Shauna Seeteenak - Surviving the North Lyrics

This is the place that we call home

I feel like I keep walking in the same damn spot
I feel like I’m moving forward, but then I’m not
How could I live here when I can’t afford housing
How can I be healthy when the food is lousy

If you wanna live up here, you gotta fight to survive
Cause living here sometimes makes you wanna die
Four months of darkness creeps to your head
You gotta have a really fucking high will to live

It doesn’t help being stuck between both worlds
I’m fucking confused, it makes my head twirl
Every day I step in the puddles of living poverty
It’s the result of living forced sovereignty

These questions stay on my mind
Many minds fell ill cause we left them behind
Is this pain gonna be passed onto the next generation?
This is so wrong

So you think you’re strong? You think you’re tough, yeah?
But do you have what it takes to survive in the north?
Cause it gets a little bit rough here
This is the place that we call home
So come along, or have you had enough here?
Do you have what it takes to survive in the north?
Cause even when it gets a little bit rough here
This is the place that we call home

I thought your home is supposed to feel safe
A comfort zone where you can go at the end of the day
I guess it’s the norm, it’s our reality
I guess it’s the norm to face these adversities

Is it normal to be staring death right in his face
As he patiently waits and counts down the days?
Man, this shit is so wrong in so many places
And we go through this life on a daily basis

I been thinking about this shit lately
I speak the truth, you see it daily
If you don’t like it, then you can hate me
I won’t keep quiet you can’t make me

You gotta be tough living up in the north
Fighting survival is what we’re living for
I wish for things to drastically change
I fantasize about a peaceful home everyday

So you think you’re strong? You think you’re tough, yeah?
But do you have what it takes to survive in the north?
Cause it gets a little bit rough here
This is the place that we call home
So come along, or have you had enough here?
Do you have what it takes to survive in the north?
Cause even when it gets a little bit rough here
This is the place that we call home

You wouldn't understand ‘til you walked in my shoes
What I see in my life is raw, but it’s the truth
Many here don’t wanna believe that this is how they are
Too many would rather forget their troubles at the bar

I feel like we're going forward but standing in the one spot
I feel like there’s change coming but then it's not
How could we live here when we don’t have support?
How can we be heard if we're being ignored?

I've seen so many people calling for help
How can we help when we can’t even help ourselves?
We need to work together now in order to heal
Let us open our eyes to see what's real

One day we’ll stop surviving and just live
The first steps to learn is to be able to forgive
Forgive yourself and forgive what others did
But for now it really is what it is

So you think you’re strong? You think you’re tough, yeah?
But do you have what it takes to survive in the north?
Cause it gets a little bit rough here
This is the place that we call home
So come along, or have you had enough here?
Do you have what it takes to survive in the north?
Cause even when it gets a little bit rough here
This is the place that we call home