"Freddie's Dead" is a song by Curtis Mayfield

Curtis Mayfield

Curtis Lee Mayfield was an American soul, R&B, and funk singer, songwriter, and record producer.He is best known for his anthemic music with The Impressions during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's and for composing the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film Super Fly, Mayfield is highly...

. It was the first single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 from his 1972

1972 in music

-Events:*January 17 – Highway 51 South in Memphis, Tennessee is renamed "Elvis Presley Boulevard"*January 20 – The début of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon at The Dome, Brighton, is halted by technical difficulties,...

 soundtrack album for the film Super Fly. The single was released before the Super Fly album, and in fact before the film itself was in theaters. The song peaked at #4 on the U.S. Pop Chart

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 and #2 on the R&B

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...

 chart.

The song laments the death of Fat Freddie, a character in the film who is run over by a car.

Like most of the music from the Super Fly album, "Freddie's Dead" appears in the film only in an instrumental

Instrumental

An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....

 arrangement, without any lyrics. The song's music is featured prominently in the film's opening sequence and also recurs at several other points. Because of this usage the song was subtitled

Subtitle (titling)

In books and other works, a subtitle is an explanatory or alternate title. For example, Mary Shelley used a subtitle to give her most famous novel, Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus, an alternate title to give a hint of the theme. In library cataloging the subtitle does not include an...

 "Theme from Superfly" on its single release (but not on the album). It is not to be confused with "Superfly

Superfly (song)

"Superfly" is a song by Curtis Mayfield, the title track from his 1972 soundtrack album for the film of the same name. It was the second single released from the album, following "Freddie's Dead ", and reached #8 on the Billboard Pop chart. The lyrics celebrate the craftiness and determinaton of...

", a different song and the second single released from the Super Fly album. The arrangement is driven by a strong walking bass line, wah wah guitars, and a melancholy string orchestration.

Cover versions

"Freddie's Dead" has been covered

Cover version

In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

 by performers including E.U.

Experience Unlimited

Experience Unlimited is a Washington, D.C.-based go-go band that enjoyed its height of popularity in the 1980s and early 1990s. Fronted by lead singer/bassist Gregory "Sugarbear" Eliot, the group has had a fluctuating membership over the years, but they have maintained a fairly loyal following...

, MFSB

MFSB

MFSB was a pool of more than thirty studio musicians based at Philadelphia’s famed Sigma Sound Studios. They worked closely with the production team of Gamble and Huff and producer/arranger Thom Bell, and backed up such groups as Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, the O’Jays, the Stylistics, the...

 and The Derek Trucks Band

The Derek Trucks Band

The Derek Trucks Band has been called a "group of musicians that share a passion for improvisation and musical exploration" by a reviewer at Allmusic....

. The band Fishbone

Fishbone

Fishbone is a U.S. alternative rock band formed in 1979 in Los Angeles, California, which plays a fusion of ska, punk rock, funk, hard rock and soul. Critics have noted of the band: "Fishbone was one of the most distinctive and eclectic alternative rock bands of the late '80s...

 covered "Freddie's Dead" for the lead track on their 1988

1988 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1988.-January-March:* January 1 – André Rieu's Johann Strauss Orchestra plays its first concert....

 album Truth and Soul

Truth and Soul

Truth and Soul is the second album by alternative rock band Fishbone. It was released on September 13, 1988. The album features a wide array of genres including punk, ska, reggae, soul, hard rock, funk, blues and heavy metal...

.

The Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

ian rap group Racionais MC's

Racionais MC's

Racionais MC's is a hip hop group based in São Paulo, Brazil. Mano Brown , Ice Blue , Edy Rock and DJ KL Jay formed the group in 1988. Each member hails from the ring of favelas around São Paulo locally called the periferia...

sampled "Freddie's Dead" to "Mano na porta do bar" ("Man at the Bar Door").