Ace in the Hole - Johnny Mathis, Nelson Riddle & His Orchestra

This town is full of guys who think they’re mighty wise

Just because they know a thing or two

You can see them every day, strolling up and down Broadway

Telling of the wonders they can do

You’ll see wise guys and boosters

Card sharps and crap shooters

They congregate around the Metropole

They wear those flashy ties and collars

But where they get their dollars

They’ve all got an ace down in the hole

Some of them write to the old folks for coin

That’s their ace in the hole

Others have girls on that old tenderloin

That’s their ace in the hole

They’ll tell you of trips they are going to take

From Frisco up to the North Pole

But they’d end up on that line, in their clothes not a dime

If they lost that old ace in the hole

Wherever you might stray, along the Great White Way

They’ll corner you and start in telling lies

Of oil wells in Nebraska and gold mines in Alaska

You’ll be immersed in bullshit to your eyes

But every hustler knows

Bullshit buys no clothes

And only cold cash keeps you off the dole

So some of them wash dishes

And some of them are snitches

But all of them have aces in the hole

Drifters who dwell on that slippery slope

Grifters who jump their parole

Trying to sell bags of catnip for dope

That’s their ace in the hole

They’ll tell you of money they’ve made and they’ve spent

And flash a Missouri bankroll

But their names would be mud

Like a chump dealing stud

If they lost that old ace in the hole