Album: Chess: New York Soundtrack

Endgame

[ARBITER'S ASSISTANTS]
Did you make it clear
That he has to be here?
Does he understand
He will lose his title?

[ARBITER]
How straightforward the game
When all the rules are respected...

[ARBITER'S ASSISTANTS]
Did you make it clear
There are no exceptions?

[ARBITER]
...And these rules are the same
For a champion or for a novice
No show, no dice, no appeal, no exceptions, no way!

[MERCHANDISER'S ASSISTANTS]
Do you think he knows
What it's gonna cost him?

[MERCHANDISER]
Does the player exist
In any human endeavor...

[MERCHANDISER'S ASSISTANTS]
Do you think he cares
What it's gonna cost us?

[MERCHANDISER]
...Who's been known to resist
Sirens of fame and possessions?
Threaten to cut off supplies and he'll come out to play.

[RUSSIANS]
He's a broken man:
Good as back in Moscow.

[NIKOLAI]
It's the weak who extol
Tawdry untruths about freedom...

[RUSSIANS]
What a way to learn
Home is where the heart is.

[NIKOLAI]
...Prostituting the soul
Chasing some spurious starlight
Trinkets in airports sufficient to lead them astray.

[C.I.A. MEN]
Selfish little creep.
Everybody suffers.

[BEN]
I'm no expert in chess
But hazard this prognostication...

[C.I.A. MEN]
Selfish little creep.
Everybody suffers.

[BEN]
That the late Mister "S"
Has better chances of winning
The Kentucky Derby than keeping his title today.

[C.I.A. MEN]
Selfish little creep.
Everybody suffers.
We don't see the jerk
Even coming second.

[JOURNALISTS]
We are all aware of reputation
But one empty chair is condemnation
Of a man who blew it scuttled with dishonor.

[MERCHANDISERS & C.I.A. MEN]
No one gives a damn for his dilemma
Just another scam
We're sick of them, a
Lot of jobs at stake
With Russia's primadonna.

[ARBITER & ASSISTANTS]
We can hardly begin to
Imagine why he'd risk all he's put into
His calling through the years
The blood, the sweat, the tears,
The late, late nights, the early starts.

[MORE JOURNALISTS]
Of course the effect is
Exactly what observers would expect viz.
The world is set to cheer
The only one who's here
The bad guy's gone and won their hearts.

[EVERYBODY]
Is he still in bed?
Or in the shower?
Even if he's dead
They won't allow a
Man to show up after the appointed hour.

[ANATOLY]
They all think they see a man
Who doesn't know
Which move to make
Which way to go
Whose private life
Caused his decline
Wrecked his grand design
Some are vicious, some are fools
And others blind
To see in me
One of their kind.

[FREDDIE]
So he's gonna fight
This situation
Where's my appetite
For concentration
Why is he so focused
When my thoughts are straying.

Looking at this man
It's her I'm seeing
Once my greatest fan
And now her being
His still gets to me
And screws the way I'm playing.

[ANATOLY]
Here I see a man caring
About a minor sporting triumph, sharing
A show with esoterics
Paranoids, hysterics
Who don't pay attention to
What goes on around them
They leave all those they touch the way they found them
Is this the life I need?
A childish, selfish greed
While those who love me bleed to death.

When I think of her
Her and her father
What would she prefer?
I know I'd rather
Live my life alone than feel
That I had harmed them.

[FREDDIE]
At last! He's made a mistake!

[ANATOLY]
I cannot go on hurting all the people who have trusted me.

[FREDDIE]
He cannot escape from here!

[ANATOLY]
Well here we are --
The final stages of a soul-destroying game
The sacrifice of someone I will never find again.

[FREDDIE]
Check!
[ANATOLY]
Never!
[FREDDIE]
Check!
[ANATOLY]
Never!
[FREDDIE]
Check!
[ANATOLY]
Never!
[FREDDIE]
Check!
[ANATOLY]
Never!
[FREDDIE]
Check!
[ANATOLY]
Never!

[FREDDIE]
Backed the losing side
Florence Vassy
Took you for a ride
Florence Vassy
You just haven't got the instinct of a winner.

[ANATOLY]
There is nothing more to do
No hope, no way
To save the game;
The end of play!
So I lose today
And tomorrow.

[ALL]
We have just witnessed history made
Power moves west ending an era
This is a great day for American chess!
U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!