“Games People Play”

(Popular hit parade song, 1969, by Joe South)

La-da-da, da-da-da, da-da
La-da-da, da-da-da, da-dee
La-da-da, da-da
La-da-da, da-da-da

Whoa, the games people play now
Every night and every day now
Never meanin’ what they say now
Never sayin’ what they mean

While they wile away the hours
In their ivory towers
‘Til they’re covered up with flowers
In the back of a black limousine

La-da-da, da-da-da, da-da
La-da-da, da-da da, da-dee
Talkin’ ’bout you and me
And the games people play now

Whoa, we make one another cry
Break a heart then we say goodbye
Cross our hearts and we hope to die
That the other was to blame

But neither one will ever give in
So we gaze at an eight by ten
Thinkin’ ’bout the things that might have been
And it’s a dirty rotten shame

La-da-da, da-da-da, da-da
La-da-da, da-da da, da-dee
Talkin’ ’bout you and me
And the games people play now

Now look here
People walkin’ up to you
Singin’ glory hallelujah, ha-ha
And they try and to sock it to you
In the name of the Lord

They’re gonna teach you how to meditate
Read your horoscope, cheat your fate
And furthermore to hell with hate
Come on, get on board

La-da-da, da-da-da, da-da
La-da-da, da-da da, da-dee
Talkin’ ’bout you and me
And the games people play

Now, wait a minute
Look around tell me what you see?
What’s happenin’ to you and me?
God grant me the serenity
To just remember who I am

‘Cause you’ve given up your sanity
For your pride and your vanity
Turn you back on humanity
Oh, and you don’t give a
Da, da, da, da, da

La-da-da, da-da-da, da-da
La-da-da, da-da da, da-dee
I’ll keep a-talkin’ ’bout you and me, brother
And the games people play now, now

La-da-da, da-da-da, da-da
La-da-da, da-da da, da-dee
Gonna talk ’bout you and me
Oh, and the games people play
…………………………………………………..

Somewhat inspired by Eric Berne’s 1964 best seller still in print then about games psychology.
Games People Play
I remember, in the 19th and 20th century English lit course (1969-70) Karen and I took, our U of Winnipeg hippie prof sitting cross-legged on a desk teaching us about the games inĀ Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, which kind of shows you how far this theme went, culturally.
Later I would play this song in my Grand Centre, AB band from 1973-74.
Still relevant today?
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