Spotlight On: Gameboy
Once upon a time, in a far off distant realm called Texas, there lived a boy. He had a vibrant imagination. So you can imagine how unpleasant his life was until he went to college. Needless to say, this young man became addicted to a series of distractions and supplements, and now as an adult, he struggles to find motivations to leave his home and face the real world.
Info:
Song name: Gameboy
Written by: Barry Craig, 1988, 2004, 2011
Performances on this recording: Barry, Jun, Jeremy and Joey
Last updated: Added vocal updates August 018. Added Jun’s guitars May 2018. Mixed in Jeremy’s drums and other edits September 2014. Recorded Joey’s guitars, February 2013. Worked in some new drums and vocals, October, 2011.
Insights and Interpretations:
I’m very proud of this composition, which uses some of the first bits I ever wrote on the piano (in fact it works some of my first recordings into the mix). I had never done much with this particular song, because I always thought it sounded over-the-top as a soundtrack for a video game. It wasn’t until Obol started happening, and we were making some goofy, weird songs, all the while tackling some nice, meaty personal issues, that it seemed perfect — I wanted to explore my own addictions with gaming and how that contributes to my disconnect with the real world, so I built a vocal melody to fit.
Fantasy Video Idea:
If I had my druthers.
Pretty simple. I always imagine a video for this song showing a teenager playing games, gradually becoming physically wired to his machine, like something out of Kafka. And among the games that he’s playing, he designs his ideal woman, switching faces, switching bust size, etc., and the machine creates more and more tentacles to wrap around his arms, and suck him in. A few points during the process, the kid looks over at the phone (which is ringing) and he throws a shoe at it, something like that. Because, you know, he wants to be left alone. During the first solo, we see flash-backs of this girl, how they used to run around together and be happy. We see a bit of them breaking up. She’s lovely, and it is sad. Various shots of the band rocking out as low rez digital characters, so that we’re paying a tribute to Atari. Around the last solo, our protagonist is actively trying to get away, to get out of his apartment, but the game console wraps around him with tentacles, similar to a Japanese porn film. He fights them off and tries to get out the door. But no luck, they drag him back in, and the last shot is a giant wire cocoon, the game screen showing his girlfriend’s smiling face, re-created in-game.
Lyrics:
SON: A lonely cynic in search of lonely cynic. Oh, lord. Yeah. Cannot pull away. Just one more sinner, and I’m done. Can you feel it? Oh no. Get the fuck away. Hey all you ungrateful gigolos. Leave me alone. Besides it’s not like I hurt no one. In my soul. This hurts worse than mind flypaper. MOTHER: Look at you! Work a job! Log some hours! Buy a home? Baby, too? Like the others? Barry, your higher score doesn’t matter. Why don’t you step outside? Maybe find a… maybe find another girl. SON: Colorize and hypnotize, you tethered creature! Yeah, you help me run away. It’s all I want now, such a pull, and I’ll have made it, oh yeah. Cannot pull away. Hey all you ungrateful gigolos. Leave it alone. Besides it’s not like I hurt. Hurt. Hurt in my soul. This is worse than mind fly paper. MOTHER: Gameboy! Look at you! Work a job! Log some hours! Buy a home! Baby, too! Like the others! Barry, your higher score doesn’t matter. Why don’t you step outside. Maybe find a… maybe find another girl. Hold me now.
