Ian Tyson Summer Wages Lyrics

Never hit seventeen
When you play against the dealer
For you know the odds
Won't ride with you
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
'Till we get to Vancouver
And the lady that I love
She's livin' there
It's been six long months
And more since I've seen her
Maybe she's gambled and gone
Like summer wages

(Chorus)
In all the beer parlors
All down along Main Steet
The dreams of the season
Are spilled down on the floor
The big stands of timber
Wait there just for fallin' The hookers waiting watchfully
Standin' by the door

I'm going to work on the towboats
With my slippery city shoes
Lord, I swore I would never do that again
Through the great fog-bound streets
Where the cedars stand a-waitin'
I'll be lost and gone
Like summer wages
(Break - fiddle same as verse)

(Chorus)
Never hit seventeen
When you play against the dealer
You know that the odds
Won't ride with you
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