"Play the Game" is a song by British rock bandQueen, written by Freddie Mercury. It is the first track on the first side of their 1980 album The Game. It also appears on their Greatest Hits album. The single was a hit in the UK, reaching #14 in the charts, and in the US it peaked at #42.
Composition
The song commences with a series of overlapping rushing noises on an Oberheim OB-Xsynthesiser, heralding the band's acceptance of electronic instruments into their once explicitly "no synths" sonic repertoire. They played it in their live shows from 1980-82. The song features a soft vocal by Mercury, ending with a strong A4 rising in pitch all the way to C5 in chest voice. Mercury also played pianoon the track. Billboard Magazine considered "Play the Game" to be a return to Queen's traditional "epic, rather grand sound" after deviating from that sound with the rockabilly of their prior single "Crazy Little Thing Called Love." Later singles "It's a Hard Life" and "You Don't Fool Me" revisit the theme presented in "Play the Game", with Mercury writing from the same lover's perspective years later in the former song, and reflecting on the memories of the failed relationship in the latter. Both "Play the Game" and "It's a Hard Life" are of a similar structure, revolving around Mercury's piano playing and the band's multi-layered harmonies.
B-Side
The B-side, "A Human Body", was for many years one of the few Queen songs only available on vinyl. It appeared on the bonus album Complete Vision in the 1985 The Complete Works box set. It was eventually released on CD in 2009 as part of The Singles Collection Volume 2 and also included on the bonus disc of the remastered version of The Game in 2011.
Music video
The cover of the single, as well as its promotional video directed by Brian Grant, marked the first time Mercury appeared in either format with what later became his trademark moustache. Brian May did not use his trademark Red Special guitar, instead using a Fender Stratocaster replica made by Satellite. This was likely due to the risk of damage involved in the shot in which Mercury snatches the guitar from May, then appears to throw it back to him which was played back in reverse so that it would be easier for May to play the solo after "catching" the guitar in the video. A shot of the band in the unedited blue screen set for the video was later used for the cover of the "Another One Bites the Dust" single release.
The Baltimore, Marylandindie rock duo Beach House recorded a cover of "Play the Game" that was contributed for the iTunes Store release of the Red Hot Organization's 2009 compilation, Dark Was the Night. The track was released as an iTunes only bonus track. On June 30, 2017, the band released their B-Sides and Raritiescompilation album, which includes the cover.
