I agree that it stemmed from a wester gun duel, but i absolutely do not think thats what the song is about. He uses symbolism and thats why he's talking about a gun fight. The "game" that they play may be lying to each other or trying to hurt each other, whereas in when he says "what will we do? what will we say when it's the end of this game that we play? will we crumble into the dust my friend or will we start this game over again?" he's saying basically "when this fight is over, what will happen to us?" like, will they make up or not or will they just start the whole cycle over again? It's about focusing on the wrong things-- hence the 2nd verse about gaining something and losing a life (life = friend)
I agree that it stemmed from a wester gun duel, but i absolutely do not think thats what the song is about. He uses symbolism and thats why he's talking about a gun fight. The "game" that they play may be lying to each other or trying to hurt each other, whereas in when he says "what will we do? what will we say when it's the end of this game that we play? will we crumble into the dust my friend or will we start this game over again?" he's saying basically "when this fight is over, what will happen to us?" like, will they make up or not or will they just start the whole cycle over again? It's about focusing on the wrong things-- hence the 2nd verse about gaining something and losing a life (life = friend)