Released: March 26, 1991
Songwriter: Bob Dylan
Producer: John Hammond Tom Wilson (producer)
[Verse 1]
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
[Verse 2]
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
[Verse 3]
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
[Verse 4]
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
[Verse 5]
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
[Verse 6]
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
[Verse 7]
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
[Verse 8]
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
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
[Verse 2]
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
[Verse 3]
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
[Verse 4]
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
[Verse 5]
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
[Verse 6]
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
[Verse 7]
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
[Verse 8]
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
more tracks from the album
The Bootleg Series, Vol. 9: The Witmark Demos: 1962-1964
- Tomorrow Is a Long Time (Demo)
- All Over You
- Long Ago, Far Away
- Man on the Street
- Standing on the Highway
- Ballad for a Friend
- Poor Boy Blues
- John Brown
- Seven Curses
- Only a Hobo
- I’d Hate to Be You on That Dreadful Day
- Long Time Gone
- Farewell
- Man on the Street (Fragment)
- Hard Times in New York Town
- Bound to Lose, Bound to Win
- Talking Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues
- Guess I’m Doing Fine
- Ain’t Gonna Grieve
- Gypsy Lou
- Whatcha Gonna Do?
- Hero Blues
- Paths of Victory
- Walkin’ Down the Line
- Quit Your Low Down Ways
- Oxford Town
- Bob Dylan’s Dream
- Bob Dylan’s Blues
- Girl from the North Country
- A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall
- Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
- Blowin’ in the Wind
- Mr. Tambourine Man
- Masters of War
- I Shall Be Free
- Let Me Die in My Footsteps
- Rambling Gambling Willie
- Baby, I’m in the Mood for You
- I’ll Keep It with Mine
- Baby, Let Me Follow You Down
- Mama, You Been on My Mind
- The Death of Emmett Till
- When the Ship Comes In
- Boots of Spanish Leather
- Ballad of Hollis Brown
- Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues
- The Times They Are A-Changin’
From the albums
Bob Dylan popular songs
- Murder Most Foul
- Blowin’ in the Wind
- The Times They Are A-Changin’
- All Along the Watchtower
- Like a Rolling Stone
- Make You Feel My Love
- Hurricane
- Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
- Mr. Tambourine Man
- A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall
- Subterranean Homesick Blues
- Desolation Row
- Tangled Up in Blue
- Masters of War
- Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
- It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
- Girl from the North Country
- Tempest
- It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue
- Ballad of a Thin Man
- Visions of Johanna
- I Contain Multitudes
- To Fall in Love with You
- Shelter from the Storm