From the recording This Isn't Vegas
This is a cautionary tale.
While out with a group of friends at one of my favorite restaurants in the Bloomfield neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Tessaro's, I heard somebody at the end of the table vehemently shout "this isn't Vegas!" above the din of multiple, ongoing conversations. I never found out exactly what the specific context of that exchange was about but the line got into my psyche and this song is the outcome.
As the well known marketing slogan about "Sin City" insinuates, capitalizing on its dubious reputation as a haven for vice, "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas."
However, there really doesn't seem to be any guarantee of privacy or anonymity anywhere any more, at least in most towns most of the time.
After I finished writing this song, I was reminded of the hauntingly ominous portrayal of contemporary life envisioned by the 20th Century philosopher and social critic Michel Foucault, who claimed we are all being watched and categorized by experts.
He compared us to prisoners in a “panopticon,” the perfect prison system that subjects the inmates to a constant state of surveillance by guards in a tower from which they themselves cannot be seen.
She wears a ten-carrot ring
When luster turns to loneliness it doesn’t mean a thing
She’s ached to be touched for so long
Guilty passion racks her heart it’s burning strong
She’s a well connected socialite
A well heeled high class trophy wife
Is she ready now to gamble on her
Plush and privileged life?
This isn’t vegas this isn’t vegas
What happens here in this bedroom town
Won’t stay undercover underground too long
This isn’t vegas
There’s ears inside almost every wall
One whisper here triggers her downfall
This isn’t vegas this isn’t vegas
She walks down a cheap hotel hall
Slips her ring off when she takes his call
She knows the time is now
As she locks the deadbolt on her sacred vow
A dam has broke deep inside
She’s never felt more alive
He makes his move they play the odds
She won’t get caught tonight
Chorus
In this high-stakes love roulette
No one can hide when hearts are playing
Chorus