| Townes Van Zandt – Mr. Mudd and Mr. Gold Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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The song is about a game of five card stud. In five card stud, each player is dealt one card face down, and then four cards face up. The early part of the song describes how Gold won many hands ("Flushes fell on Gold like water.."), but no one has been dealt the jack of diamonds. The song personifies Mudd's feeling of losing when the diamond queen prays to her "long lost son" (the diamond jack). In the next hand, Mudd is first dealt an ace of diamonds (angel = ace) and Gold is dealt the king of clubs face down. Gold is then dealt three kings face up ("on the streets" means three of the four cards visible to the other player, though the fourth card has not been dealt yet), giving him four kings, and Mudd is dealt three aces (fireballs = aces). "The outlaw in the heavenly hall" refers to the last card for Mudd, the jack of diamonds, he's an outlaw, being a jack, in the heavenly hall because every other card in Mudd's hand is an ace, or angel. Thus, the last hand is, Gold = 4 kings + queen of clubs, Mudd = 4 aces + jack of diamonds. |
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