[Verse 1]
Video games helped me survive
Through the hardest times
Gaming kept me alive
Through the darkest nights
Gaming let me live a little life, in my mind
That I could quit if I didn't like it
But wouldn't have known it if I didn't try
Think of it as a different type of literature, cinema
The vision of a different eye
My daily life changed since I've gamified it
Made it mine it wouldn't be the same
If I'd stayed inside my ailing mind

I've been failing life
Unable to find a way to hide it
This pain inside gets greater
Yet I'm taking pride in it
My brain is trying, playing mind games
So I'm playing my games
To stabilise and save my life
Games let me keep score when otherwise
I wouldn't be able to summarise
The basic reason why I'm even here for
See a door and open it, see a portal, go for it
See, although you're motionless
You know to click and open up that coconut
We speak for those that haven't spoken up
There's loads of us, we were asleep
But now we've woken up
[Chorus 1]
Games helped me survive
Through the hardest times
Gaming kept me alive
Through the darkest nights

[Verse 2]
Although on the surface it seemed I was sitting isolated
My purpose really was to socialise outside my cage
You see this virtual world was the environment I'd find my mates in
And be part of something larger than the size of my location
I came to judge others on character traits and not their nation
Learnt team work, communication and co-operation
I played Civilization with other civilizations
Traded shots, gifts and information, give and take
My Game Boy's old and grey
But it's the same Game Boy that I hold today
How could I have sold it
Faced the pain of seeing it thrown away?
So now it sits by my Switch another generation
Gaming gave me a rich extra-curricular education
I went to places and ages school never bothered teaching
The USSR to Egypt and even more farther reaching
I've been part of the crowds in revolutionary France
Fleetingly felt what it felt to give a brand new future a chance
I empathised with other points of view
Living in a bubble what else was a country boy to do?
In fact, I took my surroundings for granted
'Til my eyes, fell upon an Oblivion sunset, nearly cried
Waited for the dawn to come, morning sun, feel it rise
Now I appreciate experiencing the real skies
I come outside summer rain splashes on the paving
And I'm like: "These graphics are amazing"
How many polygons are in a single drop of liquid?
The figure's probably bigger
Than even your God predicted
The laws of physics are a code
By which we're not restricted
'Cause we've been modding it
Since the first bit of rock was lifted
Real life and VR life
Are going to be like spot the difference
It's not really a surprise
We realise we got addicted
Logging in can steal time
Until we've lost the big picture
Popular opinions we see online are often twisted
But despite the cost of this, I'm highly optimistic
To leaf the drop, and reach the top, we've got to risk it
We've got to paint on the wall of the cave
Unless we want to keep replaying the oldest of saves
You're not just holding the fort, mate
You're holding your fate
That's why I'll take my control to the grave
So until the day my face is like my Game Boy, old and grey
I will remember that I'm never too old to play
[Chorus 2]
Games helped us survive
Through the hardest times
Gaming kept us alive
Through the darkest nights
We speak for those that haven't spoken up
There's loads of us we were asleep
But now we've woken up
Games helped us survive
Through the hardest times
Gaming kept us alive
Through the darkest nights
We speak for those that haven't spoken up
There's loads of us we were asleep
But now we've woken up

[Outro]
Games helped us survive
Through the hardest times
Gaming kept us alive
Through the darkest nights
Games helped us survive
Through the hardest times
Gaming kept us alive
Through the darkest nights
Games helped us survive
Through the hardest times
Gaming kept us alive
Through the darkest nights