Summer Wages

Summer Wages    By Ian Tyson             

[Intro]  
G  C  G  Em  D G

G
Never hit seventeen
         C
When you play against the dealer
   G  Em
You know that the odds
              D
Won't ride with you
      G
Never leave your woman alone
          C
With your friends around to steal her
          G Em
She'll be gambled and gone
            D G
Like summer wages


And we'll keep rollin on
Till we get to Vancouver
And the lady that I love
Shes living there
Its been six long months
And more since I've seen her
Maybe she's gambled and gone
Like summer wages


[Chorus]
D
In all the beer parlors
C G
All down along Main Street
    G
The dreams of the season
   C         D
Are spilled down on the floor
     D
All the big stands of timber
          C       G
        Wait there just for fallin'
                   Em
        The hookers stand watchfully
        D    G
        Waitin by the door

I'm going to work on them towboats
With my slippery city shoes
Lord I swore I would never do that again
Through the great fog bound straights
Where the cedars stand waitin
I'll be lost and gone
Like summer wages


[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
G                    Em
And the years are gambled and lost
           D G
Like summer wages