Gambler’s Blues

Lyrics

[Verse 1: Bill Morrissey] Jack of Diamonds slipped between two tens He said, "Hide me, boys, 'til the season ends I've been sharecropping for the Ace, King, Queen And toward the end the game turned mean The one game in town and I'm bound to lose And I just can't shake these gambler's blues" [Verse 2: Bill Morrissey] Miss Downtown got her hair all wet She got caught by the storm, now she's so upset And she dries herself by the kitchen sink As she quietly counts up everyone's drinks And she can't control what she can't refuse This one last shelter from the gambler's blues [Bridge: Bill Morrissey & Ellis Paul, Bill Morrissey] Ah, the gambler's blues coming 'round the curve Leave you with nothing but your broken nerves You listen to the fire as you shovel in coal Stick your head out the window, see the drive wheels roll [Verse 3: Bill Morrissey] St. Louis knows that he can't survive With a broken horn and a Rico Five Still he walks this bar with his head held high And he honks and hollers 'til the well runs dry And the Jack of Diamonds had to give him the news There ain't no good notes in the gambler's blues [Verse 4: Bill Morrissey] Then smoke fills the room 'cause the wood's too green That's what you get when you buy from the Ace, King, Queen And there's not much light, there's not much heat But you learn to like how it smells so sweet And when you count your change here, you count by twos But you'll never buy off these gambler's blues [Bridge: Bill Morrissey & Ellis Paul, Bill Morrissey] Ah, the gambler's blues coming 'round the curve Leave you with nothing but your broken nerves You listen to the fire as you shovel in the coal Stick your head out the window, see the drive wheels roll [Verse 5: Bill Morrissey] Jack of Diamonds jumps out from the tens He says, "We'll never know how this story ends But you can tell old Bill when he comes home That the Ace, King, Queen took Miss Downtown Home Left him nothing but her old tattoos And a roadmap of these gambler's blues"