You Bet Your Life

Background and Commentary

“The song continues the game of chance theme of Roll the Bones. ‘If there’s a chance, you might as well take it. So what if some parts of life are a crap shoot? Get out there and shoot the crap. We can change the odds, load the dice, and roll again.'” (Row the Boats)—Neil in Merely Players

“I particularly like the lyrics in ‘You Bet Your Life.’ I wove together all the different religions and musical styles and everything. Those kinds of things are really fun and satisfying. Yeah, I like that one.”—Neil in Contents Under Pressure

“Geddy had called the piece one of the most difficult tracks to assemble on the album, specifically in the mixing stage, due to the density of the chorus.”—Martin Popoff, Contents Under Pressure

“I did [the guitar work] originally, then Stephen [Tayler, the engineer] added a little bit more DDL [digital delay] to one of the other cleaner guitars to give it more energy. The song seemed quite tame as we went through different sections. Something was lacking. We wanted to get the first verse seesawing a little more. Edge, from U2, is a pro at that.” (Guitar Player, 1991)—Alex in Songfacts

Lyrics

Just another hunter, like a wolf in the sun
Just another junkie on a scoring run
Just another victim of the things he has done
Just another day ace up in the life of a loaded gun

The odds get even
You name the game
The odds get even
The stakes are the same
You bet your life

Just another winner, pours his life down the drain
Just another island in a hurricane
Just another loser, like a cat in the rain
Just another day ace up in the path of a speeding train

The odds get even
You name the game
The odds get even
The stakes are the same
You bet your life

Anarchist reactionary running dog revisionist
Hindu muslim catholic creation / evolutionist
Rational romantic mystic cynical idealist
Minimal expressionist post-modern neo-symbolist

Arm chair rocket scientist graffiti existentialist
Deconstruction primitive performance photo realist
Be-bop or a one drop or a hip hop lite pop metallist
Gold adult contemporary urban country capitalist

Just another gypsy with a plastic guitar
Just another dancer with her eyes on the stars
Just another dreamer who was going too far
Just another drunk ace up at the wheel of a stolen car

The odds get even
You name the game
The odds get even
The stakes are the same
You bet your life

Anarchist reactionary running dog revisionist
Hindu muslim catholic creation / evolutionist
Rational romantic mystic cynical idealist
Minimal expressionist post-modern neo-symbolist

Tablature (Bass)

Excerpted from Ultimate Guitar.

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e s s e e e e q e e e e e q e e e e e e e e e e e e e e q e
+—————–+—————+—————–+—————+
|—————–|-5-5-R-3-R-5-3-|———R——-|-5-5-R-3-R-5-3-|
|-3-3-3-3-3-5-5-3-|—————|-3-3-3-5—5-3-3-|—————|
+—————–+—————+—————–+—————+

For complete tab, go to Ultimate Guitar.