"Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)", released in
December 1969, is a 1970 hit single recorded by Sly & the
Family Stone, recognized as one of the greatest and most
influential funk songs of all time. The song, double a-sided
with "Everybody is a Star", reached number one on the soul
single charts for five weeks, and reached number one on the
Billboard Hot 100 in February 1970. "Thank You" was intended to
be included on an in-progress album with "Star" and "Hot Fun in
the Summertime"; the LP was never completed, and the three
tracks were instead included on the band's 1970
Greatest HitsLP. "Thank You" and "Star", the final
Family Stone recordings issued in the 1960s, marked the
beginning of a twenty-month gap of releases from the band,
which would finally end with the release of "Family Affair" in
1971.
Rolling Stoneranked the song #402 on their list of the
"500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
The title is a unique way of writing what would otherwise be
"thank you for letting me be myself again." The lyrics can be
interpreted as a summation of both the career of Sly & the
Family Stone to date, as well as a portrait of the era at the
transition from the 1960s into the 1970s. The third verse
contains specific references to the group's previous hit songs,
"Dance To The Music" "Everyday People", "Sing a Simple Song",
and "You Can Make It If You Try." The song features co-lead
vocals from Sly Stone, Rose Stone, Freddie Stone, and Larry
Graham.
Bassist Larry Graham, prominently uses the then-new
technique of slap bass on this recording.
The first act to cover "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf
Agin)" was Sly & the Family Stone itself. The cover,
recorded in 1971 for
There's a Riot Going On, completely transformed the song
into a seven-minute track titled "Thank You For Talkin' to Me
Africa". Although the lyrics, vocalists, and musicians are all
the same, the record itself is as different from the original
"Thank You" as that record had been from the earlier Family
Stone records. The song's lyrics are delivered in a depressed
tone with heavily reverberated vocals, over a slow,
stripped-down deep funk backing track.
The song has been covered by many other acts, including The
Jackson 5, Widespread Panic, Robert Randolph and the Family
Band, Victor Wooten, Dave Matthews & Friends, the Dave
Matthews Band, Magazine, Merl Saunders & the Rainforest
Band. UK hip hop act Big Brovaz covered the song for use in the
Warner Bros. film
Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed. They also sampled the
song to create the theme song for the movie, "We Wanna Thank
You (The Things You Do)". Gladys Knight and the Pips and
several others have also covered the song. Freddie Stone's
guitar riff from the bridging sections of the song is
immediately recognizable to modern audiences as the backbone of
Janet Jackson's 1989 hit single "Rhythm Nation". Van Morrison
does an expanded version of the song in a medley with "See Me
Through" and "Soldier of Fortune" on his album
A Night in San Francisco. Rapper Vanilla Ice also
sampled "Thank You" as part of the soundtrack to his film,
Cool as Ice.
The song recently appeared in 2007 during the closing
credits of "Shrek the Third", as performed by Donkey (Eddie
Murphy) and Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas).
The Rolling Stones have rehearsed the song in May 2007 in
Vilvoorde, Belgium before their A Bigger Bang Eur07 Tour, but
the song has not been performed in concert.
Soundgarden performed this song numerous times on their 1989
tour as well as during their John Peel session that year.
Dave Matthews Band has performed the song numerous times on
their 2008 summer tour. It was often featured as the final song
of the encore. It was released on Live Trax Vol. 13, from St.
Louis, Missouri, and also on Live at Mile High Music Festival,
from their set in Commerce City, Colorado. It was the last song
LeRoi Moore performed as a member of Dave Matthews Band. That
performance of the song is featured on
Live Trax Vol. 14.
In 2009, the song became a staple on the North American leg
of U2's 360 Tour in support of their album "No Line On The
Horizon."
, Sly Stone plays bass guitar on the "Thank You For Talkin
To Me, Africa" version from
There's a Riot Goin' On.