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