In the mid-1990s the group became a staple of the New York City club scene. Their debut album "Cool and Steady and Easy" (1994) scored an underground hit with the rendition of Pharoah Sanders's "The Creator Has a Master Plan". "Cool and Steady and Easy" (1994) also featured prominent guests like Maceo Parker, The Tower Of Power Horns, Michigan & Smiley and even Dizzy Gilespie.
The album, "In The Buzz Bag"(1998), included Turkish folk music rythms and instruments, recorded with the Turkish band, Laço Tayfa. In The BuzzBag became a milestone in collaborative projects and earned BFE a Grammy nomination. It also escalated the group to a stadium capacity act in Turkey.
In 2000, BFE released their third album "Make Them Like It", which concluded where the first album left off: a happy mélange of funk, Latin, reggae, jazz, house, dub, electro and hip hop which featured the fan favorites ‘I Got Cash’, ‘Mambo Con Dance Hall’ and ‘Woman Thing’.
After the 2001 world tour the band members took a hiatus and pursued a number of noted solo interests.
Offers of recording and touring where plentiful, and BFE songs kept being featured on compilation albums around the world, and in the summer of 2006, a core of BFE members got back together again to do a tour of three world continents as BFE Sound System (mixing classic BFE with electro and dub). By the end of 2006, the sound system model had been abandoned for a return to the group’s original all live funk line up consisting of Hanifah Walidah, Papa Dee and Everton Sylvester (vocals), Lati Kronlund (bass), Yancy Drew (drums & vocals), Desmond Foster (vocals & guitar), Iwan van Hetten (trumpet, keys & vocals) and Philippe Monrose (percussion). The group continued touring the world in 2007.
In the spring of 2008 the band released a new album ‘Watcha Playin’. The songs on the album have been written and developed during the band’s tours in front of audiences around the world, and it has been recorded in studios in New York, Paris, Amsterdam, Istanbul and Stockholm.
The Creator has a Master Plan
Brooklyn Funk Essentials Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And joy and happiness did reign and each man knew his worth
In my heart how I yearn for that spirit's return
And I cry, as time flies,
Om, Om
There is a place where love forever shines
And rainbows are the shadows of a presence so divine
And it's free, can't you see, come with me
The creator has a master plan
Peace and happiness for every man
The creator has a working plan
Peace and happiness for every man
The creator makes but one demand
Happiness through all the land
The Brooklyn Funk Essentials' song "The Creator has a Master Plan" is an ode to the power of the divine force and its influence on our world. The lyrics evoke a time when peace and joy reigned on earth, and every person understood their intrinsic value. The song expresses a desire for that time to return, a yearning that is tempered by the awareness of the tragedy of time's passage. The repeated "Om" suggests a sense of spirituality that can connect us to that earlier era and to the universe itself.
The second verse describes a place where love is omnipresent, "And rainbows are the shadows of a presence so divine." This abstract depiction of the afterlife calls to mind cultures that conceive of heaven as a place of harmony, where love and mercy are the rule. The glow of that love illuminates the heavens, and anyone can access it by following the desires of their heart. This verse invites the listener to believe in the possibility of a life beyond our earthly existence, where every being can find peace and happiness.
Throughout the song, the "Master Plan" is the promise of the divine to deliver peace and happiness to everyone. The song suggests that this is not wishful thinking but a "working plan" that is already in motion, and there is only one demand: happiness for all. This is a call to action to those who hear the song to embrace the power of love and then partner with others to create a world of peace and joy.
Line by Line Meaning
There was a time, when peace was on the earth,
Once upon a time, the world was peaceful and harmonious.
And joy and happiness did reign and each man knew his worth
During this time, everyone was happy and content with themselves.
In my heart how I yearn for that spirit's return
The singer of this song longs for the feeling of peace and contentment.
And I cry, as time flies,
The artist is emotionally affected by the passage of time and the loss of this feeling.
Om, Om
The artist uses this sound to represent a meditative state or a connection to a higher power.
There is a place where love forever shines
The singer believes that there is a place where love is eternal and never fades.
And rainbows are the shadows of a presence so divine
The singer uses the visual metaphor of rainbows as a symbol of something divine and otherworldly.
And the glow of that love lights the heavens above
This divine love is so powerful and bright that it illuminates the entire sky.
And it's free, can't you see, come with me
The artist invites the listener to join them in experiencing this divine love, which is available to everyone and free of charge.
The creator has a master plan
The artist believes that there is a divine plan for the world.
Peace and happiness for every man
This divine plan involves bringing peace and happiness to every individual.
The creator has a working plan
The artist emphasizes that this is not just a theoretical plan, but one that is actively in progress.
Peace and happiness for every man
Once again, the goal of this plan is to bring peace and happiness to every individual.
The creator makes but one demand
The singer suggests that there is only one requirement for achieving this peace and happiness.
Happiness through all the land
That requirement is to spread happiness to every corner of the world.
Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Written by: FERRELL PHAROAH SANDERS, LEON THOMAS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@MrCrowder31
My moms use to wake me up to this every morning before school 😂.
@dcherson
You should consider yourself very lucky.
@the5thsun
Acid jazz at it's finest....I miss you 90's
@standardofexcellence
Acid jazz,dance music, Westcoast hip hop, and grunge, then before with new wave. We were so spoiled
@taniadelacombe4476
I was looking for this song for years !!! It reminds me of great summers in Ilha Bela, Brazil....great beat,great lyrics !! One of the best funk songs ever!!
@elikamarinho5808
Ilha Bela muito linda mesmo!!!!
@juliocesar-zn8lb
BEAUTIFUL SONG LOVE CLASSIC STYLE . CITY BELO HORIZONTE BRAZIL
@unusuario5173
That's where this should be played.
@wallaceneal8596
Pharoah Sanders gave this to us around 1969. Thank you BFS for a fresh look.
@rovervitesse1
I can't stop pressing the replay on this, brilliant afro caribbean funk / acid jazz fusion - rocks my boat.