FRANK ZAPPA - A Man Ahead Of His Time

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Frank Zappa was a gentleman who produced probably the most unique music ever to be composed. His stuff was so different, that many found him impossible to categorize. I was a mere 15 years old when he released his debut album in 1966, called "Freak Out!" He called himself and his group "The Mothers of Invention" at that time, and later released his music under just his name (even though he was always accompanied by a vast array of many musicians who were formidable in their own right.)

Frank was a self-taught composer and performer, and his diverse musical influences led him to create music that combined songs in conventional rock and roll format with collective improvisations and studio-generated sound collages. All of his albums shared this eclectic and experimental approach, demonstrating fundamental formats of rock, jazz, classical, or just plain Zappa! He wrote the lyrics to all his songs, which—often humorously—reflected his sardonic and cynical view of established social and political processes, structures and movements - but he was always on target with his assessment of whatever arena he spoke out on. He was a strident critic of mainstream education and had a particular distaste for organized religion - and was an aggressive and passionate advocate for Freedom of Speech, self-education, political participation and the eradication of censorship.



I've been an ardent Frank Zappa devotee for decades, and I wanted to share one of his writings today for those of you who are unfamiliar with who and what he was. Frank always was; and still is; way ahead of his time. I can only dream of what he'd be producing today; had his untimely death not occurred on December 4th, 1993.
This number I'm sharing with you today lets you get an idea of how Frank felt about organized religion & of those who pumped it out. His style and meaning is ageless. Be mindful to read it and understand what he says, very carefully.

I present to you, "Dumb All Over" by Frank Zappa:


Whoever we are; wherever we're from
We shoulda noticed by now our behavior is dumb;
And if our chances expect to improve
It's gonna take a lot more than tryin' to remove
The other race - or the other 'whatever'
From the face of the planet altogether.

They call it THE EARTH, which is a dumb kinda name
But they named it right, 'cause we behave the same ...
We are Dumb All Over!
Dumb all over, yes we are
Dumb all over, near 'n far
Dumb all over, Black 'n White
People, we is not wrapped tight!

Nurds on the left - Nurds on the right,
Religious fanatics on the air every night;
Sayin' the Bible tells the story
Makes the details sound real gory
'Bout what to do, if the geeks over there
Don't believe in the Book we got over here -

You can't run a race without no feet,
'N pretty soon there won't be no street
For dummies to jog on - or doggies to dog on . . .
Religious fanatics can make it be all gone
(I mean; it won't blow up 'n disappear -
it'll just look ugly for a thousand years ... )

You can't run a country by a Book of Religion,
Not by a heap or a lump or a smidgeon;
Of foolish rules - Of ancient date -
Designed to make you all feel great!
While you fold, spindle, and mutilate
Those Unbelievers from a neighboring state -

TO ARMS! TO ARMS!Hooray! That's great!
Two legs ain't bad - unless there's a crate
They ship the parts to Mama in
For souvenirs: two ears (Get Down!)
Not his, not hers, (but what the hey?)
The Good Book says: "It's gotta be that way!"
But their book says:
"REVENGE THE CRUSADES..."
"With whips 'n chains 'n hand grenades..."
TWO ARMS? TWO ARMS?
Have another, and another;
Our God says: "There ain't no other!"
Our God says: "It's all okay!"
Our God says: "This is the way!"

It says in the Book:
"Burn 'n destroy, 'n repent, 'n redeem;
'N revenge, 'n deploy, 'n rumble thee forth
To the land of the Unbelieving Scum on the other side -
'Cause they don't go for what's in the Book -
And, that makes them BAD . . .
So verily, we must choppeth them up;
And stompeth them down;
Or rent a nice French Bomb
To Poof! them out of existance -
While leaving their real estate just where we need it
To use again for temples in which to praise OUR GOD -
Cause He can really take care of business!

And when His Humble TV Servant
With Humble White Hair, and Humble Glasses, and a Nice Brown Suit;
And maybe a Blonde Wife who takes phone calls,
Tells us:
"Our God says it's okay to do this stuff;"
"then we gotta do it - 'cause if we don't do it,
We ain'tGwine up to Hebbin!"
(Depending on which book you're using at the time ...
can't use theirs - it don't work - it's all lies -
Gotta use mine - ain't that right?)
That's what they say
Every night; every day...
Hey - wait a minute, here!
We can't really be dumb if we're just following God's Orders ...
Let's get serious, folks - God knows what he's doin'
He wrote this Book here;
An' the book says:
"He made us all to be just like Him."
Soooo . . . . .
If We're dumb - then God is dumb...
(And maybe even a little ugly on the side!)
______________________________________

The music that accompanied these lyrics was way cool, too; and

Frank recited the entire thing himself; in his inimitable low-toned

impressive voice. You gotta hear it to really appreciate it. This

number was from his album that was entitled, "You Are What You Is". His albums were a constant source of amusement and great

music - his application of eccentric instruments was like no other.
Yes, Frank ... you are dearly missed today. Can't wait to see you

when I get to Heaven!

Let me know if any of you dug this; and I'll be pleased to answer

any questions you might want to ask about Frank or his music.


starchildstrider
______________________________________
Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power.
We have guided missiles and misguided men."

... Martin Luther King. Jr. , 1963

 

Frank Zappa was amazing, but I don't know if I'd say he was ahead of his time so much as timeless. He was so incredibly brilliant and unique that it's hard to say anyone in the future could replicate his work--I mean you can have the most amazing audio equipment, but it takes a mind like his to put it together like he did.

Yet as brilliant as his lyrics were, I understand his preference was the instrumental realm. He did the vocal thing to appease the masses, which he did well.

Frank Zappa will never be replaced.

 

I must admit that on the whole I prefer his instrumentals to the vocal tracks. There's always exceptions, of course, but generally i go for those longer jazzy workouts.

I think I'd agree he wasn't so much ahead of his time, so much as outside of time altogether.


One of my all-time Zappa favorites -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8i_r7P39wH8"]YouTube - Frank Zappa - Son of Mr Green Genes- Original 1969 mix

 

How someone who created the beauty that is Uncle Meat became popular I have no idea. <3 Zappa.

 

In agreement with a poster above me, I strongly prefer the instrumentals to the humor and vocal tracks. I understand that he was a heck of a comedian, but it just isn't my cup of tea.

His instrumentals are amazing, though. I really need to purchase some more albums of his soon, as I just recently "re-discovered" some of my favorite tracks from "Hot Rats."

I think that "Little Umbrellas" is one of the best-composed songs I have ever heard. It is perfectly orchestrated and beautiful. Makes you think of sitting at the beach with a drink that has...well...little umbrellas in it!

Recommend to me an album that is in the vein of the instrumentals like Little Umbrellas and "Peaches.." from "Hot Rats." I am a huge progressive rock fanatic, so the more crazy, the better.

 

I love Hot Rats for Little Umbrellas and It Must Be A Camel. Similar sounding stuff is really hard to come by, and I've looked a lot of places. Check out these albums: "The Civil Surface" by Egg (my personal favorite), "Moving Waves" by Focus, "Western Culture" by Henry Cow (for the more dissonant side), various early SBB, and Ibis' self titled which is really rare so.. http://prognotfrog.blogspot.com/2009/02/ibis-ibis-sweden-1974.html

 

I am so jazzed that my post generated such interest! Thank you, folks;
for responding. When I made the comment about Frank being "ahead of
his time", I should have expounded more and been more specific. I think
that his assessment of the government, etc; was extremely insightful,
as many things he said have come to fruition; even after his death.
I'm at the Library and they're about to cut the computers off, so I'll have
to finish tomorrow, as I don't have the Internet at home. I'll clarify
tomorrow.

 

It makes me happy, as well, to see that there are other young people out there who still are interested in pushing the boundaries of music and sound. I mean, Jesus, listen to 'Peaches en Regalia' and even TRY to decipher which instruments are making those beautifully alien tones. I still can't figure it out, and since the album is from '69, it couldn't be elaborate synthesizers (other than maybe the large Moog).

I love all of the music like Zappa's, from early Genesis to Modernist Classical (like Bela Bartok). They all influenced or are influenced by Zappa. What an overlooked figure he was!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lx1ELeye4_w"]FRANK ZAPPA -- JEWISH PRINCESS - YouTube

 

My favorite Frank Zappa song is Little Umbrellas from Hot Rats.

 

Love his music
hate his lyrics