The single was Lefty Frizzell's sixth and final number one on the U.S. country chart.

[1] "Saginaw, Michigan" spent a total of 23 weeks on the country chart and peaked at number 85 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The song is sung from the point of view of the working-class son of a fisherman from the titular city of Saginaw, Michigan, who falls in love with the daughter of a much wealthier man.

When there is no gold, the singer concocts a ruse and returns to Saginaw: he tells the wealthy man that he had struck a huge amount of gold and sells the worthless plot to the rich man for him to develop.

The song ends with the bamboozled rich man searching in vain for the gold in Alaska, while his daughter gladly accepts the singer's hand in marriage.