# Needed: Songs with Gambling References
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needed-songs-with-gambling-references/283049
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [January 4, 2005, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needed-songs-with-gambling-references/283049 "2005-01-04T16:46:18Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@marky33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marky33)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2005, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needed-songs-with-gambling-references/283049/41 "2005-01-05T10:27:53Z")
**You Better You Bet** : The Who
**Lucky Number** : Lene Lovich
**Luck’s Up** : PIL
**Russian Roulette** : Lords of the New Church
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### Author:  [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2005, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needed-songs-with-gambling-references/283049/42 "2005-01-05T11:43:42Z")
_Dehlia_ by David Bromberg
Its an old blues tune about a girl who gambled too long
“Dehlia was a gamblin’ girl,
She gambled all around.
Oh she was a gamblin’ girl,
She would lay her money down.”
“She all I got is gone.”
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### Author:  [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2005, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needed-songs-with-gambling-references/283049/43 "2005-01-05T12:08:06Z")
_Mr. Mudd and Mr. Gold_ By Townes Van Zandt. He has a bunch more about gambling or with a least a reference but I think you wouldn’t necessarily want to give them to someone who intends to make a living out of it! This is the least gloomy one I could think of.
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### Author:  [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2005, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needed-songs-with-gambling-references/283049/44 "2005-01-05T12:11:19Z")
[Lyrics](http://home3.swipnet.se/~w-36794/tvz/tvz_025.html) for abovementioned song.
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### Author:  [@quiltguy154](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy154)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2005, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needed-songs-with-gambling-references/283049/45 "2005-01-05T12:22:56Z")
There’s a Henry Mancini,IIRC, song entitled “Mr. Lucky.” It was the theme for a TV series way back when, about a gambler who made a fortune, then helped out people in need. Cary Grant, again IIRC, starred in the movie on which the series is based.
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### Author:  [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2005, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needed-songs-with-gambling-references/283049/46 "2005-01-05T12:46:02Z")
“Bones” by Ray Wylie Hubbard. . .
> [@](#):
>
> We drive out of town across the river
> to this club called Three Deuces
> We walk in and my daddy says
> “I’m feelin’ my juices”
> There’s a crap game going on in the back room
> and right off he throws a seven
> He says “Let it ride” and with the devil’s good graces the old man
> throws an eleven
>
> Shakin’ them bones
> Shakin’ them bones
> Shakin’ them bones
> Ah baby needs a new pair of shoes
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### Author:  [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2005, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needed-songs-with-gambling-references/283049/47 "2005-01-05T18:13:51Z")
The Stranger by Leonard Cohen
[http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/Leonard-Cohen/The-Stranger-Song.html](http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/Leonard-Cohen/The-Stranger-Song.html)
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### Author:  [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2005, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needed-songs-with-gambling-references/283049/48 "2005-01-05T18:33:21Z")
“A Boy Named Sue”
Well, it was Gatlinburg in mid-July
And I just hit town and my throat was dry,
I thought I’d stop and have myself a brew.
At an old saloon on a street of mud,
There at a table, dealing stud,
Sat the dirty, mangy dog that named me “Sue.”
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### Author:  [@Judith\_Prietht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Judith_Prietht)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2005, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needed-songs-with-gambling-references/283049/49 "2005-01-05T20:47:45Z")
Lady With the Spinning Head by U2. A song, obviously, about roulette.
Bottle of Smoke by The Pogues:
> [@](#):
>
> Twenty fucking five to one
> Me gambling days are done
> I bet on a horse called the bottle of smoke
> And my horse won
Of course, you have to shout “My horse won!”
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### Author:  [@carlb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlb)
#### Post date: [January 7, 2005, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needed-songs-with-gambling-references/283049/50 "2005-01-07T19:39:00Z")
Desperado, by the Eagles (or Clint Black):
> [@](#):
>
> Don’t you draw the Queen of Diamonds, boy.
> She’ll beat you if she’s able.
> You know the Queen of Hearts is always your best bet.
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### Author:  [@Grits\_and\_Hard\_Toast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grits_and_Hard_Toast)
#### Post date: [January 7, 2005, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needed-songs-with-gambling-references/283049/51 "2005-01-07T21:30:01Z")
Great idea for a going away present! I have made several of these over the years for certain people or certain occasions, and they have always been big hits.
What I have found is my CD’s start out right on topic with the obvious choices, then move onto the not so obvious, but still applicable. Then comes the desperate part, songs that are vaguely related to the topic, and then the really creative part, the ones that are a real stretch. Often the desperate part is the most fun and most memorable part.
So here are some choices for the desperate part of the CD.
Run For the Roses: Dan Foggleberg It is about the Kentucky Derby, but that is one of the biggest betting events of the year I would imagine.
You’re So Vain: Carly Simon Mentions going to Saratoga where his horse naturally won.
Bad Bad Leroy Brown: He was a gambler, stood about six foot four.
Take This Job and Shove It: Johnny Paycheck Not a gambling song, but fits with the theme of quitting a job.
Take It to The Limit: Eagles Gambling term, that’s all.
Indian Reservation: Paul Revere and the Raiders Hey, lots of Indian reservations have casinos now.
Roll With It: Steve Winwood Could be about shooting craps.
Hold Me Now: Thompson Twins A lot of holding going on in poker.
Put Your Hand in the Hand: Ocean OK, that one is really pushing it, but he will be playing a lot of hands.
And how about ending with Frank Sinatra’s I Did It My Way? I imagine many people will question the wisdom of his choosing to quit his job to gamble, but it is his life, and he is living it his way, more power to him.
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### Author:  [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)
#### Post date: [January 7, 2005, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needed-songs-with-gambling-references/283049/52 "2005-01-07T21:53:17Z")
[QUOTE]
The Grateful Dead have a lot of songs about gambling. …/QUOTE]
“Me and My Uncle” is all about cheatin’ at cards.
You might find “Loser” under the Jerry Garcia Band as well as the Dead. I Mention it and “Deal” because they’re all about gambling, not just songs with a throw away reference to cards or a dice game
(as mentioned, finding a gambling reference in a Dead song is easier than finding a Biblical reference in a Dylan song, or the word ‘love’ in a Beatles tune. Though not as easy as finding ‘corazon’ in a song in spanish. But I digress.)
Or, if your musical tastes aren’t into d\*\*n hippies, **The Clash** do a version of “Stagger Lee” on\* London Calling\*, though it’s more about stealing and killing than gambling. But sin is sin, right?
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