Thanks to Chris’s comment I listened to Joe South’s song ‘Games People Play’ (1968) and spent time thinking about its lyrics (below). Here’s also Cajun original version to dance to. We love the bass player.
Oh the games people play
every night and every day
Never meaning what they say
never saying what they mean
Well, they wile away the hours
In their ivory towers
Till they’re covered up with flowers
In the back of a black limousine
(Laden da laden da la da
Laden da laden da la da)
I’m talkin’ ’bout you and me
and the games people play
Well, we make one another cry
Break a heart then we say goodbye
Cross our hearts and we hope to die
That the other one’s 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
It’s a dirty rotten shame
People walking up to you
singing Glory Hallelujah
Then they try to sock it to you
in the name of the Lord
They’re going to teach you how to meditate
read your horoscope and cheat your faith
and further more to hell with hate
Come on, get on the ball
Look around and tell me what you see
What’s happened to you and me
God grant me the serenity
To remember who I am.
‘Cause you’ve given up your sanity
For your pride and your vanity
Turn your back on humanity
When you don’t give a damn
The Cajun song the melody comes from is Tit Galop Pour Mamou. The Barefoot Movement explain the lyrics.
