First to the Arcade

Lyrics

[Intro]
Hey you.
In the blue and white fiberglass shell.
Sitting in the dark corner of the bar.

[Verse 1]
Nolan and Ted, they built you in Sunnyvale, 1971.
Shipped you out on a truck in August.
The route driver, he told Nolan you looked like a spaceship had crashed right there by the jukebox.
Nobody knew what you were.
A fifteen-inch Motorola television, turned on its side.
Black and white dots in the void.
Just a low hum, waiting for a coin.

[Chorus]
You were the first one to the arcade.
The first machine for which they paid.
Not the one they remember, not the hit that stayed.
But you were the first one.
You made the way.

[Verse 2]
Four buttons seemed like too many.
Rotate left, rotate right, thrust, and fire.
Too complex for a guy with a beer and a quarter.
Heard the plastic smelled hot after four straight hours.
And Bill Nutting sent out a handwritten note to the operators:
If the coin mech jams with a dime,
'Tap the side firmly, but not too hard.'
No one knew how to play you right.

[Chorus]
You were the first one to the arcade.
The first machine for which they paid.
Not the one they remember, not the hit that stayed.
But you were the first one.
You made the way.

[Bridge]
The quarters didn't overflow.
They just collected, one by one. Slow.
Not a flood, just a steady trickle in the dark.
But it was enough.
Enough for the two-hundred-and-fifty-dollar deposit.
Enough for a key to a little office.
Enough for the next idea, the simpler one.

[Outro]
Fiberglass ghost.
The beautiful, difficult thing.
The other one got all the glory.
The simple paddle, the easy score.
But you... you were the first.