Rambling, Gambling Willie - Bob Dylan

Come around you roving' gamblers and a story I will tell

About the greatest gambler, you all should know him well

His name was Will O’Conley and he gambled all his life

He had twenty-seven children, yet he never had a wife

And it’s ride, Willie, ride

Roll, Willie, roll

Wherever you are a-gambling now, nobody really knows

He gambled in the White House and in the railroad yards

Wherever there was people, there was Willie and his cards

He had the reputation as the gamblingest man around

Wives would keep their husbands home when Willie came to town

And it’s ride, Willie, ride

Roll, Willie, roll

Wherever you are a-gambling now, nobody really knows

Sailing' down the Mississippi to a town called New Orleans

They’re still talking' about their card game on that Jackson River Queen

«I've come to win some money,» Gambling Willie says

When the game finally ended up, the whole damn boat was his

And it’s ride, Willie, ride

Roll, Willie, roll

Wherever you are a-gambling now, nobody really knows

Up in the Rocky Mountains in a town called Cripple Creek

There was an all-night poker game, lasted about a week

Nine hundred miners had laid their money down

When Willie finally left the room, he owned the whole damn town

And it’s ride, Willie, ride

Roll, Willie, roll

Wherever you are a-gambling now, nobody really knows

But Willie had a heart of gold and this I know is true

He supported all his children and all their mothers too

He wore no rings or fancy things, like other gamblers wore

He spread his money far and wide, to help the sick and the poor

And it’s ride, Willie, ride

Roll, Willie, roll

Wherever you are a-gambling now, nobody really knows

When you played your cards with Willie, you never really knew

Whether he was bluffing or whether he was true

He won a fortune from a man who folded in his chair

The man, he left a diamond flush, Willie didn’t even have a pair

And it’s ride, Willie, ride

Roll, Willie, roll

Wherever you are a-gambling now, nobody really knows

It was late one evening' during a poker game

A man lost all his money, he said Willie was to blame

He shot poor Willie through the head, which was a tragic fate

When Willie’s cards fell on the floor, they were aces backed with eights

And it’s ride, Willie, ride

Roll, Willie, roll

Wherever you are a-gambling now, nobody really knows

So all you roving' gamblers, wherever you might be

The moral of the story is very plain to see

Make your money while you can, before you have to stop

For when you pull that dead man’s hand, your gambling days are up

And it’s ride, Willie, ride

Roll, Willie, roll

Wherever you are a-gambling now, nobody really knows