Introduction to a great philosopher

At five years old, my parents main form of musical entertainment was a large chest record player. The thing was huge. It was about 4 feet long and about 2 feet wide. It held all of their LP's and 8 tracks. I recall that vinyl sounded different. I'm no expert in the field like my friend BL, but I have to admit there is something nostalgic and authentic about it. It's not supposed to be perfect. Nothing is... Yet, in an industry that promotes plastic posers, it makes sense that perfect digitized recordings are required.

In their LP collection, my parents had a Kenny Rogers 45. Singles as they were called in my youth, was the release of one popular song with a lesser known song on the opposite side. I would play that song everyday. I can't remember the song on the reverse, but the single is forever engrained in my brain. "The Gambler" was my favourite song. There was something about it that was addictive. I guess it spoke to me. I would play it and sing the words as I pretended to be Kenny. Kenny Rogers wasn't the type of role model that you would tell your friends about. He wasn't cool. He wasn't a rock 'n roller. He didn't have the star power of the Beatles or the Rolling Stones. But I liked him.

Ever sing karaoke? I refused to be drunk enough to sing karaoke through my university daze. It was when I got into the workforce, that my colleagues forced me on stage. I can't carry a tune. I know that much about myself. I don't know the words to many songs, so I did what any scared shitless new employee would do. I chose the song I had practiced 1000 times. I knew the idiosyncrasies in every line. I knew the background voices. The pauses were as normal as breathing. Despite the fear of making a fool of myself in public, I publicly became Kenny Rogers for 3 minutes and 38 seconds.

Although it's been years since I sung the words to "The Gambler", I heard it yesterday and thought about some of the messages at the heart of the song.

The song starts off with the philosophical line,

"On a warm summer's evenin', on a train bound for nowhere"  

Then further into the song:

"If you're gonna play the game, boy, ya gotta learn to play it right.
You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run.
You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table.
There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.
Now Ev'ry gambler knows that the secret to survivin'
Is knowin' what to throw away and knowing what to keep.
'Cause ev'ry hand's a winner and ev'ry hand's a loser,
And the best that you can hope for is to die in your sleep."

After 36 years, it just hit me the song has nothing to do with cards and every thing to do with life. Life is the ultimate gamble. Despite the hand you're dealt, anyone can win by choosing how to play the hand.

You can win, or you can lose: your choice. But if you don't think about where you're going, you'll stay on the train bound for nowhere.

It took me 36 years to realize that this song explained the secrets to life. I've been working hard at finding the answers and this song, that's been with me for more than 3 decades, was telling me how to win the game of life.

Another thing this epiphany has taught me: The answers to all our problems are right in front of our faces. We don't see them because we are not ready to receive them.

My favourite song as a child has become my favourite song again. Thanks goes to my parents for introducing me to the great philosopher, Kenny Rogers.