This town is full of guys who think they're mighty wise Just because they know a thing or two You can see them every day, strolling up and down Broadway Telling of the wonders they can do You'll see wise guys and boosters Card sharps and crap shooters They congregate around the Metropole They wear those flashy ties and collars But where they get their dollars They've all got an ace down in the hole
Some of them write to the old folks for coin That's their ace in the hole Others have girls on that old tenderloin That's their ace in the hole
They'll tell you of trips they are going to take From Frisco up to the North Pole But they'd end up on that line, in their clothes not a dime If they lost that old ace in the hole
Wherever you might stray, along the Great White Way They'll corner you and start in telling lies Of oil wells in Nebraska and gold mines in Alaska You'll be immersed in bullshit to your eyes But every hustler knows Bullshit buys no clothes And only cold cash keeps you off the dole So some of them wash dishes And some of them are snitches But all of them have aces in the hole
Drifters who dwell on that slippery slope Grifters who jump their parole Trying to sell bags of catnip for dope That's their ace in the hole
They'll tell you of money they've made and they've spent And flash a Missouri bankroll But their names would be mud Like a chump dealing stud If they lost that old ace in the hole