This week’s Two for Tuesday songs are one oldie but a goodie and one country music song.
Luck Be a Lady by Frank Sinatra
and
Good Run of Bad Luck by Clint Black
Luck Be a Lady was written by Frank Loesser in 1950 and first performed by Robert Alda. It was featured in the Broadway musical Guys and Dolls. Marlon Brando sang the song in the movie adaptation of Guys and Dolls in 1955. The song was ranked No. 42 on AFI’s 100 Years…100 Songs of American Cinema of the 20th Century.
Good Run of Bad Luck was co-written by Hayden Nicholas and Clint Black, and Clint Black recorded it. It was released in 1994 on his album No Time to Kill, and it made it to No. 1 in both the U.S. and the U.K. The song also appears on the soundtrack to the 1994 western comedy/drama Maverick (Mel Gibson, James Garner, Jodie Foster, Alfred Molina).
The Good Run of Bad Luck music video is a fabulous walk down 1960s and 1970s classic television western Who’s Who memory lane. I love it.
The lyrics in both songs are delightfully clever and chock-full full of word play and innuendo.
Both songs tell the tale of gambling and finding/keeping the woman they love in metaphorical gambling terms—Luck Be a Lady is a dice-rolling/love metaphor and Good Run of Back Luck is a dice-rolling-poker playing/love metaphor.
Until we meet again…
