Intro 
Am G Am G 
Am G Am G 


[Verso 1]

Am                     G 
Like a spent gladiator 
Am                             G 
Crawling in the Colosseum dust 
Am                                   G 
Who can count on his remaining limbs 
Am 
All the people he can trust 
Am                                  G 
Like the one who stands behind him 
Am               G 
Cheering him on 
Am                              G 
Ecstatic when he stands defiant 
Am 
Wild with abandon when he's gone 


[Refrão]
 
            F 
Just stay alive 
Am                     G 
Keep your eyes on the pay line 

Am Am 


[Verso 2]

Am                            G 
Like a village on the steppe 
Am                          G 
About to get collectivized 
Am                                                G 
When the men emerge with rifles from the haystack 
Am 
Everybody looks surprised 
Am                                    G 
Like the mice in the forgotten grain 
Am                       G 
Way up on the top shelf 
Am                                                 G 
Like someone who's found a small town to escape to 
Am 
Keeps one eye on his abandoned, former self 


[Refrão]

             F 
Stay in the game 
Am                            G 
Just try to play through the pain 
          F                                  Am              G 
Like a fighter who's been told it's finally time for him to quit 
     F 
Show up in shining colours 
          Am                 G 
And then stand there and get hit 

F F Am Am 


[Verso 3]

Am                                    G 
Like the clock that ticks in Dresden 
Am                                    G 
When the whole town's been destroyed 
Am                                 G 
Like the nagging flash of insight 
Am 
You're always desperate to avoid 
Am                               G 
Like the bloody-knuckled gunman 
Am                             G 
Still stationed at the breach 
Am                                     G 
Like that board game with the sliders 
Am 
And the children on the beach 


[Refrão]

      F 
Stay alive 
Am                        G 
Maybe spit blood at the camera 
           Am 
Just stay alive 
Am             G 
Stay forever alive 

Outro 
Am Am Am Am