The first time I heard this song was when the video for it was playing on MTV. The video was in shades of blue, black and white.1 I had always taken a liking to the effect that color scheme brings out, so I watched the video.
The next thing that got me was the lyrics of this song. The lyrics are very powerful. It tells the story of seeing a friend
go down the wrong road, and not being able to pull himself out.
If you read the lyrics, you might think of this as what Arlo Guthrie would write about if he grew up in Los Angeles.
But once you hear the music, you will realize this is not a song by Arlo. Ernie C, the main guitarist in this band, has written the music for this song. It starts off very quiet and sparse, but slowly builds in momentum.
After a climactic guitar solo the song settles down, and ends in the chorus being sung a cappella. Although this song isn't as fast or thrashy as other songs on this album, I still think it's a masterpiece.
1 - If you like this style you should also watch
Frente's video for her version of Bizarre Love Triangle
or The Only Think I Care About by E
Song: "The Winner Loses"
Artist: Body Count
As heard on their self-titled album
My friend's addicted to
cocaine
Smokes day and night drives mom and pop insane
Living his life in the dark light
Every
dollar he gets goes into the pipe
He wants to borrow some money from me
Do you think I'm
blind, don't know the score, can't see?
You wanna get high as the sky
You're kissin' your life goodbye
You think it's a game that you play
But the winners lose it all some day
You don't know who you are, you're
losing your mind
Things get a little tight, he committed a crime
Give me your money or give me your life
You betta empty your pockets because ya,
Ya don't live twice
You wanna get high as the sky
You're kissin' your life goodbye
You think it's a game that you play
But the winners lose it all some day
He took the money to the
dope man
And he said he had the best
Next thing you knew
cardiac arrest
It was a rollercoaster he couldn't get off
Next thing I knew my friend's life was lost
Nooooooooooo!
You think it's a
game
You think it's a
game
You think it's a
game
You think it's a
game
You wanna get high as the sky
You're kissin' your life goodbye
You think it's a game that you play
But the winners lose it all some day
You wanna get high as the sky