Summer Wages

(album: As Is - 1981)

Never hit seventeen when you play against the dealer
For you know the odds won't ride with you
Never leave your woman alone when your friends around to steal her
Years I've gambled and lost like summer wages.

And we'll keep rolling on till 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
May be gambled and gone like summer wages.

In all of the beer bars 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 falling
And the hookers waiting watchfully as they sit there by the door.

So, I'll work on the towboats with my slippery city shoes on
Which I swore I would never do again
Through the gray fog-bound straits where the cedars stand a waiting
I'll be far off and gone like summer wages.

In all of the beer bars 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 falling
And the hookers waiting watchfully as they sit there by the door.

So, I'll work on the towboats with my slippery city shoes on
Which I swore I would never do again
Through the gray fog-bound straits where the cedars stand a waiting
I'll be far off and gone like summer wages.

Years I've gambled and lost like summer wages...