In 1967, The Parliaments (a Plainfield-based doo wop band headed by George Clinton) hit the charts with "I Wanna Testify". Clinton recruited a backing band for a tour, hiring Billy "Bass" Nelson. Eddie was in Newark, New Jersey working with George Blackwell and couldn't be reached. After Nelson returned from the tour, he tried to recruit Eddie. His mother at first vetoed the idea (since Eddie was only seventeen), but Clinton and Nelson worked together to change her mind.
In the fall of 1967, The Parliaments went on tour with both Nelson and Hazel. In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Hazel met and befriended Tiki Fulwood, who quickly replaced The Parliaments' drummer. Nelson, Hazel and Fulwood became the backbone of Funkadelic, which was originally the backup band for The Parliaments, only to later become an independent touring group when legal difficulties forced the group to (temporarily) abandon the name "Parliaments".
The doo wop of The Parliaments quickly began morphing into the soul-inflected hard rock of Funkadelic, influenced as much by Jimi Hendrix as Frankie Lymon. The switch to Funkadelic was complete with the addition of Tawl Ross and Bernie Worrell (rhythm guitar and keyboards, respectively). Funkadelic (1970), Free Your Mind... And Your Ass Will Follow (1970) and Maggot Brain (1971) were the first three albums, released in a mere two years.
Maggot Brain is perhaps the definitive musical statement by Funkadelic, and the titular track's ten-minute guitar solo is Eddie Hazel's defining moment, and the one piece of music for which he has remained a legend. Perhaps apocryphally, George Clinton told Hazel, during the recording session, to "play like your momma just died" and the result was the epic sounds of Hazel's guitar. The term, "Maggot Brain," refers both to Hazel's incredible intake of various drugs, as well as a mode of thinking which allows one to rise above the "bullshit" of the world, which is inhabited by maggots who have not yet achieved the status of Maggot Brain (see P Funk mythology).
I Want You
Eddie Hazel Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I want you so bad
I want you
I want you so bad
It's driving me mad
It's driving me mad
I want you
I want you
I want you so bad
It's driving me mad
It's driving me
I want you
I want you so bad, babe
I want you
I want you so bad
It's driving me mad
It's driving me mad
I want you
I want you so bad
I want you
I want you so bad
It's driving me mad
It's driving me
She's so
Heavy
Heavy, heavy, heavy
She's so
Heavy
She's so heavy, heavy, heavy
I want you
I want you so bad
Want you
I want you so bad
It's driving me mad
It's driving me mad
I want you
You know I want you so bad, babe
I want you
You know I want you so bad
It's driving me mad
It's driving me mad
Yeah
She's so...
Eddie Hazel's song "I Want You" is a straightforward expression of romantic yearning. The lyrics repeatedly confess the singer's intense desire for the object of his affections. The repetition of the chorus "I want you, I want you so bad, it's driving me mad" underscores the urgency and desperation of the singer's emotions. The metaphor of being "driven mad" by his longing for the woman creates a sense of overwhelming desire and loss of control. The final verse introduces a new element with the repeated line "she's so heavy." This could symbolize the weight of the singer's emotions or the burden of his unrequited love. The song concludes with a final repetition of the chorus, leaving the listener with a strong sense of the singer's emotional intensity.
Line by Line Meaning
I want you
The singer desires the subject of the song.
I want you so bad
The singer has an intense and desperate longing for the subject of the song.
It's driving me mad
The singer's desire for the subject is making them feel crazy.
She's so heavy
The subject of the song is a significant burden for the artist to carry emotionally.
I want you
Reiteration of the artist's desire for the subject.
It's driving me
The singer's desire for the subject is affecting their behavior and emotions negatively.
She's so heavy
The subject's weight on the singer is becoming increasingly significant.
I want you
Further reiteration of the artist's desire for the subject.
You know I want you so bad, babe
The artist is emphasizing how intense their longing is for the subject, and assumes the subject is aware of it.
It's driving me mad
Reiteration of how much the artist's emotional state is affected by their desire for the subject.
Yeah
Affirmation, agreement or acknowledgement of the previous lines.
She's so heavy
The weight of the subject on the artist continues to be significant and overwhelming.
Contributed by James R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.