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When Tom Sukanen left Finland in the late 1800s, he planned on taking everything that the New World had to offer. He dreamed of finding wealth and love. To Tom's surprise, the New World offered him tragedy upon tragedy.

There's a cross beside a ship on the vast Prairie

Forever reaching for the sea

Dust swirls around this misplaced team

The remains of Tom Sukanen's dream

Tom dreamed the New World held the key

He left Finland and he crossed the sea

The land was harsh for one alone

He fell in love and he made a home

Chorus

You can do it all right and it still goes wrong

Where did he find the strength to go on?

How much pain can one man take?

Even the strongest branch can break

They worked the unforgiving land

But nothing grew from their coarse hands

Who can force the land to yield?

Tom set his dreams on the prairie fields

Free land and a brand new start

Put fresh hope in Tom's strong heart

He walked 600 miles straight

He had no map, he walked on faith

You can do it all right and it still goes wrong

Where did he find the strength to go on?

How much pain can one man take?

Even the strongest branch can break

The prairie sun, it promised a rich life

Tom got his land and went back for his wife

But his wife had died and his kids were gone

Through all this the sun still shone

Tom searched and found his only son

'Cause two is so much more than one

They were stopped three miles from Canadian land

They took his son and they broke that man

Tom walked home to the sun-scorched land

His dreamed of making a ship by hand

He could make a ship, he could sail away

He worked for six years night and day

His neighbours called him the "Crazy Finn"

Wasting that money was such a sin

So they busted up his ship out of jealousy and hate

Then put him away to seal his fate

You can do it all right and it still goes wrong

Where did he find the strength to go on?

How much pain can one man take?

Even the strongest branch can break

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Many thanks to Shawna Audet for permission to display these lyric excerpts.
© Shawna Audet. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

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