Gamers Without Borders - Dan Bull

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

Games helped me survive

Through the hardest times

Gaming kept me alive

Through the darkest nights

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

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

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