I'm Waiting For Ships That Never Come In

(album: Talkin' To Your Heart - 1961)

[Sang]
I'm waiting for ships that never come in.
I wonder where they can be?

[Spoken]
Life is only a game of poker
And happiness is the partner
They deal you five cards in the cradle
And you play wether your like it or not.

Some get a pat hand to start with
And the game doesn't seem on the square
When you look at your hand and discover
You were born without even a pair.

But there's no use in kicking or squawking
Just pick up your cards and begin
To figure and plan and puzzle
While fate looks on with a grin.

Some take a chance at bluffing
And stake everything they've got
On a little dinky little poor flush
And sometimes that wins a plot.

Others will break up openers
To draw for a middle straight
They know what a chance they're taking
And they learned their mistake, too late.

Some can't play crooked
Against all good advice
But they seldom get away with it
And in the end they've paid the price.

The most of us play straight poker
But I'll tell you boys it's hard
When you're there with both ends open
And you can't draw the winning card

Now, I've always been a loser
It seems that I never can win
And I'm just a dreamer who's waiting
For ships that never come in.

[Sang]
I wonder, where they can be?..