For two reasons : First, De La Soul, from the previous post, sampled grandma from “Funky Worm” in “Me, Myself and I”; Second, this song was feeling goofy so I thought I would pair goofy with goof and I thought of Jimmy Castor, “Troglodyte (Cave Man)“. It makes a stupid-fun post, but there is real quality here, as a enough modern songs will testify: These two songs have been sampled quite a bit.

I would have posted the original Ohio Players album Pleasure, but the cover photo is a bit risqué and, much worse, it depicts a woman in chains. Best avoided. It should however, be an occasion for some thoughtfulness about a complex subject. To erase something or cancel it is not an answer, y’all. It’s too easy and pat, cruel, subject to mob mentality, and developmentally arrested. It also obviates having tough conversations.  Thoughtful adults know that life is complex and that the answer to hate is not more hate. Once again, we would all do well to stop and ask ourselves: What is our fear? Where is our love? And out of those answers find more imaginative, creative solutions.

In this case, mine was to find another album. It turned out well, too, as the subsequent song by Gil Scott-Heron, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”, is another cultural touchstone. So don’t take the needle off the record when the worm worms out. Let it play.

P.S.: Last nights’ full moon was the Worm Moon. Nice, huh? I just remembered that.

Link to original version of “Troglodyte” on Spotify and Apple Music.

Rome : Pantheon, Colosseum : mid-February