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in: Transcendental Youth songs, Video, The Jordan Lake Sessions: Volumes 1 and 2 songs

Amy AKA Spent Gladiator 1

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Amy AKA Spent Gladiator 1
TranscendentalYouth

Album

Transcendental Youth

Released

2012

Artist

the Mountain Goats

Length

2:27

Next track

"Lakeside View Apartments Suite"

Amy AKA Spent Gladiator 1 is the first song on the album Transcendental Youth. It also appears as the fourth song on the 2020 live album The Jordan Lake Sessions: Volumes 1 and 2.

Lyrics[]

Do every stupid thing that makes you feel alive
Do every stupid thing to try to drive the dark away
Let people call you crazy for the choices that you make
Find limits past the limits
Jump in front of trains all day
And stay alive
Just stay alive

Play with matches if you think you need to play with matches
Seek out the hidden places where the fire burns hot and bright
Find where the heat's unbearable and stay there if you have to
Don't hurt anybody on your way up to the light
And stay alive
Just stay alive

People might laugh at your tattoos
When they do get new ones in completely garish hues
I hide down in my corner because I like my corner
I am happy where the vermin play

Make up magic spells
We wear them like protective shells
Landmines on the battlefield
Find the one safe way
And stay alive
Just stay alive

Comments by John Darnielle About this Song[]

  • "The song, "Amy aka Spent Gladiator 1," is a meditation on those drawn to extremes — addicts in particular — who don't always end up surviving their torments. 'She's a junkie, and so am I. I don't use now, and I lived. It was kind of a miracle. But not everybody makes it.'" - John Darnielle (NashvilleScene November 29, 2012)
  • "This is a song about doing the things that you have to do, that other people sometimes can't understand. And, like, we presently live in a world where people are a little too given to jump the gun on saying 'fuck 'em,' right? They say 'fuck 'em' about having a snickers, you know? Well maybe not fuck 'em, maybe they have a point, maybe I don't need a second snickers, right? Maybe instead of fuck them, maybe they have a point, you know, maybe listen to them and not fuck them. On the other hand, there are certain core principles about which we must say: fuck 'em." -- 2015-04-09 - Webster Hall - New York, NY
  • "This is a song about finding the shining thing at your bedrock and embracing it until the light courses through you. It's called 'Amy', also known as 'Spent Gladiator 1.'" -- 2015-04-23 - Mr. Small's - Millvale, PA
  • "It's a song that I feel speaks for itself, so when I try and say something about it, I don't know what to say. It is about... how if you feel defeated and trodden upon and wasted, not in the good sense of 'wasted,' you find some small glimmering that manages to carry you through the next sixty seconds, and then you do that enough times to make an hour, and then you do it enough times to make a day, and you keep right on doing it." --2015-06-01 - The Fillmore - San Francisco, CA

Things Referenced in this Song[]

Live Shows this Song Was Played at[]

Videos of this Song[]



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