Never hit seventeen When you play against the dealer You know that the odds Won't ride with you And never leave your woman alone With your friends around to steal her She'll be gambled and gone Like summer wages
And we'll keep rollin' on 'Til we get to Vancouver And the woman that I love She's living there It's been six long months And more since I've seen her Years have gambled and gone Like summer wages
In all the beer parlors All down along Main Street The dreams of the seasons Get all spilled down on the floor All the big stands of timber Just waiting for the falling And the hookers stand watchfully Waiting by the door
So I'll work on the towboats With my slippery city shoes Which lord I swore I would never do again Through the the gray fog-bound straits Where the cedars stand watching I'll be far off and gone Like summer wages
Never hit seventeen When you play against the dealer You know that the odds Won't ride with you And never leave your woman alone With your friends around to steal her She'll be gambled and gone Like summer wages
And the years are gambled and lost Like summer wages.