Games People Play (Joe South song)
| "Games People Play" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Joe South | ||||
| from the album Introspect | ||||
| B-side | "Mirror of Your Mind" | |||
| Released | December 1968 | |||
| Genre | Country, Rock, Pop | |||
| Length | 3:34 | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Joe South | |||
| Producer(s) | Joe South | |||
| Joe South singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Games People Play" is a song written, composed, and performed by American singer-songwriter Joe South, released at the end of 1968, that won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Song and the Grammy Award for Song of the Year.
History
"Games People Play" is a protest song whose lyrics speak against various forms of irresponsibility, hatred, hypocrisy, inhumanity, and intolerance in both interpersonal and social interactions between people. The song was released on South's debut album Introspect and as a single, reaching #12 on the Billboard Hot 100.[1] It was also a No. 6 hit in the UK in 1969 and won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Song and the Grammy Award for Song of the Year.
The distinctive guitar in the opening is played on a Coral electric sitar, which can be seen in a video recorded to support South's album "Introspect." 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; this rendition reached No. 2 on the country charts.[2]
References
- ↑ "Games People Play (song by Joe South) ••• Music VF, US & UK hits charts". Musicvf.com. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
- ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 379.