美國鄉村靈魂歌手Billy Joe Royal大約在14歲時就認識好友兼經常為他伴奏的吉他手Joe South，1964，Royal錄製了一首由South所寫的《Down in the Boondocks》的示範帶，有人傳說，該曲原本欲向熱門歌手Gene Pitney推銷，但遭到Royal的唱片公司的否認 ( 該曲確讓人想起Pitney標誌性的歌聲，且與其 1963的熱門曲《Twenty Four Hours from Tulsa》有幾分相似。) 1965，Royal發行該首單曲 ( 自己也承認有些想魚目混珠 )，果然也如其所願，獲得告示牌流行榜的第9名，也終於開啟了Royal入榜前40名的音樂之路。

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Joe South (左) Billy Joe Royal(右)  中間為Tommy  Roe  / 1970

Billy Joe Royal出道時受了黑人靈魂歌手Sam Cooke等的影響，除了1965的2首歌外，在流行榜一直未能有好成績表現，自80年代起，重塑自己為「鄉村歌手」，1985果然開始打進鄉村榜前10。此首《Out of Sight and on My Mind》，1988在鄉村榜獲得第10名，成績也算不差。歌曲說的是，對方將所有財務清空離開了，這位老兄仍割捨不下，期盼某時某地仍能相遇，而過往的記憶也會一直留存心底。

1967，Royal錄製了Joe South寫的另首《Rose Garden》，1968，South自己也錄唱，但兩人的版本在排行榜上均是毫無聲息。1970，女歌手Lynn Anderson的翻唱版，竟然在多個國家地區流行或鄉村排行榜奪得冠軍，還替Anderson贏得了一座年度「最佳鄉村女歌手」的葛萊美獎。這種情況除了高興也難免有點難堪。還好的是，South 在稍早的1969，以電Sitar ( 西塔琴 ) 伴奏的一首《Game People Play》，雖然在流行榜只獲得第12名，卻替他贏得了「最佳當代歌曲」和「年度最佳歌曲」的兩座葛萊美獎。

電Sitar琴

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You took all your possessions
The day you disappeared
There's nothing to remind me
That you were ever here

So why can't I forget you
Find someone else and just move on?
Why do I keep looking for you
When I know you've gone?

Out of sight and on my mind
Your memory's always with me
Like a shadow in the night
That I can't leave behind

Got a feeling that these feelings
Ain't never gonna die
And you're gonna stay forever
Out of sight and on my mind

Haven't asked our friends about you
I don't call you on the phone
I never drive by that new place
That you're now calling home

'Cause baby, you're the last one
That I should wanna see
But I still turn each corner
Hoping you'll run into me

Out of sight and on my mind
Your memory's always with me
Like a shadow in the night
That I can't leave behind

Got a feeling that these feelings
Ain't never gonna die
And you're gonna stay forever
Out of sight and on my mind

《Game People Play》

Hmm la-da da da da da da da
La-da da da da da de
La-da da da da da da da
La-da da da da da da da

Oh the games people play now
Every night and every day now
Never meaning what they say now
Never saying what they mean

And they wile away the hours
In their ivory towers
Till they're covered up with flowers
In the back of a black limousine whoa

La-da da da da da da da
La-da da da da da de
Talking 'bout you and me
And the games people play

Oh 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 whoa

Neither one will give in
So we gaze at our eight by ten
Thinking 'bout the things that might have been
And it's a dirty rotten shame whoa

La-da da da da da da da
La-da da da da da de
Talking 'bout you and me
And the games people play now

Oh yeah
All right
Oh yeah
Come on

Oh
Come again

People walking up to ya
Singing glory Hallelujah
And they're tryin' 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 further more to hell with hate
Come on and get on board whoah

La-da da da da da da da
La-da da da da da de
Talking 'bout you and me
And the games people play
Now wait a minute

Look around tell me what you see
What's happening to you and me
God grant me the serenity
To just remember who I am whoah

'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

La-da da da da da da da
La-da da da da da de
I keep talking 'bout you and me baby
And the games people play now lala

La-da da da da da da da
La-da da da da da de
I keep talking 'bout you and me
Oh and the games people play
I wonder can you come now, play

Talking 'bout you and me oh
And the games people play now