Funkentelechy Explained

Funkentelechy
Cover:	Funkentelechy.jpg
Type:	single
Artist:	Parliament
Album:	Funkentelechy Vs. the Placebo Syndrome
A-Side:	Funkentelechy
B-Side:	"Funkentelechy" Pt. 2
Released:	1978
Genre:	Funk
Length:	10:56 (album version)
Label:	Casablanca 921
Producer:	George Clinton

"Funkentelechy" is a song by the funk band Parliament. It is the fourth track on the group's 1977 album Funkentelechy Vs. the Placebo Syndrome and was released as a two-part single in 1978. Part 1 peaked at number 27 on the U.S. R&B Singles chart. The song's title is a play on the philosophical concept of entelechy.

Trivia

• The phrase "Urge Overkill" from George Clinton's radio announcer-style patter on the song later became the name of an alternative rock band.
• One of Clinton's quips during the song, "Like a woodpecker with a headache," resembles the mood indication on a piano piece by the eccentric composer Erik Satie: "Like a nightingale with a toothache."
• This song was sampled by Ice Cube for his song "Doing Dumb Shit" on his album Death Certificate.
• The repeated phrase "You deserve a break today - Have it your way" is a reference to McDonald's "You Deserve a Break Today" and Burger King's "Have it Your Way" ad campaigns of the time.
• The repeated references to "The Pleasure Principle" are a nod to Sigmund Freud's Pleasure Principle theory in psychology.