Editing P-Funk mythology (section)

== Parliament ==
Four years after their debut album, Parliament released their [[Up for the Down Stroke|second album]] which makes the first direct reference to the mythology that had taken root in Funkadelic's early albums. On "I Just Got Back (From the Fantasy, Ahead of Our Time in the Four Lands of Ellet)", the narrator announces "I just got back from another world". It is located "across the mountain and through the seas, past the moon, beyond all the things that we've dreamed about". The place was so beautiful that the narrator did not want to leave, but felt that he must return to help the listener be a parent and to "show you the way, the right way, I feel you gotta live".<ref>Chase, Peter. "[https://genius.com/Parliament-i-just-got-back-from-the-fantasy-ahead-of-our-time-in-the-four-lands-of-ellet-lyrics I Just Got Back (From the Fantasy, Ahead of Our Time in the Four Lands of Ellet)]". ''[[Up for the Down Stroke]]'', 1974.</ref> Though the song was written by a street performer named Peter Chase, it bears all the narrative hallmarks of the P-Funk cosmology, with its voyage to a distant planet and a return after a long absence bearing enlightenment for a suffering audience.<ref>Junior, Chris M. "[http://www.goldminemag.com/article/parliaments-%E2%80%98up-for-the-down-stroke%E2%80%99-revisited Parliament's ‘Up For The Down Stroke’ revisited]", [[Goldmine (magazine)|Goldmine]]. April 9, 2010.</ref>

=== ''Mothership Connection'' ===

The P-Funk mythology begins in earnest on Parliament's 1975 album ''[[Mothership Connection]]'', which features Clinton emerging from a spaceship on the cover. The first track, "[[P. Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up)]]" begins in the same way as the title track from ''[[Chocolate City (album)|Chocolate City]]'', the band's previous album.<ref>Madsen, Pete. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=P7mVQezU-7cC&dq=clinton%20wefunk%20dj&pg=PA41 Funk Guitar and Bass: Know the Players, Play the Music]''. [[Hal Leonard Corporation]], 2006.</ref> A [[Disc jockey|DJ]] talks directly to the audience as if he is on the radio, but on this album, the station [[call sign]] is announced as "WEFUNK". It is broadcasting from outer space "directly from the Mothership". The DJ reveals his name as "The Lollipop Man, alias the Long-Haired Sucker." He exhorts the listener to lay their body on the radio in order to be healed by the music because "Funk not only moves, it can re-move".<ref>Clinton, George, and Bootsy Collins, Bernie Worrell. "[https://genius.com/Parliament-p-funk-wants-to-get-funked-up-lyrics P. Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up)]". ''Mothership Connection''. Casablanca, 1975.</ref>

In the next song, "[[Mothership Connection (Star Child)]]", the titular Starchild explains, "I ''am'' the Mothership Connection" and that "we have returned to claim the Pyramids." Starchild invites the listener to "come on up to the Mothership". He later asks, "Are you hip to Easter Island? The Bermuda Triangle?", reinforcing the [[Ancient astronauts|ancient aliens]] imagery of the song.<ref name="Mothership"/> "Unfunky UFO" depicts a spaceship full of people from "a dying world" who sing, "We're unfunky and we're obsolete". They are desperate for some funk, wanting to "take your funk and make it mine" and begging the listener to "show me how to funk like you do".<ref>Clinton, George, and Bootsy Collins, Garry Shider. "[https://genius.com/Parliament-unfunky-ufo-lyrics Unfunky UFO]", ''Mothership Connection''. Casablanca, 1975.</ref> This primal need for funk is echoed in the highest-charting song from the album, "Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker)", with its pleas of "Give up the funk...we gotta have that funk".<ref>[[Jerome Brailey|Brailey, Jerome]], and George Clinton, Bootsy Collins. "[[Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker)]]", ''Mothership Connection''. Casablanca, 1975.</ref> The album's closing track introduces an important concept in the P-Funk mythology with its title: "Night Of The Thumpasorous Peoples". The lyrics are primarily "gaga googoo", but the Thumpasorous lineage is a recurring feature in subsequent releases.

Parliament's follow-up album, ''[[The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein]]'', is the motherlode for the narrative of their legendary [[P-Funk mythology#Stage Show|stage show]]. The first half of the album introduces key characters like Dr. Funkenstein and expands on terms like "Thumpasorous".

=== ''Funkentelechy Vs. the Placebo Syndrome''===
With the P-Funk Earth Tour in high gear, Parliament released ''[[Funkentelechy Vs. the Placebo Syndrome]]'' in 1977. The first track, "[[Bop Gun (Endangered Species)]]", weaponizes funk as a self-protection device: "When the syndrome is around, don't let your guard down. All you got to do is call on the funk...to dance is a protection...On guard! Protect yourself!...Shoot them with the bop gun"<ref>Clinton, George, and Bootsy Collins, Garry Shider. "[https://genius.com/Parliament-bop-gun-endangered-species-lyrics Bop Gun (Endangered Species)]", ''Funkentelechy Vs. the Placebo Syndrome''. Casablanca, 1977</ref> The next song, "Sir Nose d'Voidoffunk (Pay Attention - B3M)", introduces the title character who claims to be "the subliminal seducer" and "devoid of funk". Sir Nose claims that Starchild may have won a battle, but that he will return. Later in the song, Starchild appears, "chasing noses away", and proclaims himself "Protector of the Pleasure Principle". "Nose" instantly became a recurring term for negativity in the P-Funk mythology, prompting lines like "a funk a day keeps the Nose away".<ref name="Funken">Clinton, George, and Bootsy Collins. "[https://genius.com/Parliament-funkentelechy-lyrics Funkentelechy]", ''Funkentelechy Vs. the Placebo Syndrome''. Casablanca, 1977.</ref> The concept for the character originated in "[[The Pinocchio Theory]]" by Bootsy's Rubber Band, which asserts that if "you fake the funk; your nose got to grow".<ref>Clinton, George, and Bootsy Collins. "[https://genius.com/Bootsys-rubber-band-the-pinocchio-theory-lyrics The Pinocchio Theory]", ''[[Ahh... The Name Is Bootsy, Baby!]]. Warner Brothers, 1977.''</ref> Sir Nose is "Cro-Nasal", predating the [[Cro-Magnon]] and the [[Neanderthal]].<ref>Clinton, George, and Bootsy Collins. "[https://genius.com/Parliament-trombipulation-lyrics Trombipulation]", ''[[Trombipulation]]''. Casablanca, 1980.</ref>

"Funkentelechy" sees a return of DJ Lollipop as he narrates a free-association meditation on overstimulation, which he terms "[[Urge Overkill#History|urge overkill]]", from things like pills and commercial jingles for [[List of McDonald's ad programs#Have you had your break today.3F .281995-1997.29|Big Macs]] and [[List of Burger King ad programs#The Burger King jingle|Whoppers]]. Playing off [[Aristotle|Aristotle's]] concept of [[Potentiality and actuality#Entelechy (entelechia)|entelechy]], DJ Lollipop, who also claims the name of "Mr. Prolong" during the song, reassures the listener that "this is mood de-control" and the "pleasure principle has been rescued".<ref name="Funken"/> The last song on the album, "[[Flash Light (song)|Flash Light]]", was Parliament's first #1 single. It contains a glancing reference to the P-Funk mythology when the Nose finds the funk, with the aid of the titular device, and begins to "Get on down". The ethos of the song, and Parliament as well, is that even the Nose can become funky because "Everybody's got a little light under the sun".<ref>Clinton, George, and Bootsy Collins, Bernie Worrell. "[https://genius.com/Parliament-flash-light-lyrics Flash Light]", ''Funkentelechy Vs. the Placebo Syndrome''. Casablanca, 1977.</ref>

=== Later albums ===
Parliament's 1978 album ''[[Motor Booty Affair]]'' begins with "Mr. Wiggles". The titular character is a variation on DJ Lollipop. Now, WEFUNK is located in [[Emerald City]] in downtown [[Atlantis]].<ref>Clinton, George, and Bootsy Collins, Michael Hampton. "[https://genius.com/Parliament-mr-wiggles-lyrics Mr. Wiggles]", ''Motor Booty Affair''. Casablanca, 1978.</ref> The title character of the second song is "Rumpofsteelskin" who is so unfunky that "he don't rust and he don't bend".<ref>Clinton, George, and Bootsy Collins. "[https://genius.com/Parliament-rumpofsteelskin-lyrics Rumpofsteelskin]", ''Motor Booty Affair''. Casablanca, 1978.</ref> With the album set underwater, swimming becomes akin to dancing, and in "[[Aqua Boogie (A Psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadoloop)]]" Sir Nose returns to announce that he cannot swim and hates water.<ref>Clinton, George, and Bootsy Collins, Bernie Worrell. "[https://genius.com/Parliament-aqua-boogie-a-psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadoloop-lyrics Aqua Boogie (A Psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadoloop)]", ''Motor Booty Affair''. Casablanca, 1978.</ref> Overton Loyd's album art depicted the motto "We got ta raise Atlantis to the top", signifying the need for upward social mobility among African-Americans.<ref>Nama, Adilifu. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=kHKzYBfEuSwC&dq=Black%20Space%3A%20Imagining%20Race%20in%20Science%20Fiction%20Film&pg=PT175 Black Space: Imagining Race in Science Fiction Film]''. [[University of Texas Press]], 2010. 163.</ref>

On ''[[Gloryhallastoopid]]'' (1979), Sir Nose defeats Starchild and turns him into a mule in "Theme From The Black Hole". While gloating over his victory, Sir Nose alludes to multiple songs from ''Funkentelechy'' and ''Clones'' with taunts like "Where's your flashlight? Where's your bop gun? Where's the Doctor (Funkenstein), Starchild?".<ref>Clinton, George, and Bootsy Collins, JS Theracon. "[https://genius.com/Parliament-theme-from-the-black-hole-lyrics Theme From the Black Hole]", ''Gloryhallastoopid''. Casablanca, 1979.</ref>