Games People Play (Joe South song)
| "Games People Play" | |
|---|---|
| Single by Joe South | |
| from the album Introspect | |
| Released | 1968 |
| Genre | Rock, Pop |
| Writer(s) | Joe South |
"Games People Play" is a song written, composed and performed by singer/songwriter Joe South, released at the end of 1968.
Contents |
[edit] Origins & inspirations
The lyrics and title are thought to be a direct reference to Dr. Eric Berne's work on transactional analysis of the same name. The book, which was released in 1964, deals with the "games" human beings play in interacting with one another. The lyrics seem to exhibit their author (South) playing a game of sorts with pronouns, converging in stages on the listener ("you") as perpetrator, roughly from "they" to "we", to "you" (object) and "me", to "you" (subject) and "I".
The song closely resembles an older song, the traditional Cajun "'Tit Galop Pour Mamou", which was played by the Balfa Brothers among others, and is on the Balfas' Play Traditional Cajun Music. After South's hit got around, Nathan Abshire (accordionist with the Balfas and others), recorded a version in French, with singing by Don Guillory, on his album A Cajun Legend. A new Cajun version, introduced by a partial recounting of the genealogy of the versions, is at [1] under the heading Robert Jardell.
Typical of a number of hits in early 1969, the recording includes a lush string sound, an organ, and brass.
[edit] History
"Games People Play" is a protest song whose lyrics speak against various forms of hate, hypocrisy, inhumanity, and intolerance, both interpersonal and social. The song was released on South's debut album Introspect and as a single, reaching #12 on the Hot 100. It was also featured as the title of his second album, Games People Play in 1969. It won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Song and the Grammy Award for Song of the Year. The distinctive guitar at the opening is played on a Danelectro Guitar Sitar, which South also can be heard playing in the opening bars of the mega-hit Chain of Fools by Aretha Franklin. Concurrent with South's version of the song on the pop charts, Freddy Weller, guitarist for Paul Revere and the Raiders, released a country version of the song in 1969 as his debut single on the country charts and reached #2 with it[1].
[edit] Cover versions
The song has been covered by various artists, including Bob Andy, The Jordanaires, Winston Francis, Lee Dorsey, Ray Stevens, Freddy Weller, Della Reese, Petula Clark, Waylon Jennings, Jerry Lee Lewis, Earl Grant, Tesla, Mel Torme (a Capitol single, this record made the Record World Non-Rock chart),[citation needed] King Curtis (featuring Duane Allman), The Georgia Satellites, Big Tom and The Mainliners, Dolly Parton (on her 1969 album My Blue Ridge Mountain Boy), The Tremeloes, Johnny Johnson & the Bandwagon, Ike and Tina Turner, Dreadzone, Ed Ames (on the album "Love of the Common People"), Hank Williams Jr., YOYO, Inner Circle, DJ Bobo, John Denver (in concert only), Norwegian singer Henning Kvitnes, Liverpool Express, Jools Holland (with guest vocalist Marc Almond), Dick Gaughan, James Taylor, Johnnie Taylor, David Knopfler, and Lissie.
It was also mentioned in the Brian Wilson song "Games Two Can Play" from his unreleased album Adult Child.
The song was also covered in two different French versions, by Claude François (as "Jeux Dangereux") and Renée Martel (as "Nos Jeux d'Enfants").
In Singapore circa 1969, an instrumental version showed-up on a single by The White Crane Orchestra.
[edit] References
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 379.
[edit] External links
|
||||||||
