Spent Gladiator 2
Lyrics
Like a spent gladiator
Crawling in the Colosseum dust
Who can count on his remaining limbs
All the people he can trust
Like the one who stands behind him
Cheering him on
Ecstatic when he stands defiant
Wild with abandon when he's gone
Just stay alive
Keep your eyes on the pay line
Like a village on the steppe
About to get collectivized
When the men emerge with rifles from the haystack
Everybody looks surprised
Like the mice in the forgotten grain
Way up on the top shelf
Like someone who's found a small town to escape to
Keeps one eye on his abandoned former self
Stay in the game
Just try to play through the pain
Like a fighter who's been told it's finally time for him to quit
Show up in shining[1] colors
And then stand there and get hit
Like the clock that ticks in Dresden
When the whole town's been destroyed[8]
Like the nagging flash of insight
You're always desperate to avoid[2]
Like the bloody-knuckled gunman[6]
Still[3] stationed at the breach
Like that board game with the sliders
And the children on the beach[4]
Stay alive
Maybe spit some blood at the camera[5]
Just stay alive
Stay forever alive[7]
Banter
- This is the sequel, sort of like, one of the greatest things that used to happen in the 60s was the answer record. You'd have a record called, like, Don't Mess With Bill. And then you'd have a record where Bill spoke, and said his things, and these were great things that don't happen anymore. At the front of this record is the last song we just played, which is a song about persevering in a really positive and triumphal way. There's the other side of that where you say, "Well, I will dig my nails into the side of the cave wall this morning, so that tomorrow when I wake up in the same cave, I'll at least see that my fingernails had enough strength left to make an impression." (2015-06-01 The Fillmore)
Live Performances
- 2013-06-04 - Strand-Capitol Performing Arts Center, York PA (JD and Peter duo)
- 2013-06-08 - Port City Music Hall, Portland ME (JD and Peter duo)
- 2013-06-11 - Carnegie Music Hall of Homestead, Munhall PA (JD and Peter duo)
- 2013-06-12 - Majestic Theatre, Detroit (JD and Peter duo - recording)
- 2015-04-14 - House of Blues, Boston (encore)
- 2015-04-16 - Bogart's, Cincinnati (recording - encore)
- 2015-04-17 - The Majestic, Detroit (video - encore)
- 2015-04-18 - The Vic, Chicago (encore)
- 2015-04-19 - First Avenue, Minneapolis (encore)
- 2015-04-21 - Headliners, Louisville (encore)
- 2015-04-22 - The Wexner Center, Columbus (recording - encore)
- 2015-04-23 - Mr. Smalls, Millvale (recording - encore)
- 2015-05-08 - Shaky Knees Festival, Atlanta
- 2015-05-26 - Gothic Theatre, Denver (encore)
- 2015-05-29 - The Showbox, Seattle (encore - recording)
- 2015-06-01 - The Fillmore, San Francisco (encore - recording)
- 2015-06-03 - The Mayan, Los Angeles (encore - recording)
- 2015-06-04 - Pappy and Harriet's, Pioneertown
- 2015-06-08 - Kessler Theater, Dallas
- 2015-06-09 - Moody Theater, Austin
- 2017-06-01 The Fillmore
- 2017-11-12 Brooklyn Steel
- 2019-04-30 Brooklyn Steel (wonderful crowd sing)
- 2021-08-06 The Orange Peel (encore - recording)
- 2021-08-19 Gothic Theatre
- 2022-05-21 The Sylvee
- 2023-10-06 August Hall (encore)
- 2023-10-13 Fox Theater (encore)
Footnotes
1. "radiant" (2021-08-06, 2021-08-19, 2023-10-06)
2. "You will go down to your grave genuinely desperate to avoid" (2023-10-06), "you will go down to your grave desperate in your heart to avoid" (2017-11-12, 2021-08-19), "you will descend into your grave genuinely desperate to avoid" (2021-08-06), "you will go into your grave really desperate to avoid" (2015-04-16, 2015-04-22), "you will go down to your grave desperate to avoid" (2015-04-07), "you will go down to your grave truly desperate to avoid" (2015-04-23, 2015-06-01, 2015-06-03), "you occupy each minute really desperate to avoid" (2015-05-29), "" you will go to your grave desperate to avoid" (2013-06-12)
3. "Freezing, permanently" (2023-10-06), "permanently" (2015-04-17, 2015-04-22, 2015-04-23, 2015-04-29, 2015-06-01, 2015-06-03, 2021-08-06)
4. "Like that old board game with the sliders/and the precious little children on the beach" (2021-08-06, 2023-10-06), "like that old board game with the sliders/and the little children on the beach" (2015-04-22, 2015-06-03), "Like that old board game with the sliders/and the cute little children on the beach" (2015-05-29)
5."Maybe you learn how to spit some blood at the camera (2021-08-06, 2021-08-19)
6. "bloody-knuckled gunman liquored up" (2021-08-06)
7. "You stay forever alive" (2015-04-17, 2015-04-23)
8. "utterly destroyed" (2015-06-01)