Never hit seventeen
When you play against the dealer
For you know
The odds won't ride with you
Never leave your woman alone
When your friends around to steal her
Years I've gambled
And lost like summer wages
And we'll keep rolling on
Till we get to Vancouver
And the woman that I love
Is living there
It's been six long months
And more since I've seen her
May be gambled and gone
Like summer wages
In all of the beer bars
Down along Main Street
The dreams of the seasons
Are all spilled down on the floor
All the big stands of timber
Just waiting for the falling
And the hookers waiting watchfully
As they sit there by the door
So, I'll work on the towboats
With my slippery city shoes on
Which I swore
I would never do again
Through the gray fog-bound straits
Where the cedars stand a waiting
I'll be far off
And gone like summer wages
In all of the beer bars
Down along Main Street
The dreams of the seasons
Are all spilled down on the floor
All the big stands of timber
Just waiting for the falling
And the hookers waiting watchfully
As they sit there by the door
So, I'll work on the towboats
With my slippery city shoes on
Which I swore
I would never do again
Through the gray fog-bound straits
Where the cedars stand a waiting
I'll be far off
And gone like summer wages
Years I've gambled
And lost like summer wages