Sly and the Family Stone – Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)

I hope all of you have a great New Year…

Sly and the Family Stone were huge during their heyday but have been neglected since. This song peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100 in 1970. Sly to me, was somewhat of a musical genius until drugs started to affect him. The lyrics include references to some of Sly & the Family Stone’s earlier hits, including “Dance To The Music” and “Everyday People.

From Songfacts.

Sly Stone wrote this because he was upset that people were not listening to the messages in his songs even though the band was more popular then ever. They were an integrated band and tried to spread the message of racial harmony, but Stone thought that message was getting lost. The lyrics are scathing and mostly directed at Sly himself, but once again, many people lost the message in the powerful groove.

Larry Graham played the innovative bass line using a technique where thumped the strings. He learned this technique when he was playing in a duo with his mother, who played the organ. He thumped the strings to make up for a lack of drummer. This bass style became very popular on funk records for years to come, and was a big influence on artists like Prince and The Red Hot Chili Peppers.

The title is a funky way of spelling “Thank you for letting me be myself again.”

Janet Jackson sampled the bass riff from this on her 1990 hit “Rhythm Nation.” >>

In 2008, Brooke Hogan, who is the daughter of wrestling star Hulk Hogan, released a version of this song called “Thnku4lettinmebmahself,” where she sings about the trappings of fame. Her cover, which strips all Funk from the original, was released ahead of her second album.

Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)

Lookin’ at the devil, grinnin’ at his gun
Fingers start shakin’, I begin to run
Bullets start chasin’, I begin to stop
We begin to wrestle I was on the top

I want to thank you falettinme be mice elf agin
Thank you falettinme be mice elf agin

Stiff all in the collar, fluffy in the face
Chit chat chatter tryin’, stuffy in the place
Thank you for the party but I could never stay
Many things is on my mind, words in the way

I want to thank you falettinme be mice elf agin
Thank you falettinme be mice elf agin

Dance to the music
All night long
Everyday people
Sing a simple song
Mama’s so happy
Mama start to cry
Papa still singin’
We can make it if we try

I want to thank you falettinme be mice elf agin
Thank you falettinme be mice elf agin

Flamin’ eyes of people fear, burnin’ into you
Many men are missin’ much, hatin’ what they do
Youth and truth are makin’ love
Dig it for a starter
Dyin’ young is hard to take
Sellin’ out is harder

Thank you falettinme be mice elf agin
I want to thank you falettinme be mice elf agin
Thank you falettinme be mice elf agin
Thank you falettinme be mice elf agin
I want thank you falettinme be mice elf agin
I want to thank you falettinme be mice elf agin
I want to thank you falettinme be mice elf agin
I want to thank you falettinme be mice elf agin

 

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

21 thoughts on “Sly and the Family Stone – Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)”

  1. Happy new year! Yep, they put out some good music for a brief, frenetic time. Sad about Sly, think the only other rock/pop star I’ve read about that got that out of control and incapable of working eventually was Syd Barrett, but with him there was also an unhealthy dose of mental problems going on (which may have been true of Stone too, but I’ve not seen references to).

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      2. Thank you. If you are curious, you can find a small fraction of my musical compositions at http://soundeagle.wordpress.com/2013/03/10/soundeagle-in-soundcloud-art-music-and-compositions-about-new-sensations-love-life-country-nature-dreaming-meditation-and-spirituality/

        These compositions are by no means representative of my musical oeuvres, but they do serve some important purposes, as explicated in the post. Please feel free to analyse and/or critique those compositions as well as my writing to your heart’s content at the comment section of the said post.

        Please be informed that you might need to use a desktop or laptop computer with a large screen to view the rich multimedia contents available for heightening your multisensory enjoyment at my websites, some of which could be too powerful and feature-rich for iPad, iPhone, tablet or other portable devices to handle properly or adequately. A fast broadband connection is also helpful. 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

      3. I will be honored to check that out tonight. I’m always interested in music and media. I always use a laptop with headphones…Thank you.

        i’m a songwriter and I may ask the same of you one day when I start posting some of my stuff. I’m afraid mine is quite simple power/pop songs…but it’s what I love.

        Liked by 1 person

    1. And to me neglected these days… well I think alot of those old artists are but he was pretty close to a musical pop genius…and we hear nothing about him much.

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      1. follow the money. if someone isn’t making money off of him, why bother, at least in the estimation of those who promote artists. i bet if you did some research you would find that he was smart enough to keep the rights to all of his music (or however that works where he keeps the residuals). here’s an idea, which is totally off the cuff: someone finds out who has the rights to their music that has been forgotten by the corporate giants, and either develop a company who promotes them or enlists the partnership with an existing entity. e.g. Nonesuch Records promotes music that isn’t necessarily mainstream but is excellent. you’re right, we need to keep this music alive!

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