Perhaps enough time has gone by that I can finally ask this: am I the only one in the world who is just a little put off by the self-aggrandizing in this song?

"Am I so very different then ... "

Yes, you are. Leaving the settled life behind to take a road-trip along the Trans-Canada from gig to gig in the 1970s is nothing like hacking your way through the northern wilderness in the 16-1700s.