"The Deck of Cards" is a recitative that was popularized in both the country and popular music fields, first during the late 1940s. This religious, touching tale of a young American soldier arrested and charged with playing cards during a church service first became a hit in the U.S. in 1948 by country musician T. Texas Tyler. Though Tyler wrote the spoken-word piece, the story is based in part on an excerpt from a piece of 19th century British literature called "The Soldier's Almanack, Bible And Prayer Book"
Story
"Cards" is set during World War II, where a group of US Army soldiers, on a long hike during a campaign in southern Italy, had arrived and camped near a town named Cassino. While Scripture is being read, one man who has only a deck of playing cards, pulls them out and spreads them in front of him. He is immediately spotted by a sergeant, who orders the soldier to put them away (thinking he's playing cards in "church'). The soldier is then arrested and taken before the Provost Marshal to be punished. The Provost Marshal demands an explanation, to which the soldier explains the significance of each card:
Ace: The one true God
Deuce: The Old Testament and New Testament in the Bible
Trey/Three: The Holy Trinity; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit/Ghost
Four: St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke, and St. John, evangelists and authors of the four Gospels
Five: The two groups of five virgins who trimmed their lamps for a wedding. Five were wise (by saving enough oil) and were admitted, while the other five were foolish (did not have enough oil) and were shut out.
Six: God created the Earth in six days.
Seven: God rested on the seventh day, now known as the Sabbath.
Eight: The eight righteous people whom God saved during the Great Flood: Noah, his wife, their three sons, and their wives.
Nine: Of the ten lepers whom Jesus cleansed, nine of them didn't even thank him.
Ten: The Ten Commandments God handed down to Moses.
King: Jesus Christ, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, or alternatively, God the Father.
Queen: Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of Jesus and Queen of Heaven.
Jack or Knaves: Satan or the Devil
365 Spots: Days in a year
52 Cards: Number of weeks in a year
Thirteen Tricks: Number of weeks in a quarter
Four Suits: Approximate number of weeks in a month (can also mean the four seasons but this is not included in the song)
Twelve Face Cards: Number of months in a year
He then ends his story by saying that "my deck of cards serves me as a Bible, an almanac and a prayer book." The narrator then closes the story by stating that "this story is true," either by claiming either he is the soldier in question or that he knows him.
Cover versions
- Tex Ritter (1948)
- Phil Harris (1948)
- Doug Dugger (1956)
- Wink Martindale (1959)
- Gerard de Vries (1965) (in Dutch as "Het Spel Kaarten")
- Max Bygraves (1973)
- Bill Anderson (1991 during the Persian Gulf War)
- Prince Far I recorded a dub reggae version on his Jamaican Heroes album in 1980. The track is called "Deck of Life".
The most popular version was recorded in 1959 by future game show host Wink Martindale, and was performed on The Ed Sullivan Show . Martindale's rendition went to No. 7 on the Billboard charts in the Fall of 1959.
Parodies
Red River Dave composed a parody, "The Red Deck of Cards" about a U.S. prisoner of war, who hates cards, because the North Koreans tried to teach him Communism by the using a deck of cards.
The Welsh Comedian and singer Max Boyce recorded a Rugby Union themed version. In a Spitting Image sketch, Leon Brittan performs a satirical version when Margaret Thatcher catches him and the rest of the cabinet playing poker in a cabinet meeting.
Bill Oddie performed a parody version written by Tim Brooke-Taylor about a cricket bag in I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again . This same version was also performed by David Frost and released as a single by Parlophone records in 1966.
External links
- Urban Legends
- More About A Soldiers Prayer
- A real deck of Soldiers Deck of Cards
- ^ "The Soldier's Almanack, Bible And Prayer Book", From "The History Of Playing Cards With Anecdotes Of Their Use In Conjuring, Fortune-Telling And Card-Sharping", Edited by Rev. Ed. S. Taylor, B.A., Published in London, 1865
- ^ Russell, Tony (2007). Country Music Originals: The Legends and the Lost . Oxford University Press US. pp. 242–243. ISBN 0195325095, 9780195325096.
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