I've always loved this song, & its meaning when it was first released http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5znh58WITU8

BTW, 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.

Games People Play

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,
'till they're covered-up with flowers
in the back of a black limousine.

[Chorus]
La, da, da da, da-da da;
La, da, da da, da-da de...
talkin' 'bout you-n-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.

[Chorus]

People walkin'-up to ya,
singin' glory hallelujah
'n' they're tryin' ta sock it to ya,
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 and get-on board.

[Chorus]

Look-around tell me what you see.
What's a-happenin' to you and me?
God grant me the serenity
to jus' remember who I am.

'cause you've given-up your sanity
for your pride and your vanity,
turn your back on humanity;
Oh and you don't give a da da da da da.

[Chorus x 3]

-Joe South

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Tony Houston

Thanks for that, Tony. That's one song I have not thought about for a long time, and I do remember liking it and its message, even as a kid (10 years old in 1969). I saw Buddy Guy earlier this year and he used that Danelectro guitar sitar on Skin Deep, very cool sound.

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“All music is folk music, I ain't never heard no horse sing a song.” Louis Armstrong

When that song first came out I bought it on a 45 and played it over and over trying to learn the licks....great song.

Yep, I saw that too.

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Tony Houston

Tesla covers that song on their Bust A Nut album. Great song

I think it may be a Coral Electric Sitar developed by Danelectro. There is a Nashville luthier, Jerry Jones, that makes some high quality, modern models.

There was a song by an English singer doing "Every Time You Go Away" (Right title?) That sounded like it had one in the mix.

That's Paul Young's 'Everytime You Go away', I played in a band that covered that song.

http://youtu.be/hUKBuAkr4Lg

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Tony Houston

The Cure's Robert Smith makes extensive use of the Coral Electric Sitar too especially on the Kiss Me,Kiss me,KissMe and Disintegration CDs.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

Actually the entire song "Games People Play" was written by Jimmy Webb out of Oklahoma who in the 60's and 70's penned some definitive songs for each decade. "Up, Up and Away" by the Fifth Dimension, "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" & "Wichita Lineman" & "Galveston" by Glen Campbell, "The Worst That Could Happen" by the Brooklyn Bridge, "Didn't We" by Frank Sinatra, and "MacArthur Park" by Richard Harris. His songs continue to covered by other artists today. Additionally other Webb songs have been recorded or performed by Thelma Houston, The Supremes, Elvis Presley, Isaac Hayes, R.E.M., and Chet Atkins among others. "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" was the third most performed song in the fifty years between 1940 to 1990 according to BMI accounting. Webb is the only artist to have ever taken home Grammy Awards in the three categories of music, lyrics, and orchestration. He's an American songwriting treasure and the sheer volume of the top chart hits he wrote ranks him in the same class as Cole Porter, Irving Berlin and even the Gershwin brothers.

No, 'GPP' was written by Joe South. The melody is loosely based on a old Cajun song "'Tit Galop Pour Mamou" http://youtu.be/gDPrB1Hk8pQ.

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Tony Houston

I've done further research on this and I was misinformed! You are correct Joe South DID write it! SHAZAM!