I heard an interview with Gordie Johnson where he said this song is about a guy leaving Newfoundland becasue he couldn' find work, and traveling to Alberta where there is more work than people. Regarding the reference to Kipling, I'm pretty sure that oil hadn't been discovered at the time he was around and Medicine Hat sits on vast natural gas reserves, not oil. I don't think Kipling mad the trek to 'the Hat' as he was in India most of the time. So there.
I heard an interview with Gordie Johnson where he said this song is about a guy leaving Newfoundland becasue he couldn' find work, and traveling to Alberta where there is more work than people. Regarding the reference to Kipling, I'm pretty sure that oil hadn't been discovered at the time he was around and Medicine Hat sits on vast natural gas reserves, not oil. I don't think Kipling mad the trek to 'the Hat' as he was in India most of the time. So there.