[Verse 1]
He was not my father's brother but he wished that he could be
Told us kids to call him Uncle and we would be his family
He had a wife and kids in Fresno, the youngest one was twenty-four
Daddy brought him into our house, they didn't want him anymore

[Verse 2]
He helped us work the family business building fences in the sun
He worked just like a man of twenty until the working day was done
He and Dad would spend their evenings sittin' in lawn chairs in the yard
Where they’d drink and toast to Seagram’s, Seagram’s never went down hard

[Chorus]
Won't you wake up, Uncle Lloyd
We've got a lot of work today
We'll get Don to make the coffee
Load that truck and be on our way
Friday night you can drive to Vegas
Maybe this time you will win
Buy a trailer by the river
And you won’t have to work again

[Verse 3]
He was sleeping in the workroom on a mattress on the floor
When one night I heard him crying as I passed outside his door
He cried, “Rita, girl, I love you! Rita, darling, please don’t go!
"I’ve tried hard to make you happy; I’ve tried everything I know”
[Verse 4]
Then I heard the bottle open, tipping up and putting down
And the rustling of the covers, then he did not make a sound
I thought of thirty years of Rita standing sternly by his side
All the years of hanging in there and all the emptiness inside
Then I thought of how their children have children of their own
And how a man at fifty-seven winds up living so alone

[Chorus]
Won't you wake up, Uncle Lloyd
We've got a lot of work today
We'll get Don to make the coffee
Load that truck and be on our way
Friday night you can drive to Vegas
Maybe this time you will win
Buy a trailer by the river
And you won’t have to work again

[Outro]
(Oh, you'll never work again)