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Dark but Just a Game – the Labyrinth of Fame and Sanity

Alexander Ross • • 6 min read
Dark but Just a Game – the Labyrinth of Fame and Sanity

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Lyrics

“It’s dark but just a game”
That’s what he would say to me
The faces aren’t the same
But their stories all end tragically

Sweet, what-whatever, baby
And that’s the price of fame
A tale as old as time, you’d be
Sweet, what-whatever, baby
A pretty little fool
To think exceptions to the rule
Just walk around
Like you and me this way

But life is sweet, what-whatever, baby
You gotta take them for what they’ve got
And while the whole world is crazy
We’re getting high in the parking lot

We keep changing all the time
The best ones lost their minds
So I’m not gonna change
I’ll stay the same
No rose left on the vines
Don’t even want what’s mine
Much less the fame
It’s dark but just a game
It’s dark but just a game

It’s dark but just a game
So play it like a symphony
You know our love’s the same
They’ll both go down in infamy

I was a pretty little thing
Ain’t got a lot to sing, but
Nothing came for me either one but pain
But fuck it

Life is sweet, what-whatever, baby
Don’t ever think it’s not
While the whole world is crazy
We’re making out in the parking lot

We keep changing all the time
The best ones lost their minds
So I’m not gonna change
I’ll stay the same
No rose left on the vines
Don’t even want what’s mine
Much less the fame
It’s dark but just a game

We keep changing all the time
The best ones lost their minds
So I’m not gonna change
I’ll stay the same
No rose left on the vines
Don’t even want what’s mine
Much less the fame
It’s dark but just a game
It’s dark but just a game
It’s dark but just

Full Lyrics

Within the halls of Lana Del Rey’s melodic mastery, lies a nuanced track that speaks volumes beyond its haunting tune. ‘Dark But Just a Game,’ off her seventh studio album ‘Chemtrails Over the Country Club,’ plays an intricate dance between the seductive allure of fame and the stark reality shadowing its glittering façade.

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Del Rey’s music has often become the focal point for discussions on the darker aspects of the American Dream, weaving narratives that explore the confluence of innocence, notoriety, and melancholia. It is through her velvet vocals and introspective lyricism in ‘Dark But Just a Game’ that she prompts a deeper analysis of the often-destructive price of fame.

The Inescapable Seduction of Notoriety

The song implies an addiction, a potent draw towards fame that is as old as time itself. Associating stardom with a ‘dark game,’ Del Rey paints a portrait of inevitable demise, an end that claims everyone who pines for and relishes in their moments under the spotlight.

Through the verse, ‘The faces aren’t the same, but their stories all end tragically,’ she points to the pattern of prominent figures, each unique and yet fated to a uniform fate, devoured by the very fame they sought to master.

Alexander Ross
Author

Alexander Ross

Alexander Ross has covered the video game industry for a decade, writing deep dives on game design, esports tournaments, VR developments, and gaming culture.