Escuché esta canción en la versión de Sugar Babes y pensaba que era una canción original del grupo femenino de principios del siglo XXI de R&B con sonidos de música británica. El grupo comenzó fusionando los sonidos del soul moderno norteamericano (Aaliyah, Destiny's Child, Mary J. Blige, ...) con el sonido pop urbano inglés (All Saints), dando con la fórmula perfecta para convertirse en uno de los proyectos más exitosos de la música británica de principios del siglo XXI.
Pero descubrí que Sting la popularizó primero. La instrumentación y la letra son exquisitas. Es una canción elegante, de líneas suaves y nostálgicas. Merece la pena escucharla en cualquiera de sus dos versiones:
«Quería escribir sobre el jugador de cartas. Un jugador que juega no para ganar, sino para tratar de averiguar algo. Para averiguar algún tipo de lógica mística en la suerte, o la casualidad. Algún tipo de ley científica casi religiosa. Así que este tipo es un filósofo. El no está jugando por el respeto y no está jugando por dinero´, está tratando de averiguar la ley. tiene que haber cierta lógica en ello. Es un jugador de póker, así que no es fácil para él expresar sus emociones. De hecho, no expresa nada, él tiene una máscara y es sólo una máscara, y nunca cambia. …»«»…
La canción es la que sale en la parte final de la película «El perfecto asesino» y digamos que se puede aplicar al personaje que hace JEAN RENO de León y si uno le da ese sentido a veces puede ser la canción más triste…
He deals the cards as
a meditation
And
those he plays never suspect
He
doesn't play for the money he wins
He
doesn't play for respect
He
deals the crads to find the answer
The
sacred geometry of chance
The
hidden loaw of a probable outcome
The
numbers lead a dance
I know
that the spades are swords of a soldier
I know
that the clubs are weapons of war
I know
that diamonds mean money for this art
But
that's not the shape of my heart
He may
play the jack of diamonds
He may
lay the queen of spades
He may
conceal a king in his hand
While
the memory of it fades
I know
that the spades are swords of a soldier
I know
that the clubs are weapons of war
I know
that diamonds mean money for this art
But
that's not the shape of my heart
And if
i told you that i loved you
You'd
maybe think there's something wrong
I'm
not a man of too many faces
The
mask i wear is one
Those
who speak know nothing
And
find out to their cost
Like
those who curse their luck in too many places
And
those who fear are lost
I know
that the spades are swords of a soldier
I know
that the clubs are weapons of war
I know
that diamonds mean money for this art
But
that's not the shape of my heart
Esta es la versión del grupo Sugarbabes con sonido R&B y mezcla de pop británico:
I live my life in chains, got
my hands in chains
I can't stick with the cards I got with a deal like this
I must insist that a girl's got more to do
Than be the way you think a woman should
I've taken it into my own
hands
In this man's land
I can understand why I'm taking command
Had enough of stuff and now it's time to think about me
And you can easily gamble your
life away
Second after second and a day by day
You play the game or you walk away
It's a new turn on a blue day
And a cool deal of life for me
And it's all good
I know that the spades are the
swords of a soldier
I know that the clubs are weapons of war
I know that diamonds mean money for this art
But that's not the shape of my heart
I've always played it safe,
nothing's ever safe
Give me the courage to back my own convictions
Every decision I made, I paid it back and more
I turn the cards and let them fall to me
'Cuz I don't need to play on
With the hand that they have given me
I give it back
'Cuz it's not the way it has to be
And you can easily gamble your
life away
Second after second and a day by day
You play the game or you walk away
It's a new turn on a blue day
And a cool deal of life for me
And it's all good
I know that the spades are the
swords of a soldier
I know that the clubs are weapons of war
I know that diamonds mean money for this art
But that's not the shape of my heart
That's not the shape
The shape of my heart
My heart
That's not the shape of my heart
And you can easily gamble your
life away
Second after second and a day by day
You play the game or you walk away
It's a new turn on a blue day
And a cool deal of life for me
And it's all good
I know that the spades are the
swords of a soldier
I know that the clubs are weapons of war
I know that diamonds mean money for this art
But that's not the shape of my heart
That's not the shape of my heart
That's not the shape
Shape of my heart
