Kentucky Gambler - Merle Haggard, The Strangers

I wanted more from life, than four kids and a wife

And a job in a dark Kentucky mine

A twenty acre farm, with a shaky house and barn

That’s all I had and all I left behind

But at gambling, I was lucky, and so I left Kentucky

And left behind my woman and my kids

Into the gay casinos, of Nevada’s town of Reno

This Kentucky Gambler planned to get rich quick

Kentucky gambler who’s going to love your woman in Kentucky

Yeah and who’s going to be the one to give her all she needs

Kentucky gambler, who’s going to raise your children in Kentucky

And who’s going to keep them fed and keep them shoes on their feet

There at the gambler’s Paradise, Lady luck was on my side

And this Kentucky gambler played just right

Hey, I wanted everything I played, I really thought I had it made

But I should have quit and gone on home that night

But when you love the green backed dollar, sorrow always bound to follow

And Reno’s dreams fade into neon amber

And Lady Luck, she’ll lead you on, she’ll stay a while, and then she’s gone

You better go on home, Kentucky gambler

But a gambler never seems to stop till he loses all he’s got

And with a money-hungry fever, I played on

I played till I’d lost all I’d won, I was right back where I’d started from

Then I started wanting to go home

Kentucky gambler, there ain’t nobody, waiting in Kentucky

When I ran out, somebody else walked in

Kentucky gambler, looks like you ain’t really very lucky

And it seems to me a gambler loses much more than he wins

Much more than he wins