‘twas a calm Friday night on the bad side of town
With a cigarette perfume pervading the yard
The usual suspects were all seated down
In their eyes were a gleam, in their hands were the cards
There’s Beau
Who once (so I hear) was a looker
But now wears a patch over his vacant eye
And Grace
A minister’s daughter-turned hooker
Who passes the buck like an arsenic pie
To Rock
Who squirms in a fidgety manner
While shooting a look of total unease
At Tex
Who’s really from Louisiana
But just didn’t want to be known as Louise
And all with a squint and a finger on triggers
But I am no such feudalistic old bod
I’m a man of statistics, a fiddler of figures
One eyeball on oddballs, one eye on the odds
Interlude
The cards flutter down as we ante our antes
Rock roughly flips diamonds – a king and an ace
There’s a crease in my brow and a knot in my panties
As calculations can be read on my face
The Chance
Of finding such goods on the table
Is really a most insignificant sum
In fact
I’d be happy to swear it a stable
Three hundred and thirty one chances to one
I know
There’s a one in one-thirty-six chance
To face down an ace with a much larger kicker
This fact
Makes my sense of security dance
And brings quite a rush to my cheeks and my ticker
A little too visibly, as what ensues is:
‘I fold’ ‘and I fold’ ‘and I fold’ ‘I fold too’
My maths might be right, but my poker face? Useless
Oh what is a poor statistician to do?
credits
from Tintinnitus,
released May 23, 2016
Lyrics by Stephen Wordsmith
Vocals, composition and all instruments by J. Olav van der Spree (www.dutchcassidy.com)
The Māori-Scottish vocalist, also of the Electric Wire Hustle, embarks on a journey of self-discovery inspired by his Māori heritage. Bandcamp New & Notable Jun 23, 2021
A vibrant post-punk album that explores the co-existence of pleasure and pressure through warm natural metaphor and gritty riffs. Bandcamp Album of the Day Aug 9, 2017