JUKEBOX: Family Game Night
If you live in the midwest or other snowy parts of the globe, you’ve probably had more than your fair share of bad weather this year with more promised to come. So what do you do with all that time, shut in with your family or friends, with no escape? Perhaps a family game night is in order.
1) “Play the Game,” Queen (1980)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TMwz6hIypU
Kick off your game night with this Queen tune that encourages everyone to “Play the Game.” Was this single an elaborate marketing campaign to encourage people to play their album The Game? No, you’re overthinking things.
2) “Respect,” Aretha Franklin (1967)
Scrabble is a good game to play before everyone is too tired or full of alcohol to spell properly. But in case you need a little extra help, Aretha Franklin will spell it out for you.
3) “Money,” Barrett Strong (1960)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeVx1C73o8k
This oft-covered track is perfect for Monopoly, Operation, LIFE, or pretty much any game in which money is the objective.
4) “Domino,” Van Morrison (1970)
Not the most popular game night game, dominoes is still a valid tabletop game. I’m not talking about sitting them up and making them fall down, but that real, dot-matching game. This track was Van Morrison’s tribute to Fats Domino, but it could also be your tribute to being out of tiles first, providing you play your tiles right.
5) “One,” Harry Nilsson (1968)
What? I certainly wasn’t the one to put this song on the playlist. It put itself there. It’s about a game of Uno, or really any game in which the other players insist on going for second place when you’ve clearly won and they should just move on to a more all-inclusive round or game.
6) “I’m Sorry,” Brenda Lee (1960)
We thought Brenda Lee was writing a sad relationship song, but really she was just in the middle of a game of Sorry. Or so the story goes…
7) “Twistin’ the Night Away,” Sam Cooke (1962)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABnnY8PSk8M
If the night leads you to a game of Twister, don’t fight it, just go with the twistin’ flow! That part of the chorus when they start calling out dance moves could really be improved with a few exclamations of “left foot green!,” etc.
8) “Looking for Clues,” Robert Palmer (1980)
For a game of Clue, what’s better than “Looking For Clues”? Incidentally, Robert Palmer was frightened by the sound of the telephone in the study with Miss Scarlett.
Find these tracks and some other kooky game night songs in the playlist below.
