I’ve had a few people remark on my username in this and the diagnosed forum. I recently added a photo to my profile to see if anyone might pick up on the reference.
It’s the title of a slightly obscure song from an influential Funkadelic album of the same name. It’s a song that’s a right of passage for guitar masters and has been covered by greats in all genres, notably Carlos Santana, Pearl Jam, Flea (on bass), Buckethead, Ween and many more. It’s usually performed live without the introductory ‘lyrics’ by George Clinton. When you hear them, you’ll understand why.
The song is mostly a long guitar solo by Eddie Hazel who some think rivaled Jimi Hendricks as a prodigy and virtuoso on guitar. George Clinton was the producer. The story goes that they were both high on LSD in the studio and Clinton told him to play the guitar solo as if he had just been told his mother had died, but it turned out it wasn’t true. It was recorded in one take.
I’ve posted bits and pieces of my main psychotic break, and some of you may recall I believed my mother was dead during it, and when she spoke to me before I was hospitalized, I said I didn’t want to talk to a ghost. She was still alive of course, and still is— she recently had a birthday.
The guitar solo has been described as ‘mind melting’, and various other superlatives and it ranks in many top 100 guitar solo lists. There are even people who say their ‘musical life’ was forever changed by hearing the song, as my life was changed by my psychotic break. I intentionally misspell the title in my username for reasons of my own.
Well after this run up, I’m sure some of you may not be impressed by the song and it may not be your style. But maybe you’ll have a better understanding of me and the loss and pain of your loved ones after hearing it.
