In the song “Super Freak” written and sung by Rick James, he speaks of an
encounter with a woman with whom he had sex. Since this song was written during
the sexual revolution and James has confessed to sexual encounters with
“thousands” of women, I believe it was about one particular woman with whom
he had a lot of wild and kinky sex. In the first verse, James explains that the
“kinky girl” is eager to sexually please him. She gives him great sexual
pleasure but she is not one to be considered suitable for a long term
relationship. The sentence, “the kind you don’t take home to mother,” says
she is not one to settle down with and would not be suitable for your mother to
meet, but one who is used for a “good time.” Today, as well as when the song
was written, she would be considered a slut. In the stanza, “She will never
let your spirits down, once you get her off the street,” might suggest that
she is a prostitute. It could also mean that once they are alone, she is willing
and able to do whatever he wants. The second verse implies that she likes to
have sex with musicians, but she likes James the best. In the stanza, “when I
make my move to her room it’s the right time, she’s never hard to
please,”says that she is willing to have sex wherever, whenever, and with
whomever she wants. This, again, implies that she might be a slut. She is not
particular about the type of sex she engages in, nor is she interested in her
own sexual pleasure. Just having sex is pleasure enough for her. It is safe to
assume she is a “groupie.” Even though the dictionary does not specifically
state that a groupie is someone who has sex with musicians, the media has led
us, to believe this. The American Heritage Dictionary states that a groupie is,
“A fan, especially a young woman, who follows a rock group around on tours.”
The third and final verse says that after many encounters with James she becomes
more sexually open to whatever and is “pretty wild now.” This has earned her
the title “Super Freak.” He states that she is “the kind of girl you read
about in new-wave magazine.” In the late 1970’s, new wave was a fashion as
well as a type of music. It was a wild, eccentric time where people, women
especially, dressed very sexual with leather and wild hair and sex was abundant.
In this verse, James states over and over again that she’s a “super
freak.” When he says, She’s all right, she’s all right, that girl is all
right with me,” says he loves that she is super freak and he has no problem
with it. Possibly he made her into a super freak. This song has an up beat and
fast tempo. When I hear it on the radio, it makes me want to get up and dance. I
never paid much attention to the words until I wrote about it. It is a kinky and
kind of wild song. I believe, to some extent, we all can relate to it, whether
we have the desire to be “freaky” in the bedroom or we have unleased our
wild and kinky ways. What do we define as “kinky?” Is it kinky to have sex
in public or is it kinky to have sex in the kitchen? Who is to say that what I
like to do sexually would be kinky according to someone else’s standards. What
defines a slut? Does it necessarily mean if one is kinky and like to have sex
with many people that one is a slut? Why does the term “slut” refer to
women? The American Heritage Dictionary defines a slut as being “a woman
considered sexually promiscuous.” What is a man called when he has sex with
many people? I don’t know of a term other than cool. Men can be considered a
“slut” but not in a derogatory manner. I do not find this song to be about a
girl who is a slut, but my mother would. My opinion is that this song is about
an uninhibited girl who thoroughly enjoys sex. Whether she is kinky or she likes
to have sex many people that is a decision only she can make. I love sex
wherever and whenever as long as it does not offend or hurt anyone (being that I
am married, I only have one partner). In other peoples eyes, I would be
considered kinky, but does that also mean I am a slut?