Editing P-Funk mythology (section)

== Funkadelic ==

Funkadelic albums are generally more abstract than Parliament's. Rather than tell the story of a cast of characters, the mythology of Funkadelic is defined as a socially conscious spiritualism. One of the defining traits of the P-Funk mythology is that it is indeed a form of social commentary in that it "took all the cheese America had to offer and ran with it, taking the fashions and technology of the day to their ultimate, preposterous conclusions, amplifying the aesthetics of the 70s into a throbbing, fish-eyed cartoon of itself, and in so doing glorified American culture and their role in its continuing evolution."<ref name="Hacker"/>

On "[[Mommy, What's a Funkadelic?]]", the opening track of Funkadelic's 1970 [[Funkadelic (album)|self-titled debut album]], Clinton's cosmology starts to emerge with the lines, "By the way, my name is Funk...I am not of your world...Hold still, baby, I won't do you no harm...I am Funkadelic, dedicated to the feeling of good.'"<ref>Clinton, George. "[http://mother.pfunkarchive.com/motherpage/lyrics_funkadelic/lyr-funkadelic.html#lyr-s-mommy Mommy, What's a Funkadelic?]", ''Funkadelic''. [[Westbound Records|Westbound]], 1970.</ref> The same introduction of "Funkadelic" is repeated at the outset of the album's closing track "What Is Soul".<ref>Clinton, George. "[http://mother.pfunkarchive.com/motherpage/lyrics_funkadelic/lyr-funkadelic.html#lyr-s-whatissoul What Is Soul]", ''Funkadelic''. Westbound, 1970.</ref>

On Funkadelic's second album, ''[[Free Your Mind... and Your Ass Will Follow]]'' (1970), funk is posited as a path to enlightenment in the title track: "Open up your funky mind and you can fly...Free your mind and your ass will follow...The kingdom of heaven is within".<ref>Clinton, George, and Eddie Hazel, Raymond Davis. "[https://genius.com/Funkadelic-free-your-mind-and-your-ass-will-follow-lyrics Free Your Mind... and Your Ass Will Follow]", ''Free Your Mind... and Your Ass Will Follow''. Westbound, 1970.</ref> This sentiment is echoed in subsequent songs like "Standing on the Verge of Getting It On" (1974) which contains the verse, "Music is designed to free your funky mind. We have come to help you cope out into another reality".<ref>Clinton, George, and Eddie Hazel. "[https://genius.com/Funkadelic-standing-on-the-verge-of-getting-it-on-lyrics Standing on the Verge of Getting It On]", ''Standing on the Verge of Getting It On''. Westbound, 1974.</ref> A more scatological iteration comes in the song "Promentalshitbackwashpsychosis Enema Squad (The Doo Doo Chasers)" (1978) where "funk" is defined as "the P-Preparation, The prune juice of the mind, A mental, musical bowel movement, Groove-lax...A psychological turd remover, A neurological enema".<ref>Clinton, George, and [[Garry Shider]], Linda Brown. "[https://genius.com/Funkadelic-promentalshitbackwashpsychosis-enema-squad-the-doo-doo-chasers-lyrics Promentalshitbackwashpsychosis Enema Squad (The Doo Doo Chasers)]", ''One Nation Under a Groove''. [[Warner Bros. Records|Warner Brothers]], 1978.</ref>

Many of the lyrics in P-Funk songs imply that the band is merely a medium for a [[Godhead in Christianity|godhead]] that takes the form of funk.<ref name="Hacker"/> At other times, the band or Clinton are cast as priestly beings tasked with guiding humanity through music. In the song "Phunklords", they sing, "We are the Phunklords...Sent to you from eons away
just to spread some funk your way".<ref>[[Fuzzy Haskins|Haskins, Fuzzy]], and Billy Mims, Calvin Simon, Grady Thomas, Ben Powers Jr. "[https://genius.com/Funkadelic-phunklords-lyrics Phunklords]", ''[[Connections & Disconnections]]'', LAX Records, 1981.</ref> At the beginning of "The Electronic Spanking of War Babies", Clinton explains that he was "adopted by aliens" at the age of 17, and that "they have long since programmed me to return with this message."<ref>Bishop, Bob, and George Clinton, [[Junie Morrison]]. "[http://mother.pfunkarchive.com/motherpage/lyrics_funkadelic/lyr-espank.html#lyr-s-espank The Electric Spanking of War Babies]", ''[[The Electric Spanking of War Babies]]''. Warner Brothers, 1981.</ref> The liner notes of ''Standing on the Verge of Getting It On'' explain that, "On the Eighth Day, the Cosmic Strumpet of [[Mother Nature]] was spawned to envelope this Third Planet in FUNKADELICAL VIBRATIONS. And she birthed Apostles [[Sun Ra|Ra]], [[Jimi Hendrix|Hendrix]], [[Sly Stone|Stone]], and CLINTON to preserve all funkiness of man unto eternity... But! Fraudulent forces of obnoxious JIVATION grew...only seedling GEORGE remained! As it came to be, he did indeed begat FUNKADELIC to restore Order Within the Universe."<ref>Funkadelic, ''Standing on the Verge of Getting It On''. Westbound, 1974. Liner notes.</ref>

The title of the band's third album, ''[[Maggot Brain]]'' (1971), became a lasting concept in the P-Funk mythology. The title track opens the album with the incantation, "Mother Earth is pregnant for the third time...for y'all have knocked her up. I have tasted the maggots in the mind of the Universe."<ref name="Maggot">Hazel, Edward, and George Clinton. "[https://genius.com/Funkadelic-maggot-brain-lyrics Maggot Brain]", ''Maggot Brain''. Westbound, 1971.</ref> Maggot brain is a "state of mind" with potentially disastrous consequences if nothing is done about it. The incantation on "Maggot Brain" concludes, "I knew I had to rise above it all or drown in my own shit."<ref name="Maggot"/><ref name="Tear">"Funkencyclo-P-dia", ''Tear the Roof Off'', 1974-1980. New York, N.Y: Casablanca, 1993. Liner notes.</ref> The song "Super Stupid" links maggot brain to fear with lyrics about a protagonist who snorts [[heroin]] thinking it is [[cocaine]]. Super Stupid is said to have a "maggot brain" and to have "lost the fight and the winner is fear".<ref>Hazel, Edward, and Lucious Ross, William Nelson, George Clinton. "[https://genius.com/Funkadelic-super-stupid-lyrics Super Stupid]", ''Maggot Brain''. Westbound, 1971.</ref> The album's liner notes reinforce the connection between maggot brain and fear by quoting from the writing of [[Robert de Grimston]], "Fear is the root of man's destruction of himself. Without Fear there is no blame. Without blame there is no conflict. Without conflict there is no destruction."<ref>Grimston, Robert de. ''[http://www.feastofhateandfear.com/archives/robert_08.html The Gods on Fear and Death] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308054846/http://www.feastofhateandfear.com/archives/robert_08.html |date=2016-03-08 }}''. May 1968.</ref>

The liner notes for ''[[One Nation Under a Groove]]'' (1978) are a typical example of how the P-Funk mythology expanded on song lyrics to develop a sprawling, satirical narrative. The liner includes a summary of "The Funk Wars 1984 B.C.", which is a parody of ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]''. Just like [[George Lucas|George Lucas']] movie, the Funk Wars take place "ONCE UPON A TIME... in a faraway parallel universe". Instead of [[Darth Vader]], the villain is "BARFT VADA", and his soldiers wield "Blight Sabers". VADA has outlawed funk in favor of disco to "maintain mental constipation" and prevent Funkadelica from "deprogramming the population". The hero, JASPER SPATIC, has invented a Throb Gun, which he unleashes at a disco, triggering an epic battle and defeat for Barft Vada. The story ends with Jasper pondering what would happen the next time Barft Vada caused trouble, hoping that someone would warn people to "THINK! IT AIN'T ILLEGAL YET!", which is a chant heard in the live version of "Maggot Brain" that closes the album.<ref>Funkadelic, ''[https://ia903404.us.archive.org/5/items/lp_one-nation-under-a-groove_funkadelic/lp_one-nation-under-a-groove_funkadelic.pdf One Nation Under a Groove]''. [[Warner Bros. Records|Warner Brothers]], 1978. [https://streptos-music.noblogs.org/post/2007/04/19/the-funk-wars-1984-b-c/ Liner notes].</ref>