The Story: Don't eat the fruit in the garden, Eden,, It wasn't in God's natural plan., You were only a rib,, And look at what you did,, To Adam, the father of Man.
The Story: You smell like goat, I'll see you in hell
Whether providing the foundation for a metaphor or offering advice applicable to a game situation, many songs choose to embrace the theme of card games in their lyrics. Here's a look at three of the most famous songs about card games that many people haven't quite got the gist of.
Kenny Rogers' most famous song tells the story of a meeting with a gambler, who bestows the listener with a wealth of advice. Unsurprisingly, the song borrows heavily from the lexicon of card games. This may have contributed to many listeners' confusion when trying to interpret the lyrics.
The chorus contains the song's most famous lines: "you've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em". Not only is this sound advice for a card player, but Rogers' clean delivery should also make them impossible to misapprehend. Yet some hear Rogers sing "you've got an old man to hold 'em, an old man to throw them". This is generally considered less sound advice than the song's actual lyrics.
For most people, Motorhead's 'Ace of Spades' goes hand in hand with casinos and cards. After all, the lyrical cues are hardly subtle, with the song itself being named after one of the most significant cards in a deck.
The iconic frontman Lemmy enjoyed playing one-armed bandits, the traditional fruit machines found in clubs. The fun and excitement of fruit machines have since migrated online, with the Motorhead Video Slot one of the music themed slots available.
The slot uses the symbol of cherries against a backdrop of hard rock images, balancing music and gaming in the same way as 'Ace of Spades' did so successfully. Lemmy could have easily chosen to sing about the fruit machines that he used to play, but instead found that 'ace of spades' made a more natural lyric for a metal song.
However, there are some people who don't pick up on the gambling theme because, rather than hearing Lemmy sing about the ace of spades, they hear a declaration that the apes escaped. This somewhat changes the meaning and theme of the song.
Another commonly misheard lyric in the song is "seven to eleven, snake eyes watching you", which for some people has become "from seven to eleven, Satan's watching you". This significantly more sinister interpretation may be a result of the niche terminology of 'snake eyes', the name given to throwing a pair of ones on two dice.
Despite never being released as a single, 'Desperado' has defied the odds to become one of Eagles' most popular songs. Like 'Ace of Spades', the lyrics draw directly from a deck of cards. "Don't you draw the Queen of Diamonds," warns Don Henley. "Don't you call the Queen of Davenport," hear some listeners.
There is confusion beyond the references to card games. "Oh you're a hard one" seems like a reasonably straightforward lyric, but that hasn't stopped some casual listeners hearing "Oh you're an aardvark". There aren't many songs with lyrics directed specifically towards aardvarks.
The unique terminology of card games creates a range of misheard lyrics, especially when these references are snuck into songs with more general themes. The ace of spades and the queen of diamonds are just two of the cards forming a bad hand for some listeners.
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