Game Theory: Blaze of Glory
![[album cover]](images/blaze.jpg)
Released: 1981
The band: Scott Miller, Nancy Becker, Fred Juhos, Michael Irwin
Producer: Scott Miller
I never wanted to be tough
To leave as easy as I came
Don't use your option to be cruel
If lousy chess moves is my only crime
I always seem to fall in love
When no one wants me sending valentines
You didn't see us laughing our way through the misery
Ten years isn't such a long time if you've got something to show
And my appreciation has gotten strong since having no one
Could you live alone if you were haunted?
Can you really cut the ties that bind...
And float out on the waters to discover no one's throwing any lines
You didn't see us holding on through the insanity
Failure isn't such a bad thing if you've got something to show
And my appreciation has gotten strong for having someone
You're a last minute change, a name that didn't ring a bell
Pencilled in over a page full of geeks from the ranks
Like a Tin Scarecrow looking for a heart and a brain
From the very first wizard you could promise a lifetime of thanks
But everyone knows that you staked out your position
You carved out a name before God guided your hand
Now you're the way of the vacuum
Another human being's freedom in the suck bag
Turn around and take a look at the republic for which you stand
Because everyone knows but nobody says,
Everyone knows but nobody understands
I think I must know exactly what you're thinking
It's just the sleepyheads and me and I can do pretty much as I like
Dawn of the dead
Close your mouth 'cause it won't be fed
In this brave new world you're on your own, they said
But don't think twice if you make some mistakes tonight
There's time enough to find your place
(What you want and what's at stake)
There's room to bend before you break
and miles to go before before you wake
White Blues Now! It's all trash now
White Blues Now! Throw it all away.
Oh, Mr Kurtz, man, we love you so much it hurts.
You've shown us what it means to self-assert
you win our fights
you keep the cliffs of Dover white
and you've put surprises in our dreams.
One tense moment's all we need
to dig a grave of sand and weeds
And write on it who fails and who succeeds.
Here lies another case of stepping on too many faces.
They drove him uptown, they ran him around
They plowed him six feet under
thought he never lost an inch of ground
Well I've got a date—a date with an angel
I'm going to pick her up down at Central High
And all of the boys there are going to hate me
'Cause I know that she's caught their eye.
Yes I've got a date—a date with an angel
Oh, we're not lovers. As a lover I'm through
And she doesn't kiss me. She thinks it's disgusting
Oh, I think it's disgusting too.
So, can I see you Saturday, what does it matter?
I get lonely and I just want to call
And I'll admit, I get a little angry, when they say it's wrong
Well I say don't admit to anything. Anything at all.
Well I've got a date, a date with an angel
We're going out on our town again
I want to keep my arms around her forever
But she wants to be home by ten.
Now listen, I've got a date, a date with an angel
Oh we're not changing too much of the world.
But even though the world keeps trying to change us
No one's going to unstring my pearl.
Oh, they say you drive your life at ninety miles an hour
And if you climb, you're going to fall. They ask you
"Hey! Aren't you looking at the boys now, getting your heart broken?"
Well I say don't admit to anything, anything at all.
They say the losers come to you,
And you'll appreciate all that they've been through
Franz Kafka says we're on trial
You say one day we'll all look back and smile
Yes, I've heard of the straight and narrow road.
Some say we're selling out our moral code.
Some say that in these troubled days
It's the only job that pays.
Well, Jimmy's gone to Sunset Strip appealing for survival
And Johnny's gone to Carolina with a stack of Bibles.
I never know which side they want to see.
Will you be their mirror when they cast their stones at me
'Cause sometimes I feel just like Mary Magdalene.
I followed every voice that called to me.
I've got to say so much for destiny
As spiders build their webs in my shoes.
Lord, this must be the blues.
Well Janey says you've got to find the perfect path to follow
And Jeannie says you'll never find no ground that isn't hollow
No more curtains to hide behind, it seems.
Will I cast a longer shadow when he shines his light on me?
'Cause sometimes I feel just like Mary Magdalene
People thought they'd taught you gratitude,
But you say you need more latitude for all they throw at you
People say the future's bright for you,
But you think what they say won't make it true
The future's black and blue—it's not 1962
Your little sisters turning harder core
It's only one obsession out of many more
The young drug is illegal in your state
The young drug but you take it anyway
It's so big they just don't know who to blame
People say you drive to dangerously
And you pretend they've got a point to see. With kind apology
People say cocaine is wrecking you;
Someone's got to keep a check on you.
They all have lectured you. But no one ever got through
You thought you knew about what's right and wrong
But there's a law that you've been breaking all along
She packed her sweaters and took a ride
And wrote "you lose" between all the lines of the L.A. Times
And should you follow her car upstate?
It's a long drive up and a long way down off the Golden Gate
It fits as good as your clothes
You're wondering if pain so beautiful should earn a happy ending or so
You wish she'd let you know
What will you do now for fun in bad weather?
Will you be lonely forever and ever?
It's a bad year, the hard liners say, for tragic heroes at U.C.L.A.
You look so cool with your young man's charm but you're so distracted
The world leans on its boyfriend's arm
You spend too much time chasing clouds away
And you wind up working in someone else's rainy day
It's so tough. You need a little push: You need a little stroke
A punch line that's more than just a bad joke a toy you never broke
What will you do now for fun in bad weather?
I kiss her lips lightly and dress for the moment
If she finds that she's too cool for me, we both know she'll be gone
She goes out of bounds, she spends too much energy living things down
Don't ask me why I look so happy even though I'm never satisfied
It could be love (she says that's a flaw) but I don't ask the moon
Just stay with me always and leave me alone
So much grief gets wasted on me
'Cause I'll be back for action every time it comes in fashion
She destroys me because she loves me
It's like a wire around my neck; it's making me a nervous wreck
I push away but still I cling. All I want from her is everything.
You know I'm so glad that you made me wait
But if I wait one moment more I'm walking out the window
I'm giving up the keys
I've got your name in giant letters painted on my ceiling
Bungling my head on the floor, could you still ask for more
I don't want to go where the money goes; I wouldn't be happy with fame
I want you to love me.
Yea, I want your airbrushed clothes to sell out tonight
You could make suicide so easy
Nothing seems so scary, no nothing ever hurts when it's cold
You are my seven precious digits
Dialing you, my stupid heart beats loud as the rings
Don't my words mean a thing
As I walk among my small regrets
From the valley of the shadow where do I get?
With all my intents and purpose, I'm looking for some level surface
I turn to you. I know this tension doesn't go away.
But I will look it in the face today.
See in color though they show me in gray
So I put my shoes on and pay my debts
And get hours ahead of all the tears I can forget
With my arm around your back
I will play the deck no matter how much it's stacked
And we could have some say in what we take as real
Grab this town like it was no big deal
But everyone's afraid to break the seal
So I drive home past the closed up stores and homes
That each look sadder than the one before
I want to go bang on every door
and say "Wake up, you're sleeping through heaven"
And I don't care who knows, I don't know who cares
If you don't want yours then let me have my share
I can turn my back on the younger man
Who thought he was breaking ground for some fatherland
With an eye toward toppling ten pins
Grew up so fast, it made his head spin
Picked lonely fights and showed an ugly face to all concerned
Stood up and took it on the chin by turns
In troubled waters as his bridges burned
I'm afraid of streets when lights are out
And I'm well aware that an up is a down
But for all these lessons I'm learning, I know I can't stop the yearning
I want you tonight. I guess that some would say my life's a mess
But you have let me show some great success
(Or maybe I'm too dumb to stay depressed)
Everyday I want it more
I used to be to glad to stay home being bored
I want to go bang on every door
and say "Wake up, you're sleeping through heaven!"
I could say I like to say your name
but to you it's just the same
I could say you make me so afraid
I don't want to—still I stay
Is it okay that I don't know what to do
I know I like you
Though I don't trust the way you change my will,
Ooh, it gives me chills
Daytime, daytime, you're just like physical sunshine
And nighttime, nighttime, you're just too real to be real
I think I am going to try
(Then I held you and—ooh)
I knew that life couldn't get any better
And I didn't care when I felt myself rolling down that hill
Ooh, It gives me chills
The girls are ready to go
And they want you to go say hello
Things were different a long time ago
But it's you now
Who's keepin' it slow now
That you're really in control
The girls are ready to go
And this time it's winner take all
It's the real fun to have and to hold
Come on inside 'cause outside it's cold
This is the time to hit a new low
'Cause if the girls are ready to go then go
The girls are ready to go
What you feel counts, and not what you're told
Those fine eyes are searching your soul
When they catch you, they pierce to the bone
And you know too much restraint can hurt you so
The good times are ready to go
If you stay home
You'll miss the whole show
You were so shy a long time ago
Now step on the pedal and go
It's your show to get on the road
And if you're ready to go then go
'Cause it's true no one tells you if you miss your cue
You know that it just won't do
It's not you
Never get a distorted view.
If you know how you've got to go collect what's due
It's tried by so very few
Plans you change do no good
If they're not carried through
The girls are ready to go
And this time it's winner take all
It's the real fun to have and to hold
You know you've got to go on and pay your toll
The good life is ready to go
What you do counts and not what you know
The fine wine is ready to flow
Take a drink now and stop saying no
Cause playing hard to get is getting old
And if the girls are ready to go, then go