The Rush

Pat Grigadean

May 13, 2016

My brother, Chris, used to be a gambler. He explained that it wasn’t so much about winning money. It was more about “the rush” of playing the game. So we used that theme as the backdrop for another song about the nature of reality as we perceive it. That is, that we are all here in this life to learn things. Or rather, to re-learn things we already know. And sometimes we choose to experience pain, tragedy or loss for the physical/emotional experience – “the rush”. But how much easier it would be if we could remember that - like the person in this song who works at a casino - we have the keys to change our experience.

I don’t need to play the game; I’ve got the keys to the slot machine
But I think I’ll sit down and play a few hands for fun
There’s winners here tonight, and some who think they might be
But none of them can remember why they’ve come.

I’ve seen ‘em come and go; by now I think I know
Which ones are gonna stay a little too long
They say their luck is bad and some get downright mad
But it’s the only game in town where they belong.

So they keep on playing, praying, delaying
The time they know that they all have to fold
And they keep on waiting...anticipating
The card they know will turn their hand to gold.

And they keep on playing. Sometimes they win
But the rush is in the playing and they just come back again
Where they keep on playing; sometimes they play to long
But it’s the only game in town where they belong.

[Kazoo break]

But me, I just work here; I know it’s all a game
And this game ain’t the one where I belong
But it’s fun to pretend that I’ll be winner in the end
Or that I might forget and stay a little too long.

So I’ll keep on playing; sometimes I’ll win
But the rush is in the playing and I’ll just come back again
Where I’ll keep on playing. But if they strip me clean
I’ve still got the keys to the slot machine.