“Thank You For Playing Our Game” Playlist (reposted from Facebook)

What happens when all the ancient Gods return and find the mess mankind has made of this world? They hit reset. It may be flood; it may be fire. Kind of what it feels like is happening now...

That’s what The General Electorate’s “Thank You For Playing Our Game” is about. This song is a 50/50 collaboration with Dan Lewis of The Tomorrow File, who wrote the first verse and bridge (lyrics and melody), to which I added the chorus (lyrics and melody) and second verse (melody only).

The music is cheery, but the tone is dark. The playlist has a little of everything: light on light, dark on dark, dark on light, light on dark. There’s the lightness of Eurythmics’s “There Must Be An Angel,” Howard Jones’s “Life in One Day,” Baltimora’s “Tarzan Boy,” Erasure’s “Heavenly Action,” and New Order’s “Bizarre Love Triangle.” There’s the light/dark contrast of Tears for Fears’s “Goodnight Song,” The Killers’s “Mr. Brightside” and “Human,” Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark’s “Tesla Girls,” Eurythmics’s “You Have Placed a Chill Inside My Heart” and “Adrian,” The The’s “This is the Day,” and Erasure’s “Cold Summer Day (Fingers and Thumbs)” [the last of which served as something of a template for this song’s arrangement and structure]. Then there’s the truly dark: New Order’s “Your Silent Face,” David Bowie’s “When the World Falls Down,” John Cale’s “I Wanna Talk 2 U,” ABBA’s “The Visitors,” Bryan Ferry’s “Is Your Love Strong Enough,” A-ha’s “The Sun Always Shines on TV,” Depeche Mode’s “Dream On,” and Berlin’s “Like Flames.”

It’s a fantastic playlist with a little of something for everybody who loves new wave 80s music, so give it a listen. Or several listens. You can listen for free at THIS SPOTIFY LINK HERE. And don’t forget to share the link with your friends! Drips and drabs of little listens help finance

THANK YOU FOR PLAYING OUR GAME LYRICS

When we see you crawling on all fours, we almost take you seriously. You look and cry for more. We almost take you seriously. Maybe you’ll win. Maybe you’ll win.

You can beg; you can cry; you can put out your own eyes; You can pray; you can steal. Still, we won’t apologize as we say... we say...

Thank you for playing our game. There’s no need to weep. Even though you’ve lost, it’s over just the same. Maybe you should sleep.

Put away your prophets and your kings, these tokens of divinity. They were never more than Things to fade into anonymity. You’ll never win. You’ll never win.

All your blessings, your curses, your hollow rote verses... The spectacle, when through, ’s not enough to redeem you, and we say... we say... You can start some new wars in a cheap show of force, But it’s all been done before, and you’ve yet to show remorse. Yes it’s all been done before, and the Gods won’t be coerced As we say... we say...

Thank you for playing our game. There’s no need to weep. Even though you’ve lost, it’s over just the same. Maybe you should sleep.