shield your eyes from the striking light of dawn
i brushed the hair from wind against your face
i love to see you do all the crimes that you’ll do
was it all a game to you?

this game of you, a game to you, a game of you
and i dont want to lose

this is the winter of the shadows of our lives
its cold and desolate in this place where i stand
your features are hidden by your fallen gown
was it all a game to you?

this game of you, a game to you, a game of you
and i dont want to lose

look at the emotion in my eyes
it mirrors the indifference in your face
i would die to get beyond all your lies
but i know i’d still be in this place
shield my eyes from the striking light of dusk
you brush the hair from the wind against my face
everything i do is what i must
just to find the old familiar taste

but its still a game to you, this game of you, a game of you
and i have to lose

Music by Jdavyd Williams & John Harmon
Lyrics by Christina Fleming & Kevin Martin

“A Game of You” was the first song written for In Tenebris, and historically is also the most collaborative. When we started the band, our original vision was to build beds of sound with found objects and non-conventional instruments; our heroes were German visionaries Einstürzende Neubauten. I was to play guitar, John Harmon would play bass, Kevin Martin (and a host of revolving friends) would provide percussion, and Christina would sing.

This arrangement lasted about 2 weeks. As it turns out, composing songs with noise was a lot harder than you’d think. John eventually lost interest, Kevin decided to learn bass, and I brought my drum machines into the picture.

But at the first practice, we managed to put together this song, based on some words that Kevin had written, which Christina moved around and changed to make more lyrical (as well as cribbing a few phrases from Leonard Cohen). Somewhere out there is one cassette recording of this song in it’s original form – much quieter, percussion from a shopping cart & screwdrivers, and no chord changes for the chorus. Every band has to start somewhere, and for us, it was here.