"It's No Game", Bowie re-used the melody, structure, and several lyrics from "Tired of My Life", some of which shared similar themes to Bowie's 1970 album The Man Who Sold the World. "No. 1" The lyrics to "It's No Game (No. 1)" are spoken in Japanese by Michi Hirota, with Bowie screaming the English translation "as if he's literally tearing out his intestines", according to NME editors Roy Carr and Charles Shaar Murray. O'Leary cites this as reminiscent of John Lennon's performance on Plastic Ono Band (1970). Bowie said that he employed a strident female vocal "to break down a particular kind of sexist attitude" regarding Japanese girls and women in general; Hirota recites the lyrics as-is, complete with the strong male "I" pronoun, ore. The track ends with an intense guitar loop played by Fripp, followed by Bowie screaming "Shut up!". Author Peter Doggett calls the ending "stunning, scarifying, [and] relentless". "No. 2" In contrast to the musical and vocal intensity of "(No. 1)", "It's No Game (No. 2)" is much calmer; Carr and Murray interpreted this as meaning that by the album's close, Bowie is "facing the same situation which he confronted when the album began, but with the force of his rage somewhat spent. Things haven't improved, but he's taking it better." Doggett writes that whereas "(No. 1)" "climaxed with the signals of insanity", "(No. 2)" "just end[s], draining color from everything around it". Similar to how the album begins, it ends with the sound of a tape rewinding and playing out, although this time, it slows to a halt. Release and reception Both parts of "It's No Game" were released on 12 September 1980 on Bowie's 14th studio album Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps), with "(No. 1)" opening the album and "(No. 2)" closing the album. "(No. 1)" was also released as the B-side of the US version of the single "Ashes to Ashes" in August 1980. In Japan it was released as a single in 1980 with "Fashion" as the B-side. A specially created pressing featuring both parts 1 and 2 for the first time on 7" vinyl was included with the book Speed of Life (Genesis Publications, 2012) released in a limited edition of 2,000 copies signed by Bowie and photographer Masayoshi Sukita. The picture vinyl features photography by Sukita. Bowie never performed "It's No Game" live during his concert tours. However, the closing