# Wrapped Up Like a Deuce ... again... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [March 18, 2001, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrapped-up-like-a-deuce-again/58449 "2001-03-18T04:53:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JD\_Fensty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b3f665/32.png) [@JD\_Fensty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JD_Fensty)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrapped-up-like-a-deuce-again/58449/1 "2001-03-18T04:53:34Z")
OK, I know this one constantly rears it’s ugly head. But I’ve never seen this proposed before… I just got finished listening to an old Chuck Berry song I’d never heard before, “A Deuce.” The gist of the song, is Chuck meets this girl, they smoke some marijuana, they drive around looking for a motel, can’t find one, park, smoke some more, etc. I assumed at first “A Deuce” was going to refer to the car, thinking it’d be the 32 Ford that great car-song writers like Berry refer to a lot. Nope. Last verse, “So I lit another deuce…” I never heard marijuana referred to as “a deuce” before this, but it sure does fit the whole “Blinded by the light” motif a little better than the 32 Ford theory. (Maybe deuce as ryhmes with “doob”? Or 2 inch rolling papers?) “Wrapped up like a Deuce” - obviously he rolls his own. I won’t take it any further (but I could - blinded by the light (ever light a smoke - tobacco or otherwise - in the dark?) and the general “out there” theme / lyrics of the song…) Personally until I hear from Bruce himself this is what I’m going to assume he was talking about… JD ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrapped-up-like-a-deuce-again/58449/2 "2001-03-18T05:30:03Z")
Welcome to the SDMB. A link to the column is appreciated. [In “Blinded by the Light,” what exactly is the lyric following the title phrase?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_148.html) Among other things, a deuce is $2 worth of drugs. I have no idea if that’s the sense Chuck Berry meant, or how much marijuana that would buy in those days. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrapped-up-like-a-deuce-again/58449/3 "2001-03-18T16:28:00Z")
J.E. Lighter _American Slang_ , says that _deuce_, especially in Black English, referred to two of something, and goes on to quote from a 1943 _Time_ article–“Gimme an ace”(meaning one reefer), “a deuce”(meaning two), or “a deck”(meaning a large number). So all Chuck perhaps meant, was, that he lit up two more joints. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrapped-up-like-a-deuce-again/58449/4 "2001-03-18T16:47:36Z")
Welcome to the SDMB, and thank you for posting your comment. Please include a link to Cecil’s column if it’s on the straight dope web site. To include a link, it can be as simple as including the web page location in your post (make sure there is a space **before** and **after** the text of the URL). Cecil’s column can be found on-line at the link provided by **bibliophage**. The column ( **including** Slug Signorino’s illustration) can also be found on pages 148-149 of Cecil Adams’ book «[_Triumph of the Straight Dope_](http://www.straightdope.com/otheroutlets/books.html)». * * * moderator, «[**Comments on Cecil’s Columns**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/forumdisplay.php?forumid=1)» ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2001, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrapped-up-like-a-deuce-again/58449/5 "2001-03-20T01:54:56Z")
**JD Fensty** Hope you are still reading this. You said > [@](#): > > “Wrapped up like a Deuce” . Manfred Mann actually said _revved_ up like a deuce. Cecil got it wrong in his column. Waiting for Bruce to come forward with the meaning will be lonely–his original version said _Cut loose like a deuce another runner in the night_. Cecil got Bruce’s words correct. So forget all the references to smokes and drugs in _Blinded by the Light_. ---
**Author:** ![JD\_Fensty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b3f665/32.png) [@JD\_Fensty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JD_Fensty)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2001, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrapped-up-like-a-deuce-again/58449/6 "2001-03-20T07:04:32Z")
Ahh… samclem you got me there, you’re right. I was so hyped up when I heard the Berry song, I jumped straight to the Manfred Mann version in my head and forgot the original lyrics. I’d have to agree, “cut loose like a deuce…” doesn’t fit at all. The Manfred Mann, if it is “revved” wouldn’t fit either and would lean the whole thing back to the 32 Coupe hypothesis. If it’s “wrapped” in their song, though, it could be an intentional “misquote” on their part. I listened to the song a few more times and I dunno, they slur so much it could be “revved” “wrapped” or even “racked” so do you have a definitive source on the lyrics somewhere? JD (who agrees at least that Bruce is off the hook 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![bluebottle1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7993a0/32.png) [@bluebottle1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bluebottle1)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2001, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrapped-up-like-a-deuce-again/58449/7 "2001-03-23T22:50:22Z")
It’s strange to me that no one has proposed this explanation for “cut loose like a deuce” as it seems pretty obvious to me, but what the heck, here goes. In cards (and poker, in particular), a “deuce” is a two. In draw poker, you try to get the highest value cards so you get rid of (or “cut loose”) the low value cards. Hence, “cut loose like a deuce.” As for “another runner in the night” and anything at all to do with Manfred Mann, his Earth Band, or otherwise, you’re on your own.