, would I dare to take the trail that they tried

Chorus
But the boardwalk at Skagway is quiet and cold, as I walk in this raw autumn wind
The wood is scarred by the boots of the men who passed through
Never to walk here again, never to walk here again

Verse 4
So tonight as I drift off in Skagway Alaska
I dream of the Klondiker’s gold
I think I know why they left home and family behind
And bartered, what could not be sold
They traveled to see the peaks of the Yukon, and grab a gold handful of dust
For me, like those miners of old 98-this adventure is treasure enough

Chorus
But the boardwalk at Skagway is quiet and cold, as I walk in this raw autumn wind
The wood is scarred by the boots of the men who passed through
Never to walk here again, never to walk here again

©1992 Blue Vignette Publishing, ASCAP