Ray Stevens: "The Gambler and The Octopus" audio track...

Ray Stevens adds to the growing list of bar room songs in country music with this whimsical story about "The Gambler and The Octopus". The song, on his new Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore album, is an in-depth story about about a gambler, an octopus, and a bartender. A gambler walks into a bar and he begins to make bets with the bartender. He tells the bartender that the octopus he brought with him can play any kind of music instrument. The first bet will only cost the bartender two free drinks. The octopus crawls out the jar and plays a flugelhorn. This costs the bartender two drinks. Then the skeptical bartender says there's no way the octopus can play a saxophone. The gambler says that the octopus not only can play the saxophone but upon conclusion of the performance the bartender will have to allow the gambler four free drinks which is double the amount of the first bet. 

One of the recurring phrases about the octopus that you'll need to pay attention to is "...he rolled around the bar and then on the ground..." for this is repeated after each instrument the octopus plays. The bartender then gets agitated and swears that the octopus won't be able to play the kind of instrument in the backroom. Moments later the bartender returns with bagpipes. The octopus sees the bagpipes and then starts to "roll around the bar and then on the ground" clinging to and squeezing the bagpipes...it made music so the gambler received eight free drinks...one for each arm of the octopus...but the comical twist to the story revolves around what the octopus thought the bagpipes were. It's a whole lot more comical when you listen to Ray tell the story...