The first time I saw Trainspotting I was stunned by how active the opening voice over was (choose a job, choose a family, etc.), considering that my entire existence, up until that point, had consisted of warnings meant to deter a negative lifestyle rather than promote a healthy one.

Don’t run with scissors. Don’t talk to strangers. Don’t eat what’s under the sink. Don’t put CDs in the microwave. Don’t drink. Don’t drink too much. Don’t lie around. Don’t lie. Don’t be lazy.

Unsurprisingly, my musical world had likewise been filled with a variety of dissuasions, and mixed messages flourished. Michael Jackson sang “Don’t Walk Away,” while Ace of Base urged “Don’t Turn Around.” NWA said “Real Niggaz Don’t Die,” but Blue Oyster Cult chanted “Don’t Fear the Reaper.”

The “don’ts” in the songs I love tend to vary from genre to genre. As a result, this is an entry about the ones regarding funk, and no, The Black Eyed Peas’s “Don’t Phunk With My Heart” doesn’t count.

Curtis Mayfield – (Don’t Worry) If There’s a Hell Below We’re All Going to Go

He’s my pusherman. Okay, not really, but his music is without question a potent, addictive stimulant. His falsetto is marvelous, his message revolutionary; Mr. Mayfield tugs at our conscience rather than our heartstrings. He chooses not to plead that we all need to eat, but to the sad truth that we all shit, both physically and through our actions, upon the beauty of the world. His promise is of equal damnation, and this song proposing god’s impartial wrath carries egalitarianism to a new and frightening level.

Sly and the Family Stone – Don’t Call Me Nigger, Whitey

It’s not a racist song. I promise. Barring Rose Stone’s opening verse, it isn’t a wordy one either but certainly expressive. The repetition of the song’s title (and its inverse) conveys the gridlock this country faced at the time of its release. In it is the push and pull of Dante’s hoarders and wasters.

Bill Withers – I Don’t Know

I end on a positive note because, at the root of it all, is a love for life and a desire to cohabit the world in peace. Despite the turmoil, the struggle and despair, there’s splendor. Something lies deeper than the melancholia of Blues. That is to say, an active celebration of life, all of it, and an effort to change it for the better on all fronts. “I get a warm summer feeling walking through the snow / even chilly darkness has the brightest glow / and I just love you so.” Sometimes we just don’t know, Bill. We just don’t know.

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