I thought this song was about the 2004-05 hockey lockout (timing works as the album came out in early 06). All the boys used to be easy to find on a Saturday when they were watching the game but since the game wasn't on and Ron McLean was suddenly hosting Movie Night in Canada they seem to have replaced it with the more private poker played at a buddy's house. If non-hockey fan girlfriends feel isolated when the game is on, poker is even less inviting.
The hockey lockout interpretation comes from the references to sports bars being empty and that line about how "this fad will pass as soon as those hockey teams get off their ..."
Some of the boys in question may be developing a gambling problem but it seems to be more about loneliness than about gambling issues - and the line "take your spade out of my heart" is more tongue in cheek than anything else.
I thought this song was about the 2004-05 hockey lockout (timing works as the album came out in early 06). All the boys used to be easy to find on a Saturday when they were watching the game but since the game wasn't on and Ron McLean was suddenly hosting Movie Night in Canada they seem to have replaced it with the more private poker played at a buddy's house. If non-hockey fan girlfriends feel isolated when the game is on, poker is even less inviting.
The hockey lockout interpretation comes from the references to sports bars being empty and that line about how "this fad will pass as soon as those hockey teams get off their ..."
Some of the boys in question may be developing a gambling problem but it seems to be more about loneliness than about gambling issues - and the line "take your spade out of my heart" is more tongue in cheek than anything else.