Lyrics The Game - Stephen Sondheim

The Game

Gold…
Fresh off the ground
Gold!
Gold!
This one is a winner, boys-
Pluck it from a mountain
Or pluck it from a hick-
When you see a chance, you pluck it
Off of someone who has struck it-
You don’t have to have a bucket
Or a shovel or a pick-
All you really need is luck or
An accommodating sucker
Who imagines that he’s slick-
And who doesn’t know he’s thick-
And it-
(spoken)
-looks like you’ve been roughing it out there for quite some time, fella
(Poker player 1 brandishes cards.)
Why don’t you take a load off and relax?
Poker?
Oh, no thanks.
I play a little rummy sometimes, that’s about it.
Besides, my brother’s waiting for me-
The game is five-card stud.
One-eyed jacks and deuces wild
(Back at the claim, Addison is swinging a pickax.)
Gold!
Grab the opportunity…
Gold!
Two musketeers…
Gold!
Part of a community
Of pioneers!
«Oh, come on, Addie
The two of us together
What fun!" —
Fun…
I’m straining every sinew
Getting blisters and continually-
(Addison sneezes.)
Sneezing
Wolves are howling and it’s freezing
Where’s the goddamn gold?!
This is really silly-gold!
And where the hell is Willie?
(He hits a rock with his pickax.)
(spoken)
Ow!
(sung)
Maybe this is not the road, Papa
Maybe not the road for me
Maybe it’s for Willie —
Yes, I know I’m being silly
But this isn’t what I want
I don’t think it’s what I want
At the moment all I want
Is Willie…
Addie!
(Addison grins, draws Wilson aside, producing a large nugget.)
Gold, we found it, Willie!
It’s all ours!
All we have to do is dig it up!
Jesus, would you look at that?
Boys, this is my brother Addison and he just dug up this nugget in the middle
of this claim.
Now we can argue about what they’re worth, or I can see your
three thousand-
(Wilson brandishes the nugget.)
And raise you, say, five hundred-
(Wilson brandishes the claim.)
Would you excuse us for a minute?
Just one minute…
(Addison draws Wilson aside)
Willie, what are you doing?
Betting the claim?!
How long is it going to take us to dig that gold out of the ground?
Three months?
Three years?
I can dig it out of that guy’s pocket in three
seconds!
Willie!
Never let a chance go by, Addie
Isn’t that what Papa meant?
Now and then you miss one
But I guarantee you this one
Is a winner
I’m no longer a beginner!
Addie, take the chance
Or it disappears!
Every card you’re dealt opens new frontiers-
Let’s be pioneers!
Willie, that claim could be forth a fortune!
Why would we gamble it?!
Why wouldn’t we?
(sung)
The whole thing’s nothing more than just a game
And, Addie, what I’m good at is the game
They said, «Come on in, sucker!»
Now they’re sorry that I came
I tell you, kid, there’s nothing like the game
Better than girls
Better than booze
Beating ace high
With a pair of twos
Better than snowdrifts
In your shoes
Even if
Now and then you lose-
Exactly!
The thing that really matters is the game
It’s more than just the winning, it’s the game
That moment when the card is turned
And nothing is the same-
The only thing that matters is the game
Better than smokes
Better than snuff
Hooking a sucker
Just enough
Betting your bundle
On a bluff-
Jesus, what a moment!
It’s more than just the money that’s at stake
That’s nice, but it’s just icing on the cake
It’s your life
Every pot
Who you are
Not what you’ve got
Compared to that, the world seems pretty tame
The thing that really matters is the game
What do you think
Papa would say?
«Boys,» he’d say
«Seize the goddamn day!
This is your chance-»
All right, okay!
(Wilson makes the bet, reveals his hand. The Poker Players throw down their
cards in a frustrated rage.)
What happened?
Heart flush
Your buddy won
Ten thousand dollars!
And the claim.
Time to go back and work the claim
Claim’s gone.
I swapped it for the saloon!
You swapped it what?
For the saloon!
Hey, I said we were in business!
Sure, the place looks like a
dump now.
But I’m thinking we’ll put in a little stage for dancing girls.
Maybe a roulette wheel-
Gimme the money
What?
Gimme the money!
(Addison snatches roughly half the cash and heads off.)
Where are you going?
Away from you!