"The Deck of Cards" is a recitation song that was popularized in the fields of both the country and popular music, first during the late 1940s. This song, which relates the tale of a young American soldier arrested and charged with playing cards during a church service, first became a hit in the U.S. in 1948 by country musician T. Texas Tyler.
Contents
Though Tyler wrote the spoken-word piece, the earliest known reference is to be found in an account/common-place book belonging to Mary Bacon, a British farmer's wife, dated 20 April 1762. The story of the soldier can be found in full in Mary Bacon's World. A farmer's wife in eighteenth-century Hampshire, published by Threshold Press (2010). The folk story was later recorded in a 19th-century British publication entitled "The Soldier's Almanack, Bible And Prayer Book"
Story
The song is set during World War II, where a group of U.S. Army soldiers, on a long hike during a campaign in southern Italy, arrive and camp near the town of Cassino. While scripture is being read in church, one man who has only a deck of playing cards pulls them out and spreads them in front of him. He is immediately spotted by a sergeant, who believes the soldier is playing cards in church and orders him to put them away. The soldier is then arrested and taken before the provost marshal to be judged. The provost marshal demands an explanation and the soldier says that he had been on a long march, without a bible or a prayer book. He then explains the significance of each card:
Ace: the one true God.
Deuce: the Old Testament and New Testament in the Bible.
Trey (three): the Holy Trinity; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit/Ghost.
Four: St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke, and St. John, evangelists and authors of the four Gospels.
Five: the two groups of five virgins who trimmed their lamps for a wedding. Five were wise (by saving enough oil) and were admitted, while the other five were foolish (did not have enough oil) and were shut out.
Six: the number of days taken by God to create the Earth.
Seven: the day on which God rested, now known as the Sabbath.
Eight: the eight righteous people whom God saved during the Great Flood: Noah, his wife, their three sons, and their wives.
Nine: the nine out of ten lepers cleansed by Jesus who did not thank him.
Ten: the Ten Commandments God handed down to Moses.
King: God, the Father.
Queen: the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of Jesus and Queen of Heaven.
Jack or knave: Satan or the Devil.
365 spots: the number of days in a year.
52 cards: the number of weeks in a year.
Thirteen tricks: the number of weeks in a season, or quarter of a year.
Four suits: the approximate number of weeks in a month.
Twelve face, or "Picture" cards: the number of months in a year.
He then ends his story by saying that "my pack of cards serves me as a Bible, an almanac, and a prayer book." The narrator then closes the story by stating that "this story is true," by claiming he is the soldier in question. The text does not say whether the provost marshal spared the soldier any penalty, but it is possible to infer from the text that he did.
Flaws
The story as told contains a number of numerical flaws and slight inconsistencies:
Cover versions
T. Texas Tyler's rendition went to number 2 on the country charts in 1948. A version by Tex Ritter later in the year reached number 10 on the same chart.
The highest-charting version was recorded in 1959 by future game show host Wink Martindale, and was performed on The Ed Sullivan Show. Martindale's rendition (titled "Deck of Cards") went to No. 7 on the Billboard charts and number 11 on the country charts in 1959, attained multi-platinum recognition, and reached No. 1 on many worldwide music charts. A later cover by Bill Anderson made number 60 on the country charts in 1991. The song was also a UK No. 13 hit in October 1973 for the entertainer Max Bygraves.
The newly published edition of UK hit singles dating between 1940 and 1952 shows the song reaching number 2 for Phil Harris in January 1949
A Dutch translation, "Het spel kaarten", recited by Cowboy Gerard (real name Gerard de Vries), was a hit in the Netherlands in 1965.
Magician Justin Flom created a magic effect, also based on the song, titled "Soldier's Deck of Cards" which was seen by over 5 million people online.
Czech version of this song was recorded on 9th October 1969 in Studio Smečky by singer Miroslav Černý and the band Rangers (Plavci) under the Czech title Balíček karet.
A Finnish translation, "Korttipakka", by Tapio Rautavaara was published in Finland in 1976.