Lyrics to
Kentucky Gambler

This version of Kentucky Gambler was released by Dolly Parton in 1975.

Our About Dolly Parton page at Decade Lyrics includes the lyrics for Kentucky Gambler from 1975 as well as all of the other lyrics from Dolly Parton that we have in our lyrics database.

Here's more interesting things in songs and lyrics tied to Dolly Parton or about the 1970s in general.

He wanted more from like
Than four kids and a wife
And a job in the dark Kentucky mines
A twenty-acre farm
With a shacky house and barn
That’s all he had
And all he left behind
At gambling he was lucky
So he left Kentucky
Left behind his woman and his kids
Into the gay casino
In Nevada’s town of Reno
Kentucky gambler planned to get rich quick

Kentucky gambler, who’s gonna love your woman in Kentucky
Who’s gonna be the one to give her what she needs
Kentucky gambler, who’s gonna raise your children in Kentucky
Who’s gonna keep them fed and keep shoes on their feet

At the gamblers’ paradise
Lady luck was on his side
Kentucky gambler played his cards just right
He won at everything he played
Kentucky gambler had it made
And he should have quit and gone on home that night

But when you love the greenback dollar
Sorrow’s always bound to follow
Reno dreams fade into neon amber
And lady luck, she’ll leave you on
She’ll saty awhile, and then she’s gone
You’d better go on home Kentucky gambler

But a gambler never seems to stop
Til he loses all he’s got
And so, Kentucky gambler, he played on
He played til he lost all he won
He was right back where he started from
Then he started wanting to go home

Kentucky gambler, there ain’t nobody waiting in Kentucky
When you walked out, somebody else walked in
Kentucky gambler, looks like you ain’t really very lucky
Seems to me a gambler looses much more than he wins

So you think about it
Kentucky gambler

---

Want more lyrics and songs by Dolly Parton?

Dolly Parton has released many songs over the years besides Kentucky Gambler. Dolly Parton released songs from 1967 to 2005 spanning across albums like Hello, I'm Dolly, Just Because I'm A Woman, My Blue Ridge Mountain Boy, In The Good Old Days, As Long As I Love, The Fairest Of Them All, A Real Live Dolly, Coat Of Many Colors, The Golden Streets Of Glory, Joshua, Touch Your Woman, My Favorite Songwriter: Porter Wagoner, Bubbling Over, My Tennessee Mountain Home, Love Is Like A Butterfly, Jolene, Dolly: The Seeker / We Used To, The Bargain Store, All I Can Do, New Harvest... First Gathering, Here You Come Again, Heartbreaker, Great Balls Of Fire, 9 To 5 And Odd Jobs, Dolly, Dolly, Dolly, Heartbreak Express, The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas, Burlap & Satin, Rhinestone, The Great Pretender, Real Love, Rainbow, White Limozeen, Home For Christmas, Eagle When She Flies, Straight Talk, Slow Dancing With The Moon, Heartsongs: Live From Home, Something Special, Treasures, Hungry Again, The Grass Is Blue, Precious Memories, Little Sparrow, Halos & Horns, For God And Country, and Those Were The Days. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Dolly Parton.

If you're a fan of lyrics from 1970s songs looking for more songs from 1975 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and Kentucky Gambler by Dolly Parton

The lyrics to Kentucky Gambler are just the words, phrases, verses and chorus that Dolly Parton used when the song was created in 1975. The lyrics to Kentucky Gambler have both easy-to-spot meanings and hidden metaphors that have been discussed by the music press and fans, but only Dolly Parton and any collaborators know all of the inspirations for the song.

If you like etymology or breaking apart phrases and words, it is easy to understand the lyrics to Kentucky Gambler by Dolly Parton. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to Kentucky Gambler" means the words set to the music of Kentucky Gambler, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Dolly Parton. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to Kentucky Gambler and the lyrics to Kentucky Gambler are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Dolly Parton who came here looking just for the lyrics to Kentucky Gambler, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

More Songs & Lyrics by Dolly Parton

Visit our Dolly Parton profile for more Dolly Parton songs, lyrics & info!

)