What Happens in Vegas: A Lucky 13 Songs About Sin City

With the economy still in the tank and no relief in sight, what say we all go to Las Vegas? A perilously escalating number of us truly have nothing to lose. Bust out the piggy banks and pack your sleep masks. And we'll need to bring some tunes: Here's a lucky 13 for starters.

13. 'Casino Queen,' Wilco

If, to quote Sinatra, luck be a lady, then in Wilco's tale of a gambler forking over all his hard-earned cash to the metaphoric Casino Queen, this lady is also a tramp. And my Lord, she's mean. Like another saying goes, if it wasn't for bad luck, he wouldn't have no luck at all.

Vegas odds: Long shot

12. 'Let's Go to Vegas,' Faith Hill

Believe it or not, some people go to Vegas to confirm their monogamy. "Kiss the single life goodbye," sang a young Hill as she urged her "ace in the hole" to whisk her off to a quickie wedding in the City of Lights.

Vegas odds: 50 to 1

11. 'Chingy Jackpot,' Chingy

You can just smell the potent aroma of cold Vodka, Prada perfume and stale one dollar bills when this strip club workout blares through the speakers. Leaning on the Vegas metaphors ("Hear the slots ring all night"), the babyfaced rapper's pimp game is tighter than a working girl's wardrobe. Too bad the same could not be said for Chingy's dormant music career.

Vegas odds: 40 to 1

10. 'Roulette,' Bruce Springsteen

How many small-time wiseguys have ended up in Vegas, desperately spinning the wheel of life? This 1979 Springsteen outtake tells the bleak story of a family man who has to steal away with his wife and kids when some unspecified deal goes south.

Vegas odds: 30 to 1

9. 'Vegas,' Sara Bareilles

The singer announces she's gonna sell her car and head for Vegas, because "somebody told me that's where dreams would be." She also threatens to quit her job and move to New York, or sell her house and hightail it to Mexico. Yet she keeps coming back to the desert. They don't call it the Capital of Second Chances for nothing.

Vegas odds: 20 to 1

8. 'Leaving Las Vegas,' Sheryl Crow

Forget the flying Elvises and the can-can girls on the highway. The real star of Crow's first hit video was the shrine to Wayne Newton. Fresh off her stint as Michael Jackson's backup singer, Crow gained some notoriety when she told David Letterman the song was autobiographical, though it'd been written by David Baerwald. What, not even a cursory 'Danke Schoen'?

Vegas odds: 17 to 1

7. 'Waking Up in Vegas,' Katy Perry

What happened last night? We've all been there, whether in Sin City itelf or a hometown approximation of the reckless nightlife. When Ms. Perry belts, "Shut up and put your money where your mouth is," she might be kissing a girl, or a boy, or a one-armed bandit. No guarantee she'll remember in the morning.

Vegas odds: 15 to 1

6. 'Tumbling Dice,' the Rolling Stones

Sixes and sevens and nines: Linda Ronstadt may have had a big hit with this Jagger-Richards tune, but it's all Stones. The narrator is a serial cheater who can't stay faithful to any one woman. That would happen if you were jetting off to Vegas every weekend, as Jagger's friends, who inspired the song, were doing at the time.

Vegas odds: 10 to 1

5. 'Ramblin' Gamblin' Man,' Bob Seger

Early Seger in his psychedelic James Brown phase, with the Midwestern kid singing like a barefoot child of the Deep South during the Depression: "I was born lonely down by the riverside/Learned to spin the fortune wheel and throw dice."

Vegas odds: 8 to 1

4. 'Viva Las Vegas,' Elvis Presley

Still one of the King's cheesiest songs, and still one of his best. Co-written by the great Doc Pomus with Mort Shuman at the title track for Elvis' 1964 film, the song, of course, has taken on a whole new meaning lately as the jingle for a certain, shall we say, male enhancement pill.

Vegas odds: Vegas odds: 5 to 1

3. 'Sin City,' AC/DC

If you and your posse are flying into Vegas for the weekend, this track will make you feel like you're starring in the movie of your own life. Picture the slo-mo strut through the lobby in your shades and your sharkskin, and let the late, great Bon Scott and the boys bash out the soundtrack: "Lamborghinis, caviar, dry martinis ... Shangri-la."

Vegas odds: 3 to 1

2. 'Ooh Las Vegas,' Gram Parsons

Besides being the guy who helped the Byrds and the Stones tap their inner twang, Parsons did more than anyone this side of Elvis to bring Nudie Cohn's spectacularly spangled Vegas suits into the rock 'n' roll realm. Despite his penchant for glitter, Parsons knew he was no match for the relentless Vegas night: "Every time I hit your crystal city, you know you're gonna make a wreck out of me."

Vegas odds: 2 to 1

1. 'Luck Be a Lady,' Frank Sinatra

'Sinatra at the Sands' made the Chairman the unofficial mayor of Vegas, and he knew his constituency. Take it from Frank, that old beacon of romantic fidelity: "A lady doesn't wander all over the room and blow on some other guy's dice." Chicago may have been his kind of town, but in Vegas there's always someone willing to blow on your dice.

Vegas odds: Sure bet