Видео

Coincidentally, I just found the original multi-track recording. This is from OVFF 1996. We will make a (dramatically better sounding) album this year or next with this recording.

"Do they even know it when they lie?" Well they swear to protect people's rights, then act like they do, so no.

This is a great anthem to the series!! Well done. One of the greatest sci-fi epics ever penned! Surprised it’s not been turned into a movie or series yet. That might be a good thing though!

I got to say, as much as I wish I could find the original source for this, there is something oddly charming about the lack of audio quality. It really fits the theme of a sort of dying, forgotton song, lost to time.

Figured I'd be the one to post a complete list of the asides and lyrics this time: Opening: "I decided to write this little song, warning folks about the dangers of being a gamer. All this is unfortunately true. And catch me at a party and I'll tell you all the details. Suffice to say that, when I go back, I'm gonna play for a political rally. Trying to get a bunch of gamers out of jail. Go figure." (song begins) Verse 1: o/ Oh, I'm a computer gamer. There's nothin' I won't play! Pac-Man, Mario, Star Trek Battles, I play 'em every day! I played with speed and style, I racked up a super score, Until the Secret Sevice came And knocked down my front door. They stole my whole computer, And all my disks and games! They called me a hacker/cracker And lots of weirder names! They busted me for 'intention' To hack all kinds of junk, But all the evidence they could find Was a game called _Cyberpunk_ . Chorus: You gotta wonder 'bout these people, And what they think and feel. They can't tell a game from real life, They think this game is real. ("God help us, they run the government.") Verse 2: I'm a fantasy and role-playing gamer, I play 'em whenever I can. I like _Dungeons and Dragons_ , _Runequest_ and _Shadowland_ . I played as kings and Vikings, Wizards, elves and more, Until a bunch of fundies came And kicked down my front door! They stole my dice and game book, They called it a 'book of spells'. They said I was conjuring demons, And things too weird to tell! They burned my books and papers! They almost burned me, too! They really believed in magic, They thought that stuff was true! Chorus: You gotta wonder 'bout these people, And what they think and feel. They can't tell a game from real life, They think this game is real. ("Yeah, true story. Why do you think "Dungeons & Dragons" got turned to "Advanced D&D"? With the names changed and the serial numbers filed off? And nothing called a 'god' or a 'demon' anymore?") Verse 3: I'm a live role-playin' gamer, I used to play out in the wood. _Twilight 2000_ , _Shadowrun_ , I'd play whenever I could. I'd put on my costume, shoot tin cans, And make firecrackers fly. Then my front door got kicked down again... This time it was the F.B.I. They stole my guns, my videotapes, Every book I ever read, And a couple of bags of fertilizer Out of the garden shed! They told the press I was a 'terrorist' Who planned to blow up half the town! They called me a great big militia nut, And a neo-Nazi clown! ("Huh?") Chorus: You gotta wonder 'bout these people, And what they think and feel. They can't tell a game from real life, They think this game is real. You gotta wonder 'bout these people, And just how they get by. If they can't tell the truth from fantasy... Do they even know it when they lie? \o Because this song has aged a bit since its initial release, a short glossary: "Star Trek Battles": Leslie Fish changed a little something, here. The original was "Star Fleet Battles", and was a tabletop game. The one mentioned in the first verse therefore corresponds to the computer game, _Star Trek: Starfleet Command_ , which came out in 1999. The tabletop game is still around, though. "...a game called _Cyberpunk_ ": As I mentioned elsewhere, this actually belongs to the tabletop section in verse 2. Steve Jackson Games was creating their sourcebook, _GURPS: Cyberpunk_ , and triggered enough red flags while researching hacking that their computers were seized. The final 1990 sourcebook had to be recreated from scratch, because they've never gotten the files back. "Runequest and Shadowland": _Runequest_ is a close cousin to D&D, though generally overshadowed by the more famous game. "Shadowland" is a bit of a mystery to me, though it may correspond to _Wraith: The Oblivion_ . ".. they said I was conjuring demons...": This was a reference to the infamous "Satanic Panic" of the 1980s. Yes, it really did get this weird and stupid. There were stories going around that when you burned the rulebooks, they'd scream as the demon was evicted. "Twilight 2000, Shadowun": I'm not familiar with any LARP of these, but it's not out of the question. "Twilight 2000" is a just-barely-post-apocalyptic game, with "Shadowrun" being the famous mix of fantasy and cyberpunk. Both are certainly workable. "... bags of fertilizer out of the garden shed.": This one is easiest to date, corresponding to the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City back in 1995. Since the bomb was made from fuel oil and fertilizer, there were a LOT of weird raids by the F.B.I. ...

I love how "they targeted gamers. gamers." is a meme, but it's something that actually happened lmfao.

Questing in shadowlands and playing cyberpunk? Leslie fish predicted the future!

I'm going down the Leslie Fish rabbit hole and I'm having a blast

Rip Emrys mentor of Arthur Pendragon and young Hisirdoux

Lyrics, as best I can make out: I was just a boy In my pride and joy When to Camelot I came I was old and grey On that dreadful day When Arthur the king was slain And my faith I kept Although I wept To see his realm brought down But I shed no tear For Bedivere Last of the table round So all stand up And raise your cup And drink your ail so brown And come and hear From Bedivere The last of the table round It was I who hurled Excalibur Back into it's watery grave And I saw the three And the fate of he Whose honor I tried to save Now I sit and weep And try to keep The legends of great renown And they come and hear From Bedivere The last of the table round So all stand up And raise your cup And drink your ail so brown And come and hear From Bedivere The last of the table round Now my voice is cracked And I cough and hack Whenever I try to sing Of the ventures bold Of the knights of old The once and future king But in later days The songs of greats May once again resound And they may revere For Bedivere The last of the table round So all stand up And raise your cup And drink your ail so brown And come and hear From Bedivere The last of the table round So all stand up And raise your cup And drink your ail so brown And come and hear From Bedivere The last of the table round

this is the original "society has it out for gamers" but funny and actually more justified

Gamers truly are the most opressed minority.

Oh, I'm a computer gamer, there's nothing I won't play, Pac-Man, Mario, Star Trek Battles I played them every day. I played with speed and style, I racked up a super score, until the Secret Service came and knocked down my front door. The stole my whole computer and all my disks and games, they called me a hacker cracker and lots of weirder names they busted me for intention to hack all kinds of junk but all the evidence they could find was a game called 'Cyberpunk'. (chorus) Ya'gotta wonder about these people and what they think and feel, They can't tell a game from real life they think this game is real. (aside: God help us, there go the government...) Oh, I'm a fantasy roleplaying gamer, I play them whenever I can, I like Dungeons and Dragons, Runequest and Shadowland. I played as kings and Vikings wizards, elves and more until a bunch of fundies came and kicked in my front door. They stole my dice and game books they called it a book of spells, they said I was conjuring demons and things too strange to tell. They burned my books and papers they almost burned me too, they really believed in magic, they thought that stuff was true! (chorus) (aside: True story... Why do you think Dungeons and Dragons got turned to "Advanced D&D", with the names changed and the serial numbers filed off and nothing cool left to redeem it anymore.) Oh, I'm a live roleplaying gamer I used to play out in the wood Twilight 2000 and Shadowrun I played whenever I could. I'd put on my costume and shoot tin cans and make firecrackers fly then my door got kicked down again this time it was the FBI. They stole my guns and video tapes, and every book I'd ever read, and a couple bags of fertilizer out of the garbage shed. They told the press I was a terrorist and planned to blow up half the town, they called me a crazy militia nut and a neo-nazi clown. (aside: huh?) (chorus) Ya'gotta wonder about these people and just how they get by, if they can't tell the truth from fantasy do they even know it when they lie?

Here are lyrics transcribed by ear: Mind that I'm not a native speaker and some parts (with the question marks) were to difficult to hear. I was just a boy and my pride and joy When to Camelot I came I was old and gray on that dreadful day When Arthur the king was slain And my faith I kept although I wept To see his realm brought down But I shed no tear for Bedevere The last of the table round. So all stand up and raise your cup And drink your ale so brown And come and hear from Bedevere The last of the table round. (...) It was I who hurled Excalibur Back into its watery grave And I saw the three and the fate of thee (?) Whose honor I tried to save Now I sit and weep and try to keep The legend of great renown And they come and hear from Bedevere The last of the table round. So all stand up and raise your cup And drink your ale so brown And come and hear from Bedevere The last of the table round. (...) Now my voice is cracked and I cough and hack Whenever I try to sing Of the ventures bold of the knights of old The once and future king But in later days the sun's away (?) They once again resound (?) And they may revere for Bedevere The last of the table round. So all stand up and raise your cup And drink your ale so brown And come and hear from Bedevere The last of the table round. So all stand up and raise your cup And drink your ale so brown And come and hear from Bedevere... The last of the table round.

Apparently it's by a Roberta Rogow. I can't for the life of my find lyrics for this in particular, though, which is a shame.

Name of the song????

Beautiful

It's by Karen Jolley, from "CODA: Thoughts of Yesterday".

This is loosely based on a real event...let that sync in

Magnificent rendition.

My apologies to LadyRavenEyes; I missed the notification. Verse 1 refers to the Secret Service raid on Texas' own Steve Jackson Games. It seems that in researching GURPS Cyberpunk, they tripped some filters, resulting in the confiscation of all related files. They had to recreate the entire book, because they never got the confiscated files back. Verse 2 is about the scandal focused on D&D back in the day, thanks to the comic "Dark Dungeons" from Jack Chick. Bookburnings were epidemic, and "devils" and "demons" were given new species names in an attempt to dodge the issue. Verse 3 is about the confusion between LARP players and survivalists. More than a few groups got raided back in 2010, alas, and many FBI agents felt very silly confiscating boffer weapons.

+1

yah my dog picks it up and carries it

And they call gamers weird. At least gamers know that stuff is fiction and don't labor under the delusion that the stuff they play is real life.

Yep. Definitely Fish...an oldie, but goodie. I remember the incidents, and all the fuss back when D&D was relatively new. And when Cyberpunk was new...Now, we got Steampunk, and tabletop is old hat.

Hi, this song is so beautiful... sad, but beautiful. Could you give me the lyric please? English is not my first language, and I tried google but I cannot find any lyric...

The first verse is anyway.

It's about Steve Jackson Games and the fed crazies.

i get one of the incidents but what r the others

I remember this song! Thanks for posting it! :)

Oh dear. I played many of the games Leslie mentioned. I got better.

(laughs) I love it! Heck, I'm old enough to remember not only the games she's talking about, but two of the incidents she's talking about, as well.