Parliament – “Chocolate City” 45
Casablanca, 1975
Acquired: Love Garden, Used, 2009
Price: $1
Though the shoddy quality of the vinyl makes this track
pretty difficult to listen to, the fantastic satire of Parliament’s “Chocolate
City” comes through loud and clear. “God bless CC and its vanilla suburbs,”
George Clinton sings midway through a song full of excellent one-liners. “They
still call it the White House, but that’s a temporary condition too, can you
dig it CC?” is a great one. Clinton & Co strike a perfect balance of
tongue-and-cheek (“Richard Pryor, secretary of education”) and searing social
commentary (“Hey, uh, we didn’t get our forty acres and a mule/ But we did get
you, CC, heh, yeah”). Where Parliament are best known for their weirdness and
unbeatable funkiness, “Chocolate City” grooves on a powerful, yet minimalist
bass line, some synthesizers, terrific backing vocals, and a spoken word
delivery to pay tribute to the inner cities abandoned by white folks and
acquired by African-American communities almost by proxy. Though the song has a
fine sense of humor, it has an even finer desire to forge a sense of unity,
community, and pride amongst the inhabitants of the “Chocolate Cities” popping
up across America throughout the 70s (“We’ve got Newark/ We’ve got Gary/
Someone even told me we got LA/ And we’re working on Atlanta”). It’s potent
stuff, perfect for a college essay on America’s often troubled relationship
with African-American culture.
"Chocolate City"
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