This is the voice of George Clinton in the introduction of Maggot Brain, a groundbreaking song by the American funk rock band Funkadelic. Funkadelic had a “sister” band called Parliament and together they “pioneered the funk music culture of the 1970’s”. They were collectively referred to as P-Funk, and were known for the large number of musicians that got involved over the years. Many left and rejoined, but among the most iconic and influential of them all are the two songwriters of Maggot Brain, George Clinton and Eddie Hazel.

 

Clinton’s intensely pointed vocals make a social commentary about the damaged state of our Earth and the role that humanity’s many evils and shortcomings have played in it. This gripping message is followed by a ten minute long guitar solo in which Eddie Hazel pours his soul out through the instrument in such a way that the listener has no choice but to understand what he is communicating. His distorted, emotional, and heavy delivery of the guitar is what makes this song so compelling. Hazel was a guitar legend known for such unconventional styles of playing which pushed Maggot Brain towards a dark and psychedelic direction. Some of the techniques used include a fuzzbox, delay and wah-wah pedals, a whammy bar, and dissonant notes. The intensity and variance of these sounds is brought together and grounded by the persistent arpeggios played by a second guitar underneath it all. 

 

Maggot Brain is nothing short of an out of body listening experience in which you are dragged away from your earthly self and made to observe the Earth from afar. It brings up questions pertaining to our very existence and purpose amongst everything else in nature. Eddie Hazel’s guitar can speak and it sure does have a lot to say.