Mothership Connection (Star Child): Difference between revisions
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==Alternate titles== |
==Alternate titles== |
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The song was titled simply "Star Child" on its single release, while the radio [[Promotional single|promo]] version was titled "Star Child (Mothership Connection." |
The song was titled simply "Star Child" on its single release, while the radio [[Promotional single|promo]] version was titled "Star Child (Mothership Connection)." |
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On the album ''[[Live: P-Funk Earth Tour]]'' the song is split into two tracks, "Mothership Connection (Star Child)" and "Swing Down, Sweet Chariot." |
On the album ''[[Live: P-Funk Earth Tour]]'' the song is split into two tracks, "Mothership Connection (Star Child)" and "Swing Down, Sweet Chariot." |
Revision as of 17:33, 4 November 2011
This article needs additional citations for verification. (March 2010) |
"Mothership Connection" | |
---|---|
Song | |
A-side | "Star Child" |
B-side | "Supergroovalisticprosifunkstication" |
"Mothership Connection (Star Child)" is a funk song by Parliament. It was the third and last single released from the group's 1976 album Mothership Connection. The song introduces George Clinton's messianic alien alter ego Star Child for the first time (see P-Funk mythology).
The lyrics "Swing down, sweet chariot, stop and let me ride" quote the traditional spiritual "Swing Down, Chariot", first popularized in the 1940s by The Golden Gate Quartet and later recorded by Elvis Presley among others (and not the better-known spiritual "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot").
The track "Let Me Ride" on the Dr. Dre album The Chronic is heavily based on samples from this song.
Alternate titles
The song was titled simply "Star Child" on its single release, while the radio promo version was titled "Star Child (Mothership Connection)."
On the album Live: P-Funk Earth Tour the song is split into two tracks, "Mothership Connection (Star Child)" and "Swing Down, Sweet Chariot."
Themes
The Mothership Connection also reappropriates the image of the slave ship, transforming it into a spaceship.[1] The Mothership Connection draws on the imagery linking Black people and space travel pioneered by Sun Ra and that is important for Afrofuturism.
Cover versions
In 1990, bassist Stanley Clarke and keyboardist George Duke released an album entitled "3," which contained a cover of this song.[2][3]
References
- ^ Corbett, John. "Brothers From Another Planet"
- ^ "3 overview". Allmusic.com.
- ^ "3 overview". Allmusic.com.