Summer Wages (1971 version)

[Verse 1]
Never hit 17 when you play against the dealer
Oh, you know that the odds won't ride with you
Never leave your woman alone when your friends are out to steal her
Years are gambled and gone like summer wages

[Verse 2]
And we'll keep rollin' on 'til we get to Vancouver
And the woman that I love who's livin' there
It's been six long months and more since I've seen her
Maybe gambled and gone like summer wages

[Chorus]
In all the beer parlors all down along Main Street
The dreams of the seasons are all spilled down on the floor
Of the big stands of timber just waitin' for fallin'
And the hookers standin' watchfully waitin' by the door

[Verse 3]
So I'll work on the towboats with my slippery city shoes
Which I swore I would never do again
Through the grey fogbound straits where the cedars stand watchin'
I'll be far off and gone like summer wages

[Chorus]
In all the beer parlors all down along Main Street
The dreams of the seasons are all spilled down on the floor
Of the big stands of timber just waitin' for fallin'
And the hookers standin' watchfully waitin' by the door

[Verse 4]
So never hit 17 when you play against the dealer
For you know that the odds won't ride with you
Never leave your woman alone when your friends are out to steal her
Years are gambled and lost like summer wages

[Outro]
Years are gambled and lost like summer wages