VCS Invades the Home

Lyrics

You came in a cardboard box.
Smelled of the factory, and something new.
We cleared a space on the shag carpet, right under the Zenith.

That fake woodgrain, it almost matched the paneling on the wall.
A little black slot, hungry for the future.
My dad on his knees, connecting the silver RF switch.
A little click that split the world in two.
Antenna, or channel three.

And just like that, the arcade came home to us.
No more quarters, no more noise.
Just the quiet hum in the living room's glow.
The woodgrain box that changed everything we know.
September, 1977.

Inside you, Jay Miner's little heart, the TIA chip.
Just one hundred and twenty-eight bytes of memory to hold a universe.
We learned to see the seams.
How the tank in Combat would just disappear for a frame.
Our little secret glitch. A ghost in your brand new machine.

And just like that, the arcade came home to us.
No more quarters, no more noise.
Just the quiet hum in the living room's glow.
The woodgrain box that changed everything we know.
September, 1977.

In the lab, they called you Stella.
Named you for a bicycle.
So you were never just a product on a shelf.
You were someone's dream, brought home to my small self.
The warmth coming off your plastic case after an hour of play.

The click of the stick.
The muffled television sound.
The smell of a warm cartridge in my hand.
You're still here.
Under the TV.