One of two songs most recently contributed by me to the Maraoke video game karaoke songlist – first performed 04/10/2024.
It’s about interactive fiction (text adventure) games. I think I originally wrote this circa 2020 but it took a long time to get added to the system due to its complexity/obscurity.
We’re going to parse, and have some fun.
“Grues Live in the Dark”
– after “Groove Is in the Heart” by Deee-Lite
(Dig!)
[INTRO]
The frills that you fill
Up your box keep me thrilled
Not arcade action, Infocom
Interactive funky fiction
I had no lamp, I discovered
No – lamp in your hand, you’ll discover
(You know that’s right)
Your moves, they’re all WYSIWYG
All words, no point and click
That Babelfish
You’ll suffer for this
(Sing it baby)
I had no lamp, I discovered
(Uh huh, uh huh)
Now, why take a lamp? You’ll discover
[BREAK]
Grues live in the dark
Grues live in the dark
Grues live in the dark
(Mythological!)
Grues live in the dark
(Hit me)
[BREAK]
(Watch out)
The text can be so cruel
You can use Invisiclues™
We’re playing through Zork
Volume one and two-hoo
I had no lamp, I discovered
No, without a lamp, you’ll discover
Seeking gold, just finding trolls
I’ve been told, this style is old
There’s no pictures! No images!
Would you rather play The Witness?
I had no lamp, I discovered
Done with playing that Zork, so (yeah)
Hot on the heels, Magnetic Scrolls
Designed to truly beguile you
Infocom implement everything in prose (prose)
XYZZY since the mainframe days (days)
Twisty little passages like a maze (maze)
Not done graphically
Even Trinity (yeah)
Text parser system where I wanna be (c’mon)
Homegrown eclectic Twines (ha)
Or Hitchhiker’s Guide, Ballyhoo or Deadline (yeah)
Maybe no tea in your inventory
Maybe you’ll see a fish can be a key (hmm)
Lamp lamp lit it (lit it)
Axe axe hit it (hit it)
Game got you beat? They’ll sell you a cheat sheet (sheet)
J.R.R. Tolkien
Never gets old
Thorin just sing about the gold (sing it)
Grues live in the dark (na na na na na)
Grues live in the dark (na na na na na)
Grues live in the dark (na na na na na)
Grues live in the dark
[BREAK]
(Pop)
(Click)
(“One Two Three!”)
(Brlbrblrblrlb)
Prose by Infocom
(Grues *live* in the dark)
Grues live in the dark (Yeah!)
Grues live in the dark
Grues live in the dark
Grues live in the dark
Tags: Activision, ballyhoo, colossal cave adventure, deadline, deee-lite, douglas adams, groove is in the heart, grue, infocom, interactive fiction, karaoke, magnetic scrolls, maraoke, steve meretzky, the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy, the hobbit, the witness, trinity, twine, xyzzy, zork, zork II