Cover art for Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker) by Parliament

Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker)

Produced by

Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker) Lyrics

Tear the roof off, we're gonna tear the roof off the mothersucker
Tear the roof off the sucker
(x4)

You've got a real type of thing going down, gettin' down
There's a whole lot of rhythm going round

(x2)

Ow, we want the funk
Give up the funk
Ow, we need the funk
We gotta have that funk

(x2)

La la la la la
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo, owww!
(x2)


You've got a real type of thing going down, gettin' down
There's a whole lot of rhythm going round
(x2)

Ow, we want the funk
Give up the funk
Ow, we need the funk
We gotta have that funk
(x2)
La la la la la
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo, owww!
(x2)

We're gonna turn this mother out (x2)

You've got a real type of thing going down, gettin' down
There's a whole lot of rhythm going round
(x4)

Ow, we want the funk
Give up the funk
Ow, we need the funk (let us in we'll tear this mother out {after 2nd & 3rd})
We gotta have that funk
(x7)

Ow, we want the funk (we're gonna turn this mother out)
Give up the funk
Ow, we need the funk (we're gonna turn this mother out)
We gotta have that funk
(x2)

Ow, we want the funk
Give up the funk
Ow, we need the funk (let us in we'll tear this mother out {after 2nd & 3rd})
We gotta have that funk
(x2)
We want the funk
Give up the funk
We need the funk
We gotta have that funk

(x3)

La la la la la
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo, owww!
(x2)

You've got a real type of thing going down, gettin' down (x2)
There's a whole lot of rhythm going down
You've got a real type of thing going down, gettin' down
There's a whole lot of rhythm going down

Ow, we want the funk
Give up the funk
Ow, we need the funk (let us in we'll tear this mother out {after 2nd & 3rd})

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About

Genius Annotation

If you listen to “Give up the Funk” as a single, outside the context of Mothership Connection, it’s just a good funk dance track with lyrics that seem to serve no purpose beyond rallying you to the dance floor. In the Mothership Connection story, though, this is the climax of an alien invasion.

Earth is the funkiest place in the universe (“P. Funk” & “Mothership Connection”). A group of aliens from a planet that is desperately short on funk offer to buy Earth’s funk but fail (“Unfunky UFO” & “Supergroovalisticprosifunkstication”). Now, in “Give up the Funk”, the aliens are driven to such desperation that they threaten to tear the roof off the mother anywhere that humans are getting down.

Charted at number fifteen in 1976.

Credits
Produced By
Release Date
December 15, 1975
Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker) Live Performances
View Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker) samples
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