I Will Play My Game Beneath the Spin Light Lyrics
The time has come for colds and overcoats
We're quiet on the ride
We're all just waiting to get home
Another week away, my greatest fear
I need the smell of summer, I need its noises in my ears
If looks could really kill
Then my profession would be staring
Know we do this 'cause we care, not for the thrill
Collect calls to home
Tell them that I realize that everyone who lives will someday die and die alone
[Chorus]
And we won't let you in
Though we're down and out
No, we won't let you in
You win, you win, you win
[Verse 2]
I wrote more postcards than hooks
I read more maps than books
Feel like every chance to leave is another chance I should have took
Every minute is a mile
I've never felt so hollow
I'm an old abandoned church with broken pews and empty aisles
My secrets for a buck
Watch me as I cut myself wide open on this stage
Yes, I am paid to spill my guts
I won't see home 'til spring
Oh, I would kill for the Atlantic but I am paid to make girls panic while I sing
And we won't let you in
Though we're down and out
No, we won't let you in
And we won't let you in
We don't want what isn't ours
We won't let you in
You win, you win, you win
[Bridge]
And the coastline is quiet
While we're quietly losing control
And we're silent but sure we invented the cure
That will wash out my memories of her
"The harpoon is loaded, the cage is lowered
The water is red"
Like you, like you
[Chorus]
And we won't let you in
Though we're down and out
No, we won't let you in
And we won't let you in
We don't want what isn't ours
We won't let you in
You win, you win, you win
About
The song title is a quote from the Bruce Brooks novel The Moves Make the Man. The novel is about some friends who bond over basketball, and the quote comes from the bottom of a page from one boy’s journal. Bix, the character, had previously been seen spinning a lantern while holding its tip in his hands and staring into the light… On his journal, he writes in big letters “I WILL PLAY MY GAME BENEATH THE SPIN LIGHT”.
In the book, this means that Bix is all about the game on the purest level. He doesn’t need anything but the light of a lantern in order to play.
You could turn this into an interpretation of the song, whereby it doesn’t matter how miserable touring life is because Jesse and Co will always keep going… but Jesse has also mentioned more than once that most of his song titles, especially on Deja, are random and unrelated to the songs.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning