“Free your mind, and your ass will follow.” -Funkadelic

The plotlines of Parliament’s late-’70s concept albums allegorize the spreading of The Funk. They involve the battles of the hero, Starchild, against Sir Nose d’Voidoffunk (pronounced “devoid of funk”). Starchild’s goal is never to kill Sir Nose, but to make him dance—to catch The Funk, the way unwilling victims catch Jes Grew in Mumbo Jumbo. On ‘Funkintelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome’, Starchild “funkatizes” Sir Nose by shooting him with his weapon, the “Bop Gun.”