After Beyond Blue reader Larry Parker read Zana’s comment, he provided the link to lyrics of Kenny Rogers’s, “The Gambler.”
I’ve sung this song so many times (yeah, yeah, yeah, you’re thinking … “NO, GOD, DON’T SING IT FOR US” like I did “The 12 Bipolar Days of Christmas”), but I’ve never contemplated the meaning of the words. Oh man, are they profound, and they provide so much insight as to how we, depressives, might play “our hand.” Thanks, Larry!

On a warm summer’s evenin’ 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
‘Til boredom overtook us and he began to speak
He said, “Son, I’ve made a life, out of readin’ people’s faces
And knowin’ what their cards were by the way they held their eyes
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 face lost all expression
Said, “If you’re gonna play the game, boy, you gotta learn to play it right.”
You 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 dealing’s done
Every gambler knows that the secret to survivin’
Is knowin’ what to throw away and knowing 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 towards 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 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 dealing’s done
You 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 dealing’s done