Summer Wages

Never hit seventeen when you play against the dealer
For you know that the odds won't ride with you
And never leave your woman alone when
Your friends are out to steal her
Years are gambled and lost like summer wages

And we'll keep a-rolling on 'til 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
She may be gambled and gone like summer wages

In all the beer taverns, oh, down along Yonge Street
The dreams of the seasons are all spilled down on the floor
All the big stands of timber just waiting for falling
And the hustlers sitting watchfully as they wait there by the door

So I'll work on them towboats with my slippery city shoes
Which I swore I would never do again
Through the gray fogbound straits where the cedars stand watching
I'll be far off and gone like summer wages

She's a woman so fine I may never try to find her
For good memories are what we had before
They should never be changed for they're all that I'll take with me
Now I've gambled and lost my summer wages

Years are gambled and lost like summer wages