Country Music (Story)/Aces, Straights and Flushes [Song]
by Utah Phillips

Aces, straights and flushes, that's the game my Daddy played.
If the gambling went 'till morning, that's how late my Daddy stayed.
He bought shoes for all us kids with the money that he made.
Aces, straights and flushes, that's the game my Daddy played.

Some say my Daddy was a good-for-nothing man,
But he'd come home each morning with the money in his hand.
There was chicken on the table, and the rent was always paid.
From those aces, straights and flushes, the game my Daddy played.

Aces, straights and flushes, that's the game my Daddy played.
If the gambling went 'till morning, that's how late my Daddy stayed.
He bought shoes for all us kids with the money that he made.
Aces, straights and flushes, that's the game my Daddy played.

Now Mama, she ran off with some fast-talking man,
Daddy took to gambling just to feed our little clan.
Sometimes it was Blackjack, sometimes Seven Stud,
But those aces, straights and flushes, lord, they ran in Daddy's blood.

Aces, straights and flushes, that's the game my Daddy played.
If the gambling went 'till morning, that's how late my Daddy stayed.
He bought shoes for all us kids with the money that he made.
Aces, straights and flushes, that's the game my Daddy played.

Then came the time my Daddy played his biggest game,
For the love of a woman, and the honor of her name.
When the smoke had cleared, the cards had all been played,
Daddy gave up gambling and took up...the trombone.

Aces, straights and flushes, that's the game my Daddy played.
If the gambling went 'till morning, that's how late my Daddy stayed.
He bought shoes for all us kids with the money that he made.
Aces, straights and flushes, that's the game my Daddy played.
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Lyrics submitted by AJ.