Sentient Cement Coverpile - Kenny Rogers

The Gambler - Kenny Rogers

D D9-D-D4-D-D9-D (x2)

         D      D9-D - D4-D-D9-D     G                     D         D9-D
On a warm summer's evening . . . on a train bound for nowhere
G                            D D9-D               D            /C# /B A
     Met up with the gambler . . we were both too tired to sleep
                   D               D4-D       G                   D           D9-D
So we took turns a-staring out the window at the darkness
      G                  D        D9-D      A7             D
Till boredom overtook us . . . and he began to speak

G          D         ||           |||   D4-D||       G          |||          D 0030-D||
He said son I've made a life . . . . out of reading people's faces
G                 |       |       D      |     |      |     |       | |   | | | |      A - |--|
    Knowing what their cards were by the way they held their eyes
           D           ||             |||     D4-D|          G   |          |||       D - |--|
And if you don't mind my saying . . . . I can see you're out of aces
       | G                  D - | - - |        A    |           |       D      G-|-|
For a taste of your whiskey . . I'll give you some advice

|    | D         ||           |||   D4-D||       G          |||          D 0030-D||
So I handed him my bottle and he drank down my last swallow
G                 |       |       D      |     |      |     |       | |   | | | |      A - |--|
    Then he bummed a cigarette and asked me for a light
              D           ||         |||     D4-D|          G   |          |||     D    0030-D
And the night got deathly quiet . . . . and his face lost all expression
|       | |          G - |   | | |        D - |   - |             A |    | |       | D | |
Said if you're gonna play the game boy ya gotta learn to play it right

G |       |     |   D         ||           |||         D4-D|| G           |||          D 0030-D||
    You got to know when to hold 'em . . . . . . . know when to fold 'em
G            |    |    |   D | | | | | |||               |    |    | A - | -
    Know when to walk away . . . know when to run
                 D      G     D |   D4-D|                    G   |   | | |     D |
You never count your money . . . . when you're settin' at the table
G              D       G | |        D     | --|-- A(sust)                      D D9-D-D4-D-D9-D
There'll be time enough for counting . . . . when the dealing's done

D|| D9-D-D4-D-D9-D

         E       ||           |||         0222-E|               A |     |||      E |--|
Now every gambler knows . . . . . . . . that the secret to surviving
    A   |       |||          E   -   | --|    |      |     |       |       |   B - | -- | -
Is knowing what to throw away and knowing what to keep
            E      A           E | |  0222-E|        A |     |||           E |
Cause every hand's a winner . . . . . . . and every hand's a loser
A           E | A    |   |        E       |      |     B7 - |   |         E||     A||
And the best that you can hope for is to die . . . in your sleep

         E             ||           |||         0222-E|      A               |||                E |--|
And when he'd finished speaking . . . . . .he turned back toward that window
A   |                  |    E |   -   |--|    |   |     | | |    B - | -- | -
     Crushed out his cigarette and faded off to sleep
E(sust.)                                            A(sust)                E(sust.)
And somewhere in the darkness the gambler he broke even
      A(sust)     E(sust.)                B7(sust.)          E
But in his final words I found an ace that I could keep, said

{A |       |     |   E         ||           |||      0222-E| A           |||          E      | D 0222-E||
     You got to know when to hold 'em . . . . . . . know when to fold 'em
A            |    |    |   E | | | | | |||               |    |    | B - | -
    Know when to walk away . . . know when to run
                 E      A     E |   0222-E|                   A   |   | | |     E |
You never count your money . . . . when you're settin' at the table
        A     | E|      A | |        E     | --|-- B(sust)                      E
There'll be time enough for counting . . . . when the dealing's done} (x2)
        A     | E|      A | |        E     | --|-- B7(sust)                      E
There'll be time enough for counting . . . . when the dealing's done

b c# b E7(sust.)

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Written by Don Schlitz.

JC&Timmy || JC Version || JC Setlist || Tunelist

To Kenny it up, add in liberal helpings of 7ths
in latter part of most chords.