..‘cuz DIG.. this is Casper here.. & I’m calling short distance, baby..
I’m gonna hit you on the one with the fun..

What stands out about several of Bootsy’s most interesting lyrics is that they either acknowledge, poke fun at or reflect various elements of “pop culture” prominent at the time; often, characters from TV cartoons or children’s stories. Indeed, these elements played a role in attracting pre-adolescent children to music that was more often “adult” in its attitude & content. Much of the music already had a melodic, “magic storybook” feel to it, so adding people & things recognizable to children made the music that much more irresistible – & fun.

In several ways, Bootsy maintained a “child-like” mentality in terms of his lyrics & his approach to music. Very little was off limits. Listening to his music, it’s easy to get the impression that Bootsy seldom felt constrained by what he thought a song should be about, seldom thought a song should be written or performed a certain way. This approach is typical of a “youthful” mentality: not knowing “the rules”, or simply choosing to ignore them. Why not “borrow” certain ideas, break them down, then reassemble them to something more suitable & in tune (to prevailing mentality)? This youthful attitude & energy is very apparent in his music of this period.

Though a large number of Bootsy jams have interesting lyrical concepts, the following songs best illustrate Bootsy’s imagination & ability to appropriate known entities & re-invent them in some sort of funny, clever or unexpected way. A sort of “evolution” in content & theme can be seen throughout the 6 year period of recordings from Stretchin’ Out (In A Rubber Band) through Work That Sucker to Death. The references progress from the unmistakably cartoonish, kid-friendly “Casper the Friendly Ghost”, to “Pinocchio” to “Bootzilla”, to “Zilla” & “StarMon.”

I : Casper & company (cartoon TV & storybook time!)

On Bootsy’s first 2 albums, there is a clear emphasis on & inclination towards younger, (potential) fans of funk, with many references to school, children’s games, toys & other childhood obsessions. It’s also an indication of the major influence of these things on Bootsy’s own childhood.

Stretchin’ Out (In A Rubber Band)
This song features “Casper”, based on the TV cartoon character of the same name – “Casper, the Friendly Ghost”. Something real, but not real. Something you could definitely feel, but not necessarily see or touch – just like the music. Just like Bootsy.

As any true Bootsy fan knows, the concept of the name of the group “Bootsy’s Rubber Band” – initially called “Bootsy’s Early Sunn” – came near the end of the recording sessions for Bootsy’s first album. The chorus for Stretchin’ Out.. not only “identified” the band, but it also defined the band’s intent, literally & figuratively:

We’re stretchin’ out & hanging loose in a Rubber Band
We’re stretchin’ out, spreadin’ funk all across the land
We’re stretchin’ out & what you see & hear is real
We’re stretchin’ out & the real you’re gonna feel

The metaphor of the rubber band is on point, for 2 reasons: it evokes a typical “plaything” of many children – the rubber band, which was often used to shoot paper or other objects at other kids (what child hasn’t “popped” a rubber band at another – or been popped by a rubber band – to inflict pain?) Secondly, the image of the pliant rubber band describes just how “flexible” Bootsy’s music is; his approach to the music, how he used different musical elements & styles & combined them into something unique.

In the title cut Stretchin’ Out.., Bootsy alternates between images that children or adults could identify with, sometimes in the same line. One moment Bootsy promises that he’s “Gonna skate the funk out to ya,” referring to the popular children’s activity of roller skating. In the next moment he & his band mates declare “we like to party”. There is a double meaning here: the common, generally acknowledged meaning of “to party” as in to have fun, to celebrate with music, food, dancing, etc..
but also, there is the “street” definition of “to party”.. as in: to take illegal drugs like marijuana. So, whether you are 8 years old or 28, you can relate to this because, after all, who doesn’t like to “party”.. in one form or another?

Psychoticbumpschool
This jam is playful & energetic, from the opening “PEACE! OKAY! I.. don’t play” declaration to the final acknowledgement of the arrival of “Friendly Fred”. Prominently featuring the voices of children chanting with Bootsy, Psychoticbumpschool contains more references to juvenile things. The part

You can get up, we can get down
bouncing on the vibe that we found
(well bounce on, baby.. it’s alright!)

evokes more than a few images. For children, perhaps the “up & down” movement of a see-saw, & the image of anything that can bounce, like a ball – something every child has played with at some time during childhood. For adults it’s more like, “you can get up (out of your seat), we can (all) get down – ‘get down’, as the often used expression at that time, meaning to dance in an animated &/or enthusiastic way – bouncing on the vibe..” again, “bouncing” as a description of how the body moves to such funky music, a movement Bootsy clearly encourages: “well bounce on, baby.. it’s alright!”

Then, filled by the melodic, sing-along “da-da da-da.. da” breaks, the song introduces the members of the band with altered or distorted voices that sound like.. cartoon characters:

Well I’m Catfish..
& I’m Mudbone..
I’m Frankie..
I’m Rick..
Maceo..
& I’m Les..

Followed by Bootsy’s own part:

Well now here comes Fred..
& I’m Casper..
but I won’t even mention me because, uh.. I’m not really here, baby!

As “Casper the Ghost”, the “not really here” remark would be true, & as “Bootsy the musician who had been known to take a drug or 2 back in the day”.. the same remark would have been just as true!

As the song comes to its end, Bootsy makes references to going to school & letters of the alphabet – again, things every child can relate to: “from Z to A.. it’s okay.. sometimes it’s better to start from the end instead of the beginning, baby..” & “XYZ, baby..”

The Pinocchio Theory
This clavinet- & synthesizer-heavy Bootsy funk classic has one of the best-known cartoon characters of all time: the internationally famous Pinocchio, the wooden puppet who wants to be human. This time, instead of lying..
“faking the funk” is what causes your nose to grow.

Building on the “Rubber Band” concept (introduced in the previous album) with the “R-u-b-b-e-r, f-a-n-s” chant, the incorporation of “Funkateers” takes place. “Funkateers” would be of course the funky variation of “Musketeers”, as in The Three Musketeers, the well known “adventure fairy tale”.

In Pinocchio, 2 more children’s stories are referenced in this song:

Uh.. the better to funk you my dear.. you ask why my funk is so long.. they call me the long song..

This is from Little Red Riding Hood, where the little girl wearing red asks the Big Bad Wolf (disguised as “Grandma”) why his teeth are so long. In his response to that question, Bootsy substitutes “funk” for “teeth”.

Somebody.. been funkin’ with my funk.. funkin’ ‘round, funkin’ with it 'til they funked it up
(don’t funk with my funk)
Somebody.. been sleepin’ with my funk.. funkin’ ‘round, funkin’ with it ‘til they funked it up

Here, the reference is to the children’s story Goldilocks & The Three Bears, where this little girl enters the bears’ house & sits in all their chairs, eats their food & then sleeps in their beds. When the bears return, they remark that “somebody’s been sitting in my chair” & “..eating my food” & “..sleeping in my bed..”
Bootsy demonstrates the ultimate flexibility of the word “funk” by using it very liberally here, as a verb, as a phrasal verb & as a noun.

Rubber Duckie
With (more) simple yet “sing-along” melodies, lines from the fairy tale Robin Hood are used in this song named after what many children play with when they take a bath: a rubber duck – “duckie,” the diminutive form of the word. (A rubber duck. Robin Hood. YOU make the connection!)

Before the references to Robin Hood, the song takes off with the words typically used by anyone (children included) to start a race:

"On you mark, ready, set, go!
Quickly followed by “Gotta do my thing, gotta disco” (later in the song, “..AT a disco”)."

Then, there is the teasing, “na na na-na na”-type refrain repeated regularly during the song – “you can’t stop me from dancing..” This initially leads into

"Raise your hands, & drop your funk
You can keep your money, but I want your rump
& then besides your rump, & I needs [sic] to bump
so uh, contribute a rump to the bump cause, baby, willingly.."

Robin Hood was known for, indeed, “robbing from the rich & giving to the poor”. Bootsy does almost the same here, but instead of money.. he’s getting FUNK. The “Robin Hood” image works for Bootsy as well, in that he & the Rubber Band were indeed a band of merrymakers, traveling (wandering?) through the countryside, from town to town, wreaking all sorts of (musical) havoc..

II : Bootzilla (or: “Casper.. all ‘growed’ up”)

The lyrics to the jams of the album Bootsy? Player of the Year mark the transition from the predominately juvenile references of Casper & various children’s stories to something more.. “adult”, with images that evoke “high tech”, “manual labor” & even.. “sophisticated seduction”!?

Note the double meaning of “player”, a word used often & throughout this album: there is “player”, another way to say “musician”, someone who plays instruments.. particularly well; then there is the more “street” definition of “player” – a brother who loves to spend time chasing after &/or being with.. women; also known as a “Romeo”, or a “Don Juan”, & similar to a “Mac(k)”. (With the proliferation of rap music in the 1990s, the word “player” became popular again. Now, however, the spelling of the word has changed, to the more “phonetic” spelling “playa”..)

Most notably is Bootzilla, the monster dance hit – literally & figuratively. Inspired by the Japanese science-fiction film series “Godzilla”, BOOTZILLA is the “rhinestone, rock star, monster of a doll”. In this funk classic, Bootsy adeptly continues to straddle the line between childhood & adulthood, noting that while BOOTZILLA is a “family doll”, he is also “known to get into personal relationships”; personal as in “adult”.. (sexual?) relationships..

Bootzilla begins with soft, lullaby-type music, followed by a gentle, infantile voice that advises: “don’t let him cry.. don’t let that little girl cry..” followed by faint laughter.. followed by the dominant, distinctive

YYYYYAAAAAAAAABBBAAAADABADOOO ! ! ! ! !

made so often by yet another well-known cartoon character, Fred Flintstone. Many references are made to things to which most children could quickly identify: the “wind me up” refrain heard throughout the song, to describe what was done (years ago) to make any sort of “mechanical” toy work; also “you got to pull, you got to pull my string”, another way some toys could be made to be animated; & the “Simon says do this.. Simon says do that..” line, about the popular children’s game “Simon says”.

Then BOOTZILLA then talks about his features:

"I come equipped with stereophonic,
funk producing, disco-inducing,
twin magnetic rump receptors..
oh, I’m perfect for bumping, you see.."

“Bumping”, a reference to 1 of the popular dances of that time, “the bump”, where 1 dancer moves his hip into the opposite hip of his partner, in rhythm to the music. BOOTZILLA continues:

"put me on your credit charge, baby
& at no extra expense.. comes this remote control unit
oh yeah, I’m programmable.. one heckuva doll, baby baba..
BOOTZILLA here.. hm, made by the makers of Funky Thangs To Play With,
trademark Funk Attack Incorporated.."

Bootsy then implores you to:

"pull my string, I’ll dance, I’ll sing, I’ll play for you
wind me up, I’ll dance, I’ll sing, I’ll play with you
let me be your super hero-baby doll
teddy bears & Barbie dolls can’t boogie down.."

In the lines before mentioning his features, BOOTZILLA even describes how he can be purchased: “.. credit charge.. funk-away!”, the latter a variation of “lay-away”, the informal description of the commonly known method of making payments to buy something; also known as “installment payments”.

It’s amazing how Bootsy squeezes all these different references into 1 song.. & somehow.. it works!

Hollywood Squares
While this song continues the “child-to-adult” lyrical transition, it’s decidedly more on the “adult side”. After the “big production, Hollywood-style” instrumental introduction, Bootsy marvels – with child-like fascination – about

".. Hollywood..
land of the how-do-you-do’s..
movie stars, take-twos..
lights, cameras, action.."

Then Bootsy goes into “player mode”, using a few film expressions:

"..& where’s my leading lady?
let me try this new love scene on you, baba..
I’m very casual.. & of course..
I’ve got a cartoon mind..
so we’re fine!"

Bootsy goes on to describe the “adult”, aesthetic pleasures of hanging out at the intersection of “Hollywood & Vine”, one of the best known locations in Hollywood, where a player can easily be “getting my eyes fat” with visions of the beautiful women there, as “it’s about girl-watching, you see, for days..”

Following Bootsy’s laid back description of the “mellow mellow”, the “mellow drama” (=melodrama), the “mellow madness” & the “mellow magic” comes the most memorable – & funniest – part of the song. Bootsy – apparently caught up in the moment – tries to rehearse his “love scene” lines..
or, is he simply trying to be.. a “player”?

"come here, you leading lady-lookin’–
uh.. let me rehearse this love scene on ya baby, one more time..
“have no dear, my fear..
Paul Renere is vere..
& I’m tame to hear that feeling..”
oh no no, let’s take two, let’s take two..
we gon’ keep doing this ‘til we get it right, lovely..
uh, “have no dear, uh– my fear, have no”–
uh– aw, shucks.. just forget it, let’s go boogie, baby, let’s boogie!
uh.. let’s just boogie down, baby..
uh, let me do the ‘grab you cha-cha cha-cha’.."

So it seems that Bootsy “intentionally” messes up his lines during the pretense of the “rehearsal”.. just to get his “leading lady” to go dancing with him, preferably doing the “grab you cha cha cha”, which was first mentioned at the end of Rubber Duckie.

Roto Rooter
Featuring the oh-so-funky keyboard mastery of Joel “Razor Sharp” Johnson & popping, percussive bass playing by Bootsy, this quirky yet very funky jam compares Bootsy’s music skills to the skills of.. a plumber, essentially. As legend has it, this track started as a groove, & while developing this song in the studio with George Clinton (a frequent collaborator of the song concepts & lyrical ideas that Bootsy would develop), George happened to remark to Bootsy, “you’re a Roto Rooter, a troubleshooter”.. & the lyrical part of the song evolved from there. “Roto Rooter” is in fact the name of a nationally franchised plumbing & drain cleaning service that is so well known, its name is synonymous with.. plumbing & drain cleaning.

Prominent in this song there are 2 lines from a (late 1970s) Roto Rooter commercial. The first line used at several points in the song is “who do you call?”, which develops into, among the examples:

"Who do you call when your feet won’t move
& you need a shot of rhythm & blues
tell me who do you call, baba – Roto Rooter, I’m a troubleshooter"

& later

"Who do you phone when the radio’s on
but the music keeps turning you off.."

The suggestive “I’ve got my snake in my hand, they call me the clean-up man..” is followed by the second line from the Roto Rooter commercial: “..& away go your troubles, down the drain”.

After the second verse, Roto Rooter progresses from a description of Bootsy’s skills as a “funk repairman” to a solicitation of a “snake charmer” with the hillbilly-like “hey little girl won’t you come out to play” refrain. Bootsy is looking for this snake charmer because he is so “nicety”, a word combined from “nice” & “nasty” (“nasty” here, meaning “very good” or “sexy”). During the “in the pocket, right back there in the socket” refrain, Bootsy stays with the “repairman theme” by offering “oh, let me fix your socket, I’m an electrician too” & even admits later in the song, “Oh yeah, I’m a professional boxer too”..

Appropriately, this song finishes.. with the sound of a toilet flushing.

III : Zilla.. & beyond

Chugg-A-Lugg (The Bun Patrol)
This number is a good example of the lyrical mayhem found on This Boot Is Made For Fonk-n, the 4th release from Bootsy’s Rubber Band, in 1979. The title Chugg-A-Lugg might well be based on a puppet named “Flub-a-dub”, a character made up from 8 different animals, which appeared in the 1950s children’s program The Howdy Doody Show. While this song – like the album itself – has several clever plays-on-words & expressions, they generally lack any real sense of “cohesiveness” (relatively speaking). It’s not too difficult to sense not only the apparent rush that was made to get this album out (in part, to capitalize on the still glowing success of ..Player of the Year), but also the apparent creative peak – musically & lyrically – that had already occurred.

Still, there are lines such as:

"Captain P-Mo here and I just got back from voyage to the bottom of the pee
Where slow motion is better than no motion
& I´m fortified with yeast to help me rise to the occasion baby.."

Here, the reference is to literarary character “Captain Nemo” of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea.
Other silly/funny excerpts:

Bun Power, (“bun”, a slang term for “butt”)
with a Booty Back Guarantee (as opposed to the more common “Money Back Guarantee”), &

Be on the floor by bun down or be out of town by sundown..

Also there are references to 2 popular TV commercials at that time; the fast-food chain Burger King, & its best known hamburger: “Yeah, it still takes two hands to handle a Whopper, baby..”
& Rothschild’s candy: “Not now, not now.. I told you.. I´m in the middle of a Rump, child..”

Then, for good (& final) measure, an imitation of the voice of vaudeville star W.C. Fields is done in the lines “Out of the way, boy.. you bother me.. get out the way, boy.. I got some dancin’ to do.. quick, quick somethin’ the matter with you boy?”

Shejam (Almost Bootsy show)
The instrumental version of this mid-tempo dance number was the “b-side” to the Jam Fan 45 RPM single, & is based on the atmosphere Bootsy encountered at the concert venues before & after the shows. Although not as “lyrically adventurous” as other songs mentioned here, there is the spoken intro by Maceo Parker:

"Are you ready for booty do your duty time?
This is not your average Howdy Doody time
Those who do not wish to funk
Let them leave now, or be betrayed by their rumps.."

again with the mention of the popular children’s puppet character, Howdy Doody. The “booty do your duty” line is a classic, silly Bootsy rhyme.

The next, last 2 titles have a particular focus on the theme of “work”, which, essentially, complete Bootsy’s lyrical theme transformation from “the kiddies” to the adults.

F-Encounter

"I got work.. that’s all fun & no play
I got work.. 27 hours in a day
I got work.. I’m on love’s assembly line.."

Some of the cleverest plays-on-words are found on this track, giving evidence to the more “mature” lyrical perspective developed by Bootsy after ..Player of the Year. There are no noticeable references to cartoon characters or childhood experiences. From the Ultra Wave album, in F-Encounter Bootsy compares the love he has for his woman to.. the best job in the world, with “on-the-job training” & other benefits. This is demonstrated by the refrain that appears early in the song & then is often repeated throughout: “.. & I won’t be in the unenjoyment line”, a play-on-words for the well known expression “to be in [or on] the unemployment line”, somewhere no one wants to find themselves– without a job. There is no clear “verse-chorus-verse” structure to this song; rather, it’s a series of lines, several which repeat themselves with minor variations, such as:

I’ve got a j-o-b, on my b-a-b.. y..
(later in the song: for my b-a-b.. y..)

For lovers only, loving checking each other out
(later: ..loving just checking it out, working it out, etc.)

Working for my baby, is sure ‘nuf working for me!
A clever way to say, “doing things for my partner is.. doing (good) things for myself!”

The cleverest double entendre in F-Encounter has to be:

"To make this work, I need a job
& with this work, I’ve got a job!"

The 1st meaning can be implied as: “to do this work (= to be in a relationship), I need a job (= a partner).. & with this relationship, I have a partner”. Secondly, Bootsy is essentially saying: “for this relationship ( = ‘work’) to be successful, I need to be (involved) in it, I need to contribute to it, I need to work at it..” followed by the rather obvious assertion “& with this relationship [= ‘work’], I am in one.” Excellent plays on words, cleverly weaving the multiple meanings of idiomatic expressions with “work”, & “job”. [Later in the song, the line changes slightly, to be (apparently) “if we miss this work, I’ll need a job..”]

Work That Sucker To Death
As stated in the article “On The One” (read it >>>), the 12” version of this funk masterpiece is one of the funkiest songs – if not THE funkiest – that Bootsy has ever been associated with. The song uses quite a few clichés, & admits to using one in the 2nd line of the song:

"Strike while the iron’s hot
it’s an old cliché, they say
when you’ve got a hold of something hot
don’t let it get away, no no no
oh baby, as we touch each other
it feels so out of sight, yes it does
so baby, let’s do it right
tear it up tonight.."

Other well known “clichés” that appear in this jam include “you are my heart’s desire”, “keep reaching for the stars” & “fill my cup [with ecstasy]”

The character Sir Nose D’VoidofFunk (from the Parliament album Funkentelechy Vs The Placebo Syndrome) makes an appearance in Work That Sucker.., first laughing at the beginning of the song, & then singing “girl you set my soul on fire” along with a bass voice. His typically stubborn self, Sir Nose either doesn’t hear the words correctly, or he simply wants to change the words in the song to his own liking: “I am The Nose & I knows [sic] how it goes.. let’s sing it RIGHT”. He believes the song is called “Twerk That Ducker to Seth”.

Next, another musician – apparently “unemployed” – says to Bootsy: “..I think we got a gig, baby.. Xavier says they’re gonna give us a gig.. are you still in the union, Bootsy? Do you have your union card? We workin’.. we sho ‘nuf need a gig, brother..”

After this, the song imitates a popular late 1970s TV commercial of a “butter substitute” product called “Parkay”. In the TV commercial, Parkay tastes so much like “real butter” that people say it’s “Butter!”, but the “talking tub” of Parkay always insists that it is “Parkay”, not butter. So when someone watches the commercial, they hear:

“Butter!”
“Parkay.”

just like in the song.

Work That Sucker.. then does a parody of the popular fitness guru at the time, Richard Simmons. The listener hears an effeminate voice (similar to Richard’s) exclaim:

"Hi girls! Sichard Rimmons here!
Suck in those tummies & touch those toes!
Ready? On the count of 4! 1, 2, 3, 4 &
WORK that body, WORK that body.. ah, come on!"

After some nasty bass playing by Bootsy & the mention of a very popular cartoon series at the time – “Oh no, not the Smurf!” – “Sichard Rimmons” reminds everyone to “breathe in, breathe out..” After that, Sir Nose takes over:

"Uh oh, it’s lunch time.. I see food just came in.. ha ha..
I’m going on.. I’m going on my lunch break, I’ll be right back, y’all..
y’all can’t work it ‘til I get back.. okay?
I’m gonna have some pizza,
I’m gonna have some spaghetti,
I’m gonna have some ham hocks,
I’m gon’ have some greens, I’m gon’ have–
I’m gonna get me some Fat burgers [from a West Coast burger chain of the same name]
this my lunch break right here, y’all.. y’all keep on workin’ right here.."

Sir Nose ends this jam, still insisting that his way to pronounce the song’s title is correct.

From cartoon characters to TV shows & commercials, from literature to parodies of actual people, Bootsy (often with creative input from George Clinton) has shown a special ability to re-invent & then incorporate a variety of pop culture references into his music, to add a unique, often crazy perspective to the music, & doing this as an acknowledgement to his childhood influences & experiences. Using these various references over waves of obviously very funky music, Bootsy has been able to attract listeners who might not otherwise be exposed to this type of music, making the music as fun to listen to as it is to dance to.

JaChri Taylor July 2003

top