Small town Nebraska circa 1981 country was big: Alabama, the OakRidge Boys, and, of course, Kenny Rogers. Kenny with his mane of black/sliver hair and awesome grizzly man beard was a thoughtful almost philosophical artist in comparison to, "Oh play me some mountain music..." or some song that went "Elvira om-popa-uh-ma my hearts on fire for Elvira". No Kenny was laying down advice from his high perch on the popular culture mountain and all the kids on the bus knew the words by heart to The Gambler.
Okay so yesterday I heard this song on the radio. I just sort of stumbled on it. I still knew all the words. And alls I've got to say what kinda cockamamie advice is that. I'll tell you what kinda advice that is...it is the kind of advice you get from near dead degenerate on a train smoking cigarettes and begging for whiskey. Or in other words not very good or even comprehensible advice.
Let's look at the advice the dying sage whiskey grubber gives before he dies in sleep:
"You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em.
Know when to walk away, and know when to run.
You never count your money, when you're sittin' at the table.
There'll be time enough for countin', when the dealin's done."
Not much advice for a two minute ballad, but when you separate the wheat from the chaff that is all you get. There is the hold'em/fold'em advice; walk away/ run advice; and there is the countin' advice. What clearly stands out about the hold'em/fold'em advice and the walk away/ run advice is that it is all very, very, very, very vague. I'd say it is not even helpful. Maybe the gambler could have gave some more tips about when to run perhaps and maybe some examples of what is hold'em situation. I think the song says a little more about Kenny, than "the gambler", that Kenny could be hoodwinked by this old guy that only wants his whiskey by vague sayings he perceives as wisdom. And further Kenny thought this advice was sooooo important he had to record a song about it. Now there is the countin' advice, you shouldn't count your money when your sittin' at the table. Okay that is flat out stupid. You probably should know how much money you have when you go gambling because you may not be counting much when the dealing is done because you made a bunch of dumb bets not knowing how much money you had following the gamblers advice.
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3 comments:
Maybe you just shouldn't gamble in the first place...but then, again, what would Kenny Rodgers ramble on about?
Isn't that from a Muppets Show episode? It's stunning to remember how much I liked that album. Easily the best part of that album was the cover.
Yes I think you tube said it was the muppets but it must of been a special guest appearance of those puppets in the gensis video. The muppets had some really good artist on the show John Denver, Johnny Cash, Alice Cooper and Buddy Rich in a drum dual with animal.
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