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Primary source: "Chocolate City," song lyrics, 1975.
Caption: The militant black-power phase of the civil-rights movement had its musical corollary in the rise of funk, an urban, gritty genre most often associated in the late 1960s with James Brown (1928– ) and Sly and the Family Stone. The band Parliament burst onto the national scene in the mid-1970s.
What's happenin' C.C.?
They still call it the White House, but that's a temporary condition too.
Can you dig it C.C.?
To each its reach and if I don't cop it, it ain't mine to have.
But I'll be reachin' for ya, cause I love ya C.C., right on.
There's a lot of Chocolate Cities around:
We got Newark, we've got Gary;
Somebody told me we got L.A.
And we're workin' on Atlanta.
Gainin' on ya . . .
Hey C.C., they say you're jive and game and can't be changed.
But on the positive side, you're my piece of the rock, and I love you, C.C.
Can you dig it?
We didn't get our forty acres and a mule, but we did get you, C.C.
Gainin' on ya . . .
God bless C.C. and its vanilla suburbs.
Gainin' on ye . . .
What's happenin' black? Brother black. Blood even . . .
And when they come to march on ya
Tell 'em to make sure they got their James Brown pass
And don't be surprised if Ali is in the White House . . .
And Miss Aretha Franklin, First Lady. . . .
A Chocolate City is no dream,
It's my piece of the rock. . . .
God bless Chocolate City and its vanilla suburbs . . . .
Gainin' on ya! . . .
Just got New York, I'm told.
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Copyright 1991 by Bridgeport Music Inc. (BMI). All Rights reserved. Used By Permission
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