SpinTunes 24 Round 1 Challenge - 'The Game Is Afoot!'

[BoffoYux]

“Fourty-Two” - Tarot Cards

This song covers the intense conflict that our minds face daily. Personally, I tend to get stuck in the past or find myself looking to the future a lot - as I can assume many people do also. This conflict and contradiction in my brain often feels like a game to me, and the conversations with the inner voice and the subconscious often mimic a similar back and forth as implied in the pre-chorus. I chose the idea of tarot cards to capture the feelings of insecurity in one’s actions and feelings and the presumed consequences. It also attempts to capture the often wavering self image and unsure nature of adolescence. My favorite part of this song is the bridge because it mirrors how unsure we can be of our own actions and thoughts, giving the impression of an unreliable narrator when really, deep down, we know that the future is always uncertain no matter how much worrying is done nor how many precautions are taken.

Verse I
I’ve been told I’m good at reading people
But really I’m just good observing their flaws
I have an optimistic mindset of the world
But see most things in black and white, bronze or gold
I’ll put you on a pedestal, it’s not an accurate portrayal
Cause I like to idealize the ones I can't see through
Is it my lack of acute observation?
Or just my inherent self-centered attitude?


Pre-Chorus
We can keep playing this game of pretend
If you feel so inclined to keep the downwards trend
And we can keep trying to play our cards single file
But every wrong draw is five steps to another trial


Chorus
So you can take my heart
But not even I can read my tarot cards
Playing games isn’t what I’d thought it’d be,
When tricks of my imagination play more often than me


Verse II
I’ve come to realize that the world comes down to perception
And we’re all bad at just expressing our thoughts
Cause I’m no divinations expert at all
But I can guess and guess til I’ve got you pinned with string to the wall
You can tie it in a bow or bury it deep down
Either way, the contents change, and hope will surely drown
Pandora's box is full of secrets no one cares to hear
So we often just ignore our deepest darkest fears


Bridge
So deal my cards and lay out the deck
If you draw altruism, I can tell you what comes next
Cause I can’t read my prophecy, but I’m content in not knowing
Oh what’s coming for me
Oh, I’m content in exploration of my beliefs


Chorus
So you can take my heart
But not even I can read my tarot cards
Playing games isn’t what I’d thought it’d be,
When tricks of my imagination play more often than me


Outro
Knowing doesn’t come so easily
But taking wild guesses doesn’t get you where you want to be

[BoffoYux]

Tunes By LJ - Showdown

It's a song about poker! Had a lot of fun with this one! Tagged in a longtime friend and collaborator for those soulful background vocals.

Ace and 2, different suit
Play it cause I ain't seen much action yet
Under the gun, part of the fun
Pressure from the jump, light my cigarette
Wait for the flop, checking the pot
Watching like a hawk when I spot a threat
Into the turn, money to burn
I can smell a worm in this cassoulet

The bet goes around the pot gets bigger
Til the ace comes down on the river...

Lay your cards on the table
Put your hand next to mine
You bet your money on a fable
And it's time for your lies to unwind

2 4 6, I'm stackin' my chips
Ante off the rip, got more hands to play
3 6 9, wastin' my time
Double up the blinds, bit more skin in the game
Running it back, time to attack
Raise it off the bat, fold that crap away
Back to the well, I notice the tell
And I'll be raising hell when there's hell to pay

And everybody knows now
You ain't got shit for the showdown...

Lay your cards on the table
Put your hand next to mine
You bet your money on a fable
And it's time for your lies to unwind

[BoffoYux]

Governing Dynamics - Falling For Maybe

As I step to through the door
Towards the shine above the floor
Just one stop for my woman with the tokens
Tight smile, bright hello
When she looks at me I know
Every victory still ushers me towards broken

Faces around the table
Calling shots in the dark
Places where you're nameless
Strangers know just who you are

Hold or hit, fold, commit?
Desire and instinct both betray me
My own worst threat, they call last bets
I'm falling, falling for maybe

Now I don't even check
If somebody stacked the deck
Sometimes the crash is the best part of the ride
Don't tell me the odds
They're as fickle as gods
I'll spit in fate's eye if you're on my side

Games that wink and promise
Shamestruck, risks gone unpaid
Can’t stop, digging for fire
To find the current that breaks my way

Hold or hit, fold, commit?
Desire and instinct both betray me
My own worst threat, they call last bets
I'm falling, falling for maybe

It's always vanity to devastation
Losing clarity to hesitation
It's insanity I can't defend
Now calamity's around the bend
It's always vanity to devastation
Losing clarity to hesitation
Oh, Calamity my oldest friend

Don't try to cool me off now
All my lies? only prayers
The one-arm might tilt my way
If I buy my own bluff I’m not scared

Hold or hit, fold, commit?
Desire and instinct both betray me
My own worst threat, they call last bets
I'm falling, falling for maybe

[BoffoYux]

Pigfarmer Jr - Hangman

The hangman doesn't seem to give a damn
He's missing what it takes to be a man
His loneliness is darker than it seems
You put his parts together piece by piece

The more you get wrong the more of him is seen
With every mistake he is more and more complete
Hanging 'round in pieces all the time

I don't want to be your hangman
Only feeling whole when you're wrong, wrong, wrong
Please don't make me be your hangman
Life is being shattered by the way it's being drawn
And you can't be the missing part of me

The hangman's missing more than he can know
Having no emotions left to show
You put him back together once again
Knowing he can never be your friend

The more you get wrong the more of him is seen
With every mistake he is more and more complete
Hanging 'round in pieces all the time

I don't want to be your hangman
Only feeling whole when you're wrong, wrong, wrong
Please don't make me be your hangman
Life is being shattered by the way it's being drawn
And you can't be the missing part of me

Sometimes I'm convinced that you're forgetting me
You leave me hanging all of the time
And I can't help but feel my life is incomplete
Knowing you are leaving me behind

I don't want to be your hangman
Only feeling whole when you're wrong, wrong, wrong
Please don't make me be your hangman
Life is being shattered by the way it's being drawn
And you can't be the missing part of me
You can't be the missing part of me

[BoffoYux]

Dog Star Pilot - Some Kind Of Pawn

This was pure fun... exactly what you hope to find in a game.

Our forces were poised to win by all the accounts
The bishops were smiling and so were the knights on their mounts
but a drastic turn began before we could pounce
before we could pounce
A drastic turn began before we could pounce

The edge of the table was open and hosting a hoard
and pieces from other games were coming on board
This unfair advantage would certainly cost us the war
cost us the war
This unfair advantage would certainly cost us the war

There were towers of Lego that measured a half meter tall
with Hungry Hungry Hippos forming a wall
and Monopoly money was spent to finance it all
finance it all
Monopoly money was spent to finance it all

( bridge )
I couldn’t wait at my station
and witness the end
I broke from the ranks before
the axe could descend
The rules long observed were just thrown away
and I could not stay
if this is now how the game will be played

I wandered a canyon of books on the table I crossed
afraid that if one of them tumbled then I would be squashed
because without the checkerboard squares as a guide I was lost
totally lost
without the checkerboard squares I was totally lost

When I finally found a respite I wasn’t the same
as I sorted through indignation, anger, and shame
I’ll never again be a pawn in some sort of game
some sort of game
I’ll never again be a pawn in some sort of game

[BoffoYux]

Ominous Ride - Hide and Seek

No time and no place to record, so not pleased with this effort.

There was a time we used to play
A game where I would close my eyes
and you would hide away
I’d count to ten and look around
Wasn’t very hard
Because you wanted to be found

And even though I know
It wasn’t perfect then
I’d give the sun and moon
For you to want to play again

There was a time we used to laugh
A time when you look for me
I never had to ask
I knew the day would come around
Watching as your innocence
Was slowly sanded down

And as the pages turn
You tell me not to look
I can’t help trying to find
The child from that forgotten book

Now when I tell you that I’m hiding
You are too occupied to find me
Now when you disappear
It isn’t by design and I’m
Afraid that it will never be the same
Back when hide and seek was just a game

There was a time we used to play

[BoffoYux]

Dream Bells - Roses

I thought a singing game would be apt for a songwriting challenge concerning games. This one is referencing "Ring Around the Rosie". The game has this historically dubious folklore relating it to the bubonic plague, where the "ring around the rosie" is referencing the red rashes around the buboes, the "pockets full of posies" is a way to distract from the stench of decaying bodies, and "Ashes" are relating to the mass cremations. You can guess what "we all fall down" means. You can read more about this morbid "meta-folklore" here https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2014/07/ ... nd-reason/.

In any case, I found it to be fertile ground for ideas (though I feel I could've done more with it). The central metaphor is the act of playing the singing game, representing contrived meaning in an ultimately meaningless life. I used imagery from the game and the folklore surrounding it to develop that idea.

The whole nihilism thing is a little trite if you're not a teenager anymore, but I thought this was a novel way of depicting it. The feeling has never quite left me either.

Hold my hand and sing of love
and self-indulgent pretense,
Close your eyes and fill your lungs
with the smell of sun and incense

(Just) Know these scents will fade away.
How would it be any other way?
Roses by any other name
fall and wither just the same

Turn away from the stench
masked by flowers and scents of life
that we stuff in our pockets to pretend
that we're not all doomed in the end

(But) Know these scents will fade away.
How would it be any other way?
Roses by any other name
fall and wither just the same

(Ashes to Ashes...)
(Ashes to Ashes...)

[BoffoYux]

Möbius Strip Club - To Victory or to Glory

On the morning the first challenge for SP24 dropped, Cybronica awoke from a dream with a little stretch of melody stuck in their head. That became the riff for this song, and everything grew from there. This song is about Diungeons and Dragons, and how we get to choose who we are and what aspects of ourselves we share when sitting down to a night of adventure with friends.

Who am I today?
What will be my name?
What role do I play as fate rolls away
Sharp stones and weathered bones
Weighted for its endless game

Today I choose to be a hero in this story
I know my strengths. I claim my voice.
What’s left behind? I’ve made my choice.
Master of my destiny
to victory or to glory

Wither am I drawn?
Who will come along?
Bearing brain and brawn
We shall carry on

Merry band of travelers finally where we belong

Today I choose to be a hero in this story
I know my strengths. I claim my voice.
What’s left behind? I’ve made my choice.
Master of my destiny
to victory or to glory

No one asked but the die is cast
What has come to pass will remain with me
Over, under, fire or thunder
Makes me wonder, who are we?

Today I choose to be a hero in this story
I know my strengths. I claim my voice.
What’s left behind? I’ve made my choice.
Master of my destiny
to victory or to glory

[BoffoYux]

Flintsteel - Tarnished

based on the videoed game 'elden ring'

"it must be cold
cast out beyond the fog
severed from the light that made you whole

condemned to fight
to die and live again
caught in limbo far from home


your line, the sons
of the first lord of all
banished from grace
that their order may fall

now things have changed
unforeseen, yet foretold
spurred back between
by a path glowing gold

so, awake!
your journey must begin


arise ye tarnished
i now return you to this land
to take for your command

the spark of grace returned
all fate is in your hands!

and from this glimpse of light
you will ascend
become the elden lord again



does hatred grow
inside your warriors heart?
the flame of frenzy burn to keep you warm?

well, now you have your chance
pantheon in civil war!
loose your steel, become the storm!

your time has come
we've awaited this day
forging with vengeance
great runes on your blade

take back your kingdom
the realms will align -
death come to tyrants
mortal or divine!


so, awake!
the blackened flame within"

[BoffoYux]

Charlie Cheney - Swifter! Higher! Stronger! [SHADOW]

My moment starts and ends tonight
My mantra: dream, perchance believe
My country's colours proud and bright
Upon my warm and fuzzy sleeve

We take our place upon the mat
A battle station all supine
In hope to lay opponents flat
To face their challenge with a spine

CHORUS
Swifter, higher, stronger
But it's deeper in this fight
I've dreamed of this for so long
And I live my dreams tonight

The crowd falls silent, as they must
The foes unstirring all around
All drinking deep of sandman's dust
The clock ticks down without a sound

The world hangs on our falling breath
The worlds concealed beneath our face
We build of endless shade and depth
That fade so soon to empty space

CHORUS

These universes soon destroyed
For there can be no earthly doubt
To when the hourglass is void
Within the world we find without

As all eyes turn to find the one
Who eyes believe and wise men reckoned
Lifted like a dawning sun
An eyelid in that very second

CHORUS

[BoffoYux]

Eric Baer - All The Marbles [SHADOW]

A place for truth I didn’t guess
downtown on the train
I could see her struggling with
a suitcase and a cane
Said I’d help she said ok
we got out of the rain
It was then I figured out
It’s how you play the game

A place for every hope or two
on a train downtown
The pain I’ve been struggling through
can’t slow that engine down
Tons of pure momentum
pulling forward like a chain
while I just sit here silently
It’s how you play the game

something in my heart I always knew
people have their reasons for all the things they do
something that I guess I’ve always known
find someone else that’s lonely
and we both feel less alone

A place for life as metaphor
standing by the track
it doesn’t matter where you been
no point in looking back
we all are here together
though our roads are not the same
just look out for one another
It’s how you play the game

[BoffoYux]

f6b62652-a4e5-43ac-9b70-33e135d62c4b - Conway's Game of Life Data Sonification Test [SHADOW]

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