On today’s Right Hook, regular contributor Bill Hughes was once again in studio to reveal another essential song of the 20th century – and this week was one of George’s all-time favourites and his Christmas party party-piece.
Wink Martindale’s spoken-word song A Deck of Cards became a monster global hit in 1959, after the actor and game show host performed it on the Ed Sullivan Show. The story of a group of soldiers during the Second World War, the song tells of how a simple deck of cards can stand in for a bible, with allegorical meanings attached to each one.
But Wink’s version would not be the first, nor the last.
The oldest known example of the story in print comes from a Belgian book printed in 1666, before making its way to the US as early as 1748, in a version called The Servant’s Almanac.
The story then spent the better part of two centuries crisscrossing the Atlantic, following crumbling empires and colonies seeking independence, before finally being recorded in 1948 by T Texas Tyler as The Deck of Cards.
Since then, it has been assumed into American military culture, rewritten countless times to reflect the country’s military might facing off in any major conflict throughout its history, with slight variations each time.
There’s a version for the Korean War:
Another for Vietnam:
The first Gulf War:
And countless cover versions for the War on Terror.
And yet, despite this song pervading throughout the history of soldiers and warfare, it contains a mistake. At some point, if you actually count up all the spots on the cards, instead of the 365 that the song claims, you actually get 364.
