Earlier this week, Alderman Ike Carothers said the following re: his indictment on charges of fraud and bribery:

“There’s a song that James Brown made which is very prominent,” he said. “That song is, ‘You’ve Got to Deal With It’. And that’s what I have to do. I have to deal with it.”

Now, I’m not well-versed in matters of fraud and bribery – or no moreso than most people in Chicago and Illinois, which is to say “more than most of us would like to be” – but I do consider myself one of the top 20 experts on James Brown (Caucasian division). And I’m here to tell Alderman Carothers that, no, there is no “prominent” song by James Brown called “You’ve Got To Deal With It” (or even “You Got To Deal With It” as he was quoted by the Sun-Times). Would that make a good James Brown song title? Absolutely. But no such song by the man exists.

Now, there IS a song by James Brown called “The Payback” in which a variation on those lyrics figures into the song.

To wit:

Took my money, you got my honey
Don’t want me to see what you doing to me
I got to get back I gotta deal with you! [x4]
Hey let me tell ya!
Get down with my woman, that ain’t right! You hollerin’ and cussin’, you wanna fight!

I guess I can understand Carothers twisting James Brown’s lyrics around to suit his own purposes since the actual lyrics don’t exactly serve him well in this instance. For example, I don’t imagine he ought to be saying to U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, for whom he wore a wire for a year:

Sold me out, for chump change (Yes you did!!)
Told me that they, they had it all arranged
You handed me down, and that’s a fact
Now you’re pumped, you gotta get ready for the big payback!! (The big payback!!)

Although I really wish at some point he’d say:

Don’t do me no darn favor
I don’t know karate, but I know KA-RAZY!

James Brown – “The Big Payback” – MP3 stream