This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
Where do we go from here now that all of the children are grown up
And how do we spend our lives if there's no-one to lend us a hand
I don't want to live here no more,
I don't want to stay
Ain't gonna spend the rest of my life,
Quietly fading away
Games people play,
You take take it or you leave it
Things that they say,
Aren't right
If I promise you the Moon and the Stars,
Would you believe it
Games people play in the middle of the night
Where do we go from here now that all of the children have grown up
And how do we spend our time knowin' nobody gives us a damn
I don't want to live here no more,
I don't want to stay
Ain't gonna spend the rest of my life,
Quietly fading away
Games people play,
You take take it or you leave it
Things that they say,
Just don't make it right
If I'm tellin' you the truth right now,
Do you believe it
Games people play in the middle of the night
Games people play,
You take take it or you leave it
Things that they say,
Aren't right
If I promise you the Moon and the Stars,
Would you believe it
Games people play in the middle of the night
Games people play,
You take take it or you leave it
Things that they say,
Just don't make it right
If I'm tellin' you the truth right now,
Do you believe it
Games people play in the middle of the night
And how do we spend our lives if there's no-one to lend us a hand
I don't want to live here no more,
I don't want to stay
Ain't gonna spend the rest of my life,
Quietly fading away
Games people play,
You take take it or you leave it
Things that they say,
Aren't right
If I promise you the Moon and the Stars,
Would you believe it
Games people play in the middle of the night
Where do we go from here now that all of the children have grown up
And how do we spend our time knowin' nobody gives us a damn
I don't want to live here no more,
I don't want to stay
Ain't gonna spend the rest of my life,
Quietly fading away
Games people play,
You take take it or you leave it
Things that they say,
Just don't make it right
If I'm tellin' you the truth right now,
Do you believe it
Games people play in the middle of the night
Games people play,
You take take it or you leave it
Things that they say,
Aren't right
If I promise you the Moon and the Stars,
Would you believe it
Games people play in the middle of the night
Games people play,
You take take it or you leave it
Things that they say,
Just don't make it right
If I'm tellin' you the truth right now,
Do you believe it
Games people play in the middle of the night
Lyrics submitted by Ice, edited by RobotechMaster
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I think it's more about a couple that has lost the feelings towards each other a long time ago, but kept together for their childs sake.
Now that they've grown up, and maybe even left home they wonder what to do now. They have been left to themselves, the kids won't even call them (how do we spend our lives knowin' nobody gives us a damn)
Should they try to revive the long lost sparks? But how could they, if they've come to know each other so well, so they can't even lie about it (If I promise you the Moon and the Stars, Would you believe it?).
The only thing that's clear is that he's not willing to Quietly fade away, so he want's to leave.
Don't think he'll do it, dough. Inertia is a powerful state.
@Prometeo I realize this is from a long time ago; I feel the same about "your" meaning of this song.