Endgame

[CHOIR]
Tal; Tal; Lasker; Steinitz; Steinitz; Alekine; Botvinnik; Smyslov;
Spassky; Euwe; Karpov; Fischer; Petrosian; Anderson;
Capablanca; Capablanca; Morphy; Capablanca...

1866, Wilhelm Steinitz
1894, Emanuel Lasker

[MOLOKOV]
How straightforward the game
When one has trust in one's player

[CHOIR]
1921, Jose Capablanca

[MOLOKOV]
And how great the relief
Working for one who believes in
Loyalty, heritage, true to his kind
Come what may

[CHOIR]
1927, Alex Alekhine

[THE AMERICAN]
Though it gives me no joy

[CHOIR]
1935, Euwe

[THE AMERICAN]
Adding to your satisfaction

[CHOIR]
1948, Mikhail Botvinnik

[THE AMERICAN]
You can safely assume
That your late, unlamented employee
Knows if he wins, then the only thing won
Is the chess

[CHOIR]
1957, Vasily Smyslov

[MOLOKOV]
It's the weak who accept

[CHOIR]
1960, Tal

[MOLOKOV]
Tawdry untruths about freedom

[CHOIR]
1963, Tigran Petrosian

[MOLOKOV]
Prostituting themselves
Chasing a spurious starlight
Trinkets in airports sufficient
To lead them astray

[CHOIR]
1969, Boris Spassky

[FLORENCE]
Does the player exist

[CHOIR]
1972, Bobby Fischer

[FLORENCE]
In any human endeavor

[CHOIR]
1975, Anatoly Karpov

[FLORENCE]
Who's been known to resist
Sirens of fame and possessions?
They will destroy you, not rivals
Not age, not success

[THE RUSSIAN]
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

Anyone can be
A husband, lover
Sooner them than me
When they discover
Their domestic bliss is
Shelter for their failing

Nothing could be worse
Than self-denial
Having to rehearse
To endless trial
Of a partner's rather sad
Demands prevailing

[SVETLANA]
As you watch yourself caring
About a minor sporting triumph, sharing
Your win with esoterics
Paranoids, hysterics
Who don't pay any attention to
What goes on around them
They leave the ones they love the way they found them
A normal person must
Dismiss you with disgust
And weep for those who trusted you

[THE RUSSIAN]
Nothing you have said
Is revelation
Take my blues as read
My consolation
Finding out at last my one true obligation

[SVETLANA/THE CROWD]
Listen to them shout
They saw you do it
In their minds no doubt
That you've been through it
Suffered for your art
But in the end a winner

Who could not be stirred?
Such dedication!
We have never heard
Such an ovation
Skill and guts
A model for the young beginner

They're completely enchanted
But they don't take your qualities for granted
It isn't very often
That the critics soften
Nonetheless you've won their hearts
How can we begin to
Appreciate the work that you've put into
Your calling through the years
The blood and sweat and tears
The late, late nights, the early starts

There they go again!
Your deeds enflame them
Drive them wild, but then
Who wants to tame them
If they want a part of you
Who'd really blame them?

[THE RUSSIAN]
And so you're letting me know

[SVETLANA]
For you're the only one who's never suffered anything at all

[THE RUSSIAN]
How you've hated my success

[SVETLANA]
Well, I won't crawl
And you can slink back to your pawns
And to your tarts

[THE RUSSIAN]
And every poisoned word shows that you never understood

[SVETLANA]
Liar!

[THE RUSSIAN]
Never!

[SVETLANA]
Liar!

[THE RUSSIAN]
Never!

[SVETLANA]
Liar!

[THE RUSSIAN]
Never!

[SVETLANA]
Liar!

[THE RUSSIAN]
Never!
Never!

[SVETLANA/THE RUSSIAN]
Nothing you have said
Is revelation
Take my blues as read
My consolation

[SVETLANA]
Finding out that I'm my only obligation

[THE RUSSIAN]
Is there no-one in my life
Who will not claim
The right to steal
My work, my name
My success, my fame
And my freedom?