The Gambler

The Gambler es un grandísimo tema country escrito por Don Schlitz en 1976. La primera vez que fue grabada fue por el cantante de country Bobby Bare para su álbum Bare. Al no tener mucho éxito, el propio Schlitz decidió grabarla él mismo, pero tampoco consiguió posicionarse en lo alto de las listas musicales. La canción no obstante gustó a otros artistas que decidieron grabarla como es el caso de Johnny Cash para su álbum Gone Girls de 1978 y Kenny Rogers en el mismo año para su álbum que llevó por título el mismo que el de la canción y con el que consiguió el Grammy a la mejor interpretación masculina en 1980. Y fue el gran Kenny Rogers quien consiguió un gran éxito con la canción, llegando al Nº 1 en las listas de música country e incluso llegó a las primeras posiciones en las listas de pop. Posteriormente ha tenido muchas más versiones, pero la que la hizo llegar a lo más alto, sin duda fue la que hizo Kenny Rogers.
Hoy 21 de marzo de 2020 llega la triste noticia del fallecimiento de Rogers y este post es un pequeño homenaje a uno de los mejores cantantes de country, una auténtica leyenda que se va pero nos deja sus canciones que si ya eran eternas, ahora lo son mucho más.

On a warm summer's eve
On a train bound for nowhere
I met up with the gambler
We were both too tired to sleep
So we took turns a-starin'
Out the window at the darkness
The boredom overtook us,
And he began to speak

He said, "Son, I've made a life
Out of readin' people's faces
Knowin' what the cards were
By the way they held their eyes
So if you don't mind me sayin'
I can see you're out of aces
For a taste of your whiskey
I'll give you some advice"

So I handed him my bottle
And he drank down my last swallow
Then he bummed a cigarette
And asked me for a light
And the night got deathly quiet
And his faced lost all expression
He said, "If you're gonna play the game, boy
You gotta learn to play it right

You've 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

Every gambler knows
That the secret to survivin'
Is knowin' what to throw away
And knowin' what to keep
'Cause every hand's a winner
And every hand's a loser
And the best that you can hope for is to die
in your sleep

And when he finished speakin'
He turned back toward the window
Crushed out his cigarette
And faded off to sleep
And somewhere in the darkness
The gambler he broke even
But in his final words
I found an ace that I could keep

You've 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

You've got to know when to hold 'em (when to hold 'em)
Know when to fold 'em (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

You've 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