Play the Game Tonight

"Play the Game Tonight" is a progressive rock single recorded by Kansas for their 1982 album Vinyl Confessions. It managed to chart at No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming the 15th single, 10th top 100 hit, sixth top 40 hit, and the third of four Top 20 hits produced by Kansas.

The song was written and produced during the John Elefante period of Kansas and was on the first of two albums to be produced during that period (the other being Drastic Measures). It is also one of the two hits produced during this time along with "Fight Fire With Fire". The song has been re-released on several live and compilation albums, including The Best of Kansas, The Ultimate Kansas, Sail On: The 30th Anniversary Collection, and the Device, Voice, Drum live CD/DVD combo.

Structure

The song begins with a slow, mysterious piano intro played by John Elefante, which continues playing as Elefante comes in on vocals, singing the first verse. As the verse progresses to the end, there is an increase in volume leading up to the chorus, where Elefante is backed by Robby Steinhardt, Dave Hope, Kerry Livgren, and Roger Taylor on vocals. The same structure repeats with the second verse and chorus, leading up to a violin solo by Steinhardt, progressing into the third and final chorus. On the album Vinyl Confessions, a follow-up to the song, "Play On", is played near the end of the album.

Music video

The music video depicts, in between the band playing the song, a chess game played by two hooded beings. One is dressed in white and represents Life and all Mankind's accomplishments (a baby developing in a womb and a Moon landing (Apollo 11 ?) is seen in two clippings), while the other wears black and is meant to represent Death and Destruction (as seen by clips of a military landing (war) and a nuclear explosion). The pieces in the chess set are characters from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. At the end of the video, the chess piece that is the rook, on the side of the figure in white, makes a move across the board to the king piece of the figure in black; putting him into either check or checkmate, as the camera zooms out and the black figure pauses, before the video fades out.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Chart (1982)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100^[1]	17
U.S. MS Rock Tracks	4
Canadian RPM Top Singles	35

Year-end charts

Chart (1982)	Rank
U.S. Billboard Hot 100^[2]	108

References

↑ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
↑ "1982 Year End". Bullfrogspond.com. Retrieved 2016-11-13.

External links

Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics

Kansas
Phil Ehart Rich Williams Billy Greer David Ragsdale David Manion Ronnie Platt Zak Rizvi Kerry Livgren Dave Hope Robby Steinhardt Steve Walsh John Elefante Steve Morse Greg Robert
Studio albums	Kansas Song for America Masque Leftoverture Point of Know Return Monolith Audio-Visions Vinyl Confessions Drastic Measures Power In the Spirit of Things Freaks of Nature Always Never the Same Somewhere to Elsewhere The Prelude Implicit
Live albums	Two for the Show Live at the Whisky King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents Kansas Dust In The Wind Device – Voice – Drum There's Know Place Like Home
Compilations	The Best of Kansas Carry On The Kansas Boxed Set The Ultimate Kansas Sail On: The 30th Anniversary Collection On the Other Side Works in Progress Playlist: The Very Best of Kansas
Singles	"Song for America" "Carry On Wayward Son" "Point of Know Return" "Dust in the Wind" "Portrait (He Knew)" "People of the South Wind" "Hold On" "Play the Game Tonight" "Fight Fire With Fire" "All I Wanted"
Tours	2011 Collegiate Symphony Tour Fall 2012 Tour
Related topics	Discography Native Window

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