# If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 3, 2026, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-it-wasnt-for-bad-luck-i-wouldnt-have-no-luck-at-all/1031390 "2026-07-03T19:14:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2026, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-it-wasnt-for-bad-luck-i-wouldnt-have-no-luck-at-all/1031390/21 "2026-07-04T13:57:42Z")
This is the lyric I immediately thought of: [Carson Robison ~ Life Gits Tee-Jus Don’t It (1948)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpBavevjYCY&list=RDKpBavevjYCY&start_radio=1) ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2026, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-it-wasnt-for-bad-luck-i-wouldnt-have-no-luck-at-all/1031390/22 "2026-07-04T14:02:50Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > > [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > > > Ok, and that’s a gap in my song knowledge, I don’t know the Hee-Haw song. > > I posted it three hours ago. Sorry, I somehow missed that post. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2026, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-it-wasnt-for-bad-luck-i-wouldnt-have-no-luck-at-all/1031390/23 "2026-07-04T17:18:53Z")
> [@ZonexandScout](#): > > So she signed the contract and then the owner died three days before closing. Her household belongings were literally packed and going on the moving truck when the seller passed. That’s why I said it could have been much worse. > [@Jackmannii](#): > > When we put our last house on the market, woodchucks tunneled under our back steps and partially collapsed them. Then, within days of closing, the sump pump failed, our basement partially flooded and we had to replace the pump. Ditto. We got off lightly, I know. But as Mel Brooks said, “Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die.” Or even a flooded basement. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2026, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-it-wasnt-for-bad-luck-i-wouldnt-have-no-luck-at-all/1031390/24 "2026-07-04T19:44:08Z")
Despite earlier nonce occurrences, “Hee-Haw” is actually what introduced the phrase, or its variants, into the popular lexicon. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2026, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-it-wasnt-for-bad-luck-i-wouldnt-have-no-luck-at-all/1031390/25 "2026-07-04T20:03:49Z")
_Hee-Haw_ started in 1969 and that clip appears to be from the 1970s. Albert King put out his version in 1967 and Cream did its cover on the number one, bazillion-selling album _Wheels of Fire_ in 1968. Several other groups also covered it in the 60s. I know they say there are two Americas, but I’m pretty sure that a number one album isn’t “nonce”. _Hee-Haw’s_ comic sketch was based on the already existing wide familiarity with the line. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2026, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-it-wasnt-for-bad-luck-i-wouldnt-have-no-luck-at-all/1031390/26 "2026-07-04T20:22:43Z")
Our movers put a nice hole in the wall of the place we plan to sell. The company is paying for it, but it’s going to be a whole thing before we can sell it. Also, it is day seven of my life as a homeowner. Yesterday we started the morning with a gas leak. Had to get the energy company out here to tag it, then I had to pay some guy $208 to tighten a screw. You see, when the inspector told us the water heater needed replacing, we asked the seller for a credit (they didn’t ever live in the home and sold it while living in another state.) Rather than give us the credit, they told us they’d replace it for us. Which they did. Badly. According to the repairman, they picked a terrible brand that he doesn’t even service, and after looking at it, he asked me if they installed it themselves, which does not bode well. He fixed it, but told us to expect trouble in the future. And that very same evening, the A/C started shrieking. Now that one we knew about - it’s from 1996! - but it was running fine and we thought we had a little more time. And I happen to know from the last time I called the guy that his Monday’s already booked. It’s gonna be a hot weekend. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2026, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-it-wasnt-for-bad-luck-i-wouldnt-have-no-luck-at-all/1031390/27 "2026-07-04T20:27:17Z")
My first thought was to continue “gloom, despair, and agony on me.” ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2026, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-it-wasnt-for-bad-luck-i-wouldnt-have-no-luck-at-all/1031390/28 "2026-07-04T20:30:43Z")
Fair enough, but if you ask 100 people of a certain age where they first heard it. I would venture the majority would say “Hee Haw” as opposed to “Cream” or Albert King (God forbid!), unless you can show something that disputes that. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2026, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-it-wasnt-for-bad-luck-i-wouldnt-have-no-luck-at-all/1031390/29 "2026-07-04T23:48:03Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Our movers put a nice hole in the wall of the place we plan to sell. The company is paying for it, but it’s going to be a whole thing before we can sell it. ISWYDT ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2026, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-it-wasnt-for-bad-luck-i-wouldnt-have-no-luck-at-all/1031390/30 "2026-07-05T01:46:56Z")
Huh. I just asked your imaginary 100 people and 82 of them said Cream. The other 18 just said, “it’s always been there, like the wind.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-it-wasnt-for-bad-luck-i-wouldnt-have-no-luck-at-all/1031390.md?page=1)