Kentucky Gambler Song Lyrics and Chords by Merle Haggard
Kentucky Gambler
Recorded by Merle Haggard
Written by Dolly Parton
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I wanted more from life than
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four kids and a wife
And a
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job in a
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dark Kentucky
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mine
A twenty acre farm with a
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shackey house and barn
That'
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s all I had an
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d all I lef
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t
behind
But at gambling I was lucky and
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so I left Kentucky
And
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left behind my
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woman and my
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kids
Into the gay casinos in
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Nevada's town of Reno
This
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Kentucky Gambler
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planned to get rich
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quick
Kentucky gambler
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who's gonna love your
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woman in Ken
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tucky
Yeah and
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who's going to be the
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one to give her
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everything she
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needs
Kentucky gambler
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who's going to raise your
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children in Ken
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tucky
And
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who's going to keep them
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fed and keep them
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shoes on their
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feet
There at the gambler's Paradise
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Lady luck was on my side
And
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this Kentucky
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gambler played just
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right
Yeah I won at everything I played
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I really thought I had it made
But
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I should have quit and
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gone on home that
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night
But when you love the green backed dollar
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sorrow always bound to follow
And
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Reno's dreams fade
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into neon
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amber
And lady luck she'll lead you on
She'll
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stay a while and then she's gone
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You better go on
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home Kentucky
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gambler
But a gambler never seems to stop till
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he loses all he's got
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And with a money hungry
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fever I played
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on
I played till I'd lost all I'd won
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I was right back where I'd started from
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Then I started
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wanting to go
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home
Kentucky gambler
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there ain't nobody
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waiting in Ken
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tucky
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When I ran out
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somebody
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else walked
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in
Kentucky gambler
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looks like you ain't
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really very
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lucky
And it
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seems to me a
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gambler loses
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much more than he
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wins
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Much more than he
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wins
FAQ
Who sang the the song Kentucky Gambler?
- The song Kentucky Gambler was sang by Merle Haggard.
Who is Merle Haggard?
- Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 - April 6, 2016) was an American country singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler.
Haggard was born in Oildale, California, during the Great Depression. His childhood was troubled after the death of his father, and he was incarcerated several times in his youth. After being released from San Quentin State Prison in 1960, he managed to turn his life around and launch a successful country music career. He gained popularity with his songs about the working class that occasionally contained themes contrary to anti-Vietnam War sentiment of some popular music of the time. Between the 1960s and the 1980s, he had 38 number-one hits on the US country charts, several of which also made the Billboard all-genre singles chart. Haggard continued to release successful albums into the 2000s.
He received many honors and awards for his music, including a Kennedy Center Honor (2010), a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (2006), a BMI Icon Award (2006), and induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame (1977), Country Music Hall of Fame (1994) and Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame (1997). He died on April 6, 2016—his 79th birthday—at his ranch in Shasta County, California, having recently suffered from double pneumonia.
