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Play the Game
I play a game I cannot put away
And I hate to play it day by day
But if it keeps those memories at bay
Then I’ll stay
And I’ll play
They taught me when I was only three
When I couldn’t close my eyes and look away
I’d still hear them leaning over and they’d say
“Come on son, stay
Come stay and play”
And they told me growin’ in to my teens
“You gotta go and take one for the team”
And I couldn’t bear the losin’ or the blame
So I stayed
I stayed and played
I don’t want to sound like I’ve been played
I can take it for the choices I have made
But if all I need to do to win is pray
Then I’ll pray
I’ll pray to play
I play a game I cannot put away
And I hate to play it every day
But if there’s time for just one more game
Hey play with me
“Come stay and play”
So it was about 1:30 in the morning and I had Johnny Cash's "I Walk the Line" playing in my head. I liked the rhyming structure he had, and I began to write my own song that fit his structure and music. In about ten minutes, I ended with this piece.
The "game" is whatever you want it to be (or not to be). It's what puts you down and sits on top of you, and what you hate but can't live without. It is your addiction, faith, love, or pleasure. It eases you, but not without a cost. This piece is about people who bring you into a world where you are all you know is all that exists, and even when you grow up into the world that's really so much bigger than you can believe, you are still only left with what you have. The "game," could be anything from a drug addiction to the simplistic reality of your own fate.