I’m a total sucker for a number of things that George Clinton and the P-Funk crew bring in large supply: crazy synthesizers, check! strange dystopic visions of life in the present and future, check! deeply funky breaks and basslines, check! horns that kick your ass all over the place, check! I think Parliament manages to get away with narrating such potent and topical commentary on our world by wrapping those truths in layers of space-related metaphors & general wackiness. This track was recorded at the pinnacle of P-Funk’s popularity in the mid – late-‘70s, and the entire cast of the mothership are in full effect on this oft-overlooked jewel of smooth-sailing funk. Above all other things which I love about this song, Bernie Worrell’s fantastically spacey synthesizer work here just absolutely sets the whole thing off; truly, no one can touch Bernie when it comes to wild and adventurous synth-scapes! The ladies singing the backing vocals, from P-Funk family band Parlet, work the perfect balance of sweet and strong; their dulcet tones ease the listener along this cloud-like song, and yet, around two and a half minutes into the track when they declare, “...there’s so much syndrome baby...”, you remember this cloud is tethered to the mud and grime below. You might not expect to be intellectually lubricated by a band generally known for all things wild & crazy, but I fucking dare you to ignore a line like, “When your ups lift you down, your placebo is too weak, you’re in the syndrome…”; go ahead, you try juggling references to drug use with powerful statements about socialization and illusory reality---not easy stuff folks!
