Fun.: The Gambler Meaning

The Gambler Lyrics

Slow down, we've got time left to be lazy
All the kids have bloomed from babies into flowers in our eyes
We've got 50 good years left to spend out in the garden
I don't care to beg your pardon,
We should live, until we die

We were...

1. anonymous

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   Dec 19th 2014 report

   This song is about his parents. It's switches between his mom and his dad's point of view. It starts with how their relationship begin, how it bloomed, then it talks about how they moved to Arizona to save their only son, meaning Nate. He suffered from repeated bouts of pneumonia. And then it talks about how his dad got seriously sick and almost died, which Nate also sang about in his song "On Your Porch" with his former band The Format.
2. anonymous

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   Feb 20th 2014 report

   This is an amazing and touching song and I agree, it definitely sounds like an older couple, probably Nate's parents. It's something so inspirational
3. anonymous

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   Jan 19th 2013 report

   The gambler is a touching song about love and loss from Nate's dads point of view. Obviously his mother had a serious desise, however Nate's dad refused to let her go because he loved her too much so he wrote it for his dad to show him that he understood. The flower reference probably means life and children
4. anonymous

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   Dec 12th 2012 report

   the story of his parents, definetly
5. XOXO0728

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   Oct 5th 2012 report

   I think that this song is based on Nate's parents' relationship. You can tell when he says,"So we moved to Arizona…" And he says they have a son, meaning Nate. Then he says they have a daughter, meaning Libbie, Nate's sister. Nate and his family were originally from Iowa, then they movEd to Arizona. This is a very sweet song and I like it.
6. anonymous

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   Jun 25th 2012 report

   The song obviously seems to be about an older couple reminiscing about their relationship.
   
   I really do believe that a lot, if not most, of the inspiration from this song came from lead singer Nate Ruess's own parents, especially in the part talking about the narrator's two children.
   
   The song talks about a daughter and a son, which is the same as Ruess's family, and moving to Arizona, which happened when Ruess was a young boy.
   
   I love this song. It's wonderful.

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