Echo & the Bunnymen is a British Post-punk band formed in Liverpool in 1978… Read Full Bio ↴Echo & the Bunnymen is a British Post-punk band formed in Liverpool in 1978. The original line-up consisted of Ian McCulloch (of The Crucial Three), Will Sergeant and Les Pattinson. There are many stories, probably apocryphal, that the quartet was completed by a drum machine known as "Echo".

By the time of their debut album, 1980's Crocodiles - a moderate UK hit - the drum machine had been replaced by Pete de Freitas. Their next, the critically-acclaimed Heaven Up Here, reached the Top Ten in 1981, as did 1983's Porcupine and '84's Ocean Rain. Singles like "The Killing Moon" (later used in the soundtrack to Donnie Darko, a film whose imagery owed much to the artwork of the band's early records.), "Silver," "Bring on the Dancing Horses," and "The Cutter" helped keep the group in the public eye as they took a brief hiatus in the late 1980s. Their 1987 self-titled LP was a small American hit, their only LP to have significant sales there.

McCulloch quit the band in 1988. De Freitas was killed in a motorcycle accident one year later. The others decided to continue, recruiting Noel Burke to replace McCulloch on vocals in Reverberation (1990), which did not generate much excitement among fans or critics. Burke, Sargeant and Pattinson split after that, but the surviving three fourths of the original band reformed in 1997 and released Evergreen (1997), What are You Going to Do with Your Life? (1999), Flowers (2001) , Siberia (2005), and the latest addition, The Fountain (2009). The group's old audience liked the return to their classic sound, and they also managed to gain a number of new, younger listeners.

Echo and the Bunnymen were managed early on by Bill Drummond, who went on to be a founder member of The KLF.

The Game
Echo & the Bunnymen Lyrics

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A sense of duty
Was my one intention
And an ugly beauty
Was my own invention
Pride a proud refusal
And I refuse
To need your approval
Too many seekers

Too few beacons
But through the fog
We'll keep on beaming

Through the crying hours
Of your glitter years
All the living out
Of your tinsel tears
And the midnight trains
I never made
'Cause I'd already
Played the game

Everybody's
Got their own good reason
Why their favorite season
Is their favorite season
Winter winners
And those summers sons
Aren't good for everyone
Aren't good for everyone
Spring has sprung
And autumns well done
So well done

And it's a better thing
That we do now
Forgetting everything
The whys and how's
While you reminisce
About the things you miss
You won't be ready
To kiss goodbye

The earth is a world
The world is a ball
A ball in a game
With no rules at all
And just as I wonder
At the beauty of it all
You go and drop it
And it breaks and falls

I'll never understand
Why you thought I would
Need to be reassured
And be understood
When I always knew
That your bad's my good
And I was ready
Ready to be loved

Born under mars
With Jupiter rising
Fallen from stars
That lit my horizon

I'll never understand
Why you thought I would
Need to be reassured
And be understood
When I always knew
That your bad's my good
And I was ready
Ready to be

Through the crying hours
Of your glitter years
All the living out
Of your tinsel tears
And the midnight trains
I never made
'Cause I'd already
Played

It's a better thing
That we do now
Forgetting everything
The whys and how's
While you reminisce
About the things you miss

You won't be ready
To kiss goodbye

Overall Meaning

The song "The Game" by Echo & the Bunnymen is a reflective rumination on life, love, and loss. The lyrics showcase a sense of duty and an ugly beauty that drives the singer's intentions, and his prideful refusal to seek others' approval. Amidst a world with too many seekers and too few beacons, the singer's resolve perseveres. The song speaks further about the four seasons and how they affect different people in different ways, and whatever life throws our way, it's better to forget the why's and how's and just enjoy it while it lasts. Still, the song's underlying sadness suggests that even the simple things we enjoy are just temporary, like glitter fading and tinsel tears.

The verses blend a curious sense of gloom with romanticism, exemplified in the line "born under mars with Jupiter rising, fallen from stars that lit my horizon." The chorus, repeated three times in the song, sees the singer reminiscing about the past but realizes that he can't cling to it forever, for the future awaits. The song ends with a sense of resolve, an understanding of things that happen that we can't control, but we can still have the courage to move forward.

Line by Line Meaning

A sense of duty
My motivation was driven by a sense of responsibility

Was my one intention
It was my only objective

And an ugly beauty
There was an unattractive but captivating feature

Was my own invention
That I developed on my own

Pride a proud refusal
I would rather refuse than accept anything out of pride

And I refuse
I won't give in

To need your approval
I don't require your affirmation

Too many seekers
There are too many people looking for something

Too few beacons
But there are not enough sources of guidance

But through the fog
Despite the uncertainty

We'll keep on beaming
We'll keep shining our light

Through the crying hours
During the times when tears are shed

Of your glitter years
During your golden era

All the living out
Living life to the fullest

Of your tinsel tears
While you cry over superficial matters

And the midnight trains
The trains that run through the night

I never made
I didn't catch any of them

'Cause I'd already
Because I had already

Played the game
I've already been through it all

Everybody's
Everyone has

Got their own good reason
A good reason that suits them best

Why their favorite season
For their preferred time of year

Is their favorite season
That's their favorite time of year

Winter winners
People who thrive in winter

And those summers sons
Those who love summer

Aren't good for everyone
But it doesn't suit everyone

Spring has sprung
Spring has arrived

And autumns well done
And autumn is over

So well done
So good job for getting through it

And it's a better thing
It's a positive change

That we do now
What we're doing at present

Forgetting everything
Disregarding every detail

The whys and how's
All the reasons and explanations

While you reminisce
While you look back fondly

About the things you miss
At the things you lost

You won't be ready
You're not prepared

To kiss goodbye
To say farewell

The earth is a world
The planet we live on

The world is a ball
It's just a big sphere

A ball in a game
Floating within the game of life

With no rules at all
A game that has no rules

And just as I wonder
As I admire in awe

At the beauty of it all
The magnificent universe

You go and drop it
You carelessly let it fall

And it breaks and falls
And it shatters into pieces

I'll never understand
I'll never comprehend

Why you thought I would
Why you believed I needed to

Need to be reassured
Be convinced again

And be understood
Be acknowledged by you

When I always knew
When I was always aware

That your bad's my good
That when you're not okay, I'm better

And I was ready
And I was prepared