Las Vegas Nights

Meet me on the corner,
When the sun goes down tonight,
We'll get a ride out to the strip,
And set this town alight,
Toss those lucky dice,
You're rolling seven every time,
And if I hit that roulette wheel,
You know I'll drop a dime,
The Blackjacks keep on coming,
As that gasoline goes down,
Nothing is impossible,
In this ol' crazy town.

Find a friend in Lady Luck,
Looking like a million bucks,
I'll show you the money girl if you'll show me the sights,
Baby come with me,
Las Vegas Nights.


Frankie's at the Sands,
That joint is jumpin' all night long,
Sammy's there too and guess what?
Ol' Dean may tag along,
With a ring-a-ding barn burner,
Hanging on his every word,
The Kennedys are in tonight,
At least that's what I heard,
Every suit is sharp,
And each cuff sports a diamond link,
Don't forget to tip the waitress,
Hell! Let's get another drink!

You'll believe a man can fly,
Through the clear Nevada sky,
In this shining city of a billion coloured lights,
Baby come with me,
Las Vegas Nights.


Hold those ice cubes buddy,
Save them for the Eskimos,
Water goes with Whisky,
Something every Scotsman knows,
When I win it's Lobster,
T-Bone steak and caviar,
At the big-league restaurants,
Where everyone knows who you are,
But when I loose it all,
I write a different epilogue,
At a food truck up on Freemont,
Serving world class dirty dog.

But in a world of high finance,
There is always one more chance,
The moon's above the desert and the stars are glowing bright,
Baby come with me,
Las Vegas Nights.

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[Footnotes]
Quite hard to write while imagining a huge big-band sound behind it ;). Sounds odd trying to play it on the guitar so I'm getting a friend to try some piano ideas which I think will work better and help me spot bits that don't work at all. Anyway, quite a lot of Vegas/Rat Pack/General US slang so;

- Some fairly obvious references to Roulette, Black Jack and Craps.

*Dime* Ten cents in normal slang but $1,000 in Vegas (a Nickel is $500)

*Drop a Dime* Normally means make a 'phone call but not here :)

*Gasoline* Frequently used by Rat Pack members as slang for booze.

*The Sands* A hotel/casino that no longer exists but was where you'd often find Sinatra back in the day (he was also recorded there). The Venetian is now on that site.

- Frankie, Sammy and Dean go without saying, they were notorious for crashing each other's shows.

*Ring-a-ding* General slang and used as an adjective for describing something good. Often with an extra "ding" though not in the Rat Pack so much.

*Barn Burner* General US slang for something very exciting but in Rat Pack parlance a stylish, attractive woman.

*The Kennedys* Take your pick. I guess it would be Jay Z and Beyoncé these days...

*You'll believe a man can fly* Originally a Superman Movie Tag line but appropriated by stalwart Vegas magician David Copperfied for his illusion. David Copperfield CANNOT fly.

*Whisky* If it's Scotch (which it will be without an "e") never drink it on the rocks, a few drops of water is what you need. Trust me on this.

*Big Leaguer" Pretty self explanitory but common Rat Pack parlance for a significant individual / VIP.

*Freemont* Where Vegas was "at" before the strip - up in the main town and where you'll find the true classic Casinos like the "Golden Nugget". Now a little down-at-heel sadly.

*Dirty Dog* A "Dirt" dog in most places but basically a hot/corn dog with a WHOLE lot of extra cr*p on it. I wouldn't touch one with a ten foot pole but I have friends who view it as a "Guilty Pleasure". Something to enjoy whilst thinking "tomorrow is another day".

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Very cool, and great that you given us an explanation of the Vegas/US specific words and phrases. Some of them I knew, but many not, so always good to learn new things :)

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