Red Rider was a Canadian rock band popular in the 1980s. While the band ach… Read Full Bio ↴Red Rider was a Canadian rock band popular in the 1980s. While the band achieved great success in Canada, they never managed to break through in the US market.

In 1978, Tom Cochrane joined up with Rob Baker on drums, Jeff Jones on bass, Peter Boynton on keyboards and Ken Greer to form Red Rider. They were signed to Capitol Records and released their first album Don't Fight It in 1980. With the singles "White Hot" and "Don't Fight It", the album quickly reached gold status. Their second album As Far as Siam was released in 1981 and featured the hit "Lunatic Fringe" which was in the 1982 movie "Vision Quest.". "Lunatic Fringe" and two other tracks, "Cowboys in Hong Kong" and "What Have You Got To Do" were featured in an episode of Miami Vice in addition to which helped push the album to platinum. Boynton was replaced by keyboardist Steve Sexton on Red Rider's third album Neruda, released in 1983. The track "Napoleon Sheds His Skin" would become one of the more popular songs from the album.

For their 1984 album Breaking Curfew, John Webster replaced Sexton on keyboards. The album did not sell as well as Neruda and a dispute with Capitol Records over the future direction of the band resulted in Red Rider being dropped from the record label later in 1984.

The band subsequently signed with RCA. In what became a strong signal regarding the future of the band, they officially became known as Tom Cochrane and Red Rider, and released their self-titled fifth album in 1986.

In 1987, Capitol released a compilation CD titled Over 60 Minutes with Red Rider, covering the band's first four albums.

In the fall of 1988, the band released their sixth album Victory Day which contained the track "Big League", about a boy's dream of playing in the National Hockey League. The song was featured in a segment on CBC Television's Hockey Night in Canada.

Red Rider's final album, The Symphony Sessions, was released in 1989 and saw the band performing with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, as Procol Harum had done seventeen years before. Cochrane's solo career was taking off and the band broke up shortly after the album was released.

The three-CD box set Ashes to Diamonds, including material by both Red Rider and Cochrane as a solo artist, was released in 1993.

Only Game In Town
Red Rider Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I'd walk those streets
I'd walk those streets alone
And though it was a long way
A long way from home
I didn't know many faces
Some they look like stone
Some hungry jackals
Ragged to the bone

I'd go on believing
It was only a state of mind
Then my love would appear
She would shatter my bitter mind

The only game in town
You are the only game

I would look forward
To the times I love the best
Now I treat each moment
As if it was my last
You can't lock your love away
Or hide your heart like a fool
You've got to always be afraid
Of letting the pistons cool

The only game in town
You are the only game
The only game in town
You are the only game

I wrote you a letter
Now I've come around
I hope you feel better
Didn't mean to bring you down
Because there is no hidden treasure
There is no pot of gold
There is no rags to riches
Only the rugged soul

The only game in town
You are the only game
The only game in town
You are the only game.

The only game in town
The only game in town

Overall Meaning

The Red Rider's song "Only Game In Town" is about a man who walked alone on the streets being lost and uncertain about his life, but everything changed when he met the love of his life. The lyrics describe how he felt alone and estranged from the world, and though he didn't fit into any particular mold, he consistently believed that it was only a state of mind, which kept him going. He then meets the love of his life, who shatters his bitter mind, and he starts cherishing every moment he spends with her. He realizes that one should never hide one's heart and should be always afraid of letting the pistons cool. He then writes a letter to his love interest and comes to her to make everything right, realizing the only game in town is love.

The lyrics of "Only Game In Town" are an excellent representation of how love can transform someone's life. The "only game in town" is a metaphor for love, which is the only thing that matters when everything else in the world seems meaningless. The song is relatable for anyone who has felt lost and disconnected but has found the ray of hope in their life. The lyrics of the song also resonate with the theme of self-realization, where the singer understood that he must learn to embrace life with open arms and cherish every moment.

Line by Line Meaning

I'd walk those streets
I wandered aimlessly

I'd walk those streets alone
I was on my own

And though it was a long way
Despite the distance

A long way from home
Far from where I belong

I didn't know many faces
I was a stranger

Some they look like stone
Some were emotionless

Some hungry jackals
Some were desperate

Ragged to the bone
Worn out and beaten down

I'd go on believing
But I never lost hope

It was only a state of mind
It was just my perspective

Then my love would appear
Then my world would change