The Numbers Don’t Lie (shadow)
Lichen Throat

[The Royal Road chord progression is in the verses. Key = B major]

If you live here for a month,
You can get a divorce.
A vacancy on the sign out front,
And they’ll take it, of course.
All those diamond wedding rings
Thrown in the Truckee River
Can never take away the sting,
And coats can’t stop the shivers.
Sometimes knaves beat the queens,
And ace is sometimes high.
You never hit on seventeen
Because the numbers don’t lie.

They say the house always wins,
At cards, roulette, and craps.
The cherried wheels only spin
With money from these saps.
The croupier sweeps the rake
With both sixes down.
Suckers give and casinos take
The money in this town.
It all looks like a lot of fun
To naïve passersby,
But bad luck comes at twenty-one,
Because the numbers don’t lie.

The Washoe Zephyr chills the skin
Beneath the snowy peaks.
This little city, built on sin,
Sometimes feels so bleak.

What happens to unwanted rings
And watches changed for chips?
For half price I can buy these things—
That’s entrepreneurship.
Instead of one ball of roulette,
I’ll hang three balls for pawn.
That way I’ll win every bet
And have gold like leprechauns.
If you’re not back in thirty days,
Your stuff becomes all mine,
But I profit either way,
Because the numbers don’t lie.