Zappa.com

At last, I see clearly... thank you Feral.

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Let's hear it again for the London Philharmonic Orchestra!

so, zappa didn't take responsibility for his own words and actions?
is that what you're saying?

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"bit of nostalgia for the old folks."

Indeed, let's not forget the gas station references in Lumpy Gravy.

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The way I see it Barry, this should be a very dynamite show.

Never said that. However, there's an exceedingly thin line between satire against the right, deserving targets and the gratuitous mockery of absolutely everything and i don't think the distinction is clear for everyone. Regardless if we're dealing with those who feel attacked by Zappa like feminists (who think that FZ was then a sexist prick) or those who are the ones that are sexist themselves (who get the wrong idea by listening to "Dinah Moe Humm" and thus they seemingly have found a "role model" to validate their skewed views on women).

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There are groups that tend to dazzle a drug-stupefied audience into submission

some people are so fucking dumb, mistaking the message for the messenger. isn't it blindingly obvious ? guess not.

i bet zappa bashed men more than women in his songs, anyway.



anyway, what about excentrifigal forz, come on don't be shy ..

the right, deserving targets? who are you to say what the right and deserving targets are?

In what way is Dinah-Moe Humm a comment on all women? It's a very particular story, it's not meant to be taken as a generalisation on all women. Anybody who would use a song like Dinah-Moe Humm as an excuse for sexist views is a fucking idiot and you can't hold Zappa accountable for fucking idiots.

One of the most notable feminists, Germaine Greer was a friend and a fan of Frank Zappa.

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The way I see it Barry, this should be a very dynamite show.

So your answer is to make fun of absolutely anyone or anything you dislike? Forget making a valid social statement and instead satisfy your puerile urges, is that what your idea is?

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There are groups that tend to dazzle a drug-stupefied audience into submission

To everyone:

You may not like what I say, but you have to take it into consideration that all I'm doing is playing the devil's advocate.

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There are groups that tend to dazzle a drug-stupefied audience into submission

ho well
.
this looks good though downloads mmm

http://excentrifugalforz.blogspot.com/

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Arf you out of your fucking mind.

There's really only a few things Zappa ever really made fun of, it's just that they appear in various guises.

1. The settling for comfortable 'truths' rather than thinking for yourself, which can only result in you exposing your week point ('Oh No', 'The Meek/Heavenly Bank Account', 'Dumb All Over', (All of YAWYI is applicable, here), 'We're Turning Again', 'Greggary Peccary', etc.)

2. The exposition of any fad of any kind for it's ridiculousness. Contrary to popular belief, I don't think Zappa actually HATED everything- he could just see how it had a humour in it. Which is why he actually frequently makes fun of himself and things he was apart of- ('Greggary Peccary', 'Dancin' Fool', 'Mudd Club', 'I'm The Slime', The entirety of Thing-Fish, 'You Didn't Try To Call Me', 'Uncle Bernie's Farm', etc.)

3. A lyric defending a certain type of person simply by imitating the attacker and revealing what they say to be ridiculous. These probably make up Zappa's worse, most misunderstood lyrics. Simply because they overlying irony is usually very very subtle, and his English is too normal for people to want to spend time probing through it for all the little hints. ("Bobby Brown', 'He's So Gay', 'Dancin' Fool' (Let's not forget, the guy who's the lead singer there is sort of admirable), 'Wind Up Workin' In A Gas Station', 'Titties and Beer', etc.)

I could elaborate farther, but I'm not good with long things. The hardest thing to defend is those of the third type, so I'll give some examples of how he's in fact, defending-

Titties And Beer- Regardless of the fact that the man and the devil are arguing over the lady, and are both being idiots, the lady just says 'Screw you!' and walks off.

Dancin' Fool- Dancer guy comes in, dressed up and ready to get goin' on the dance floor. He's aware he's not very good at it, but he still goes out front and dances. Even if it's not in a very original context, he doesn't really care how other people feel about him, which is of course a trait Zappa advocates. (He even aligns himself with Dancin' Fool- 'One of my legs' is shorter than the other')

etc.

well, you're always going to have idiots who misunderstand a song lyric (or a movie etc.), and use it to validate their own misconceptions of society. but, you can't really hold the author responsible for that, can you?
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if I may answer for raoul duke; is that what you think frank zappa did? forgot to make a valid social statement for his need to satisfy his puerile urges?

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"bit of nostalgia for the old folks."

There we all have it! "Aybe Sea" finally let us in on the fact that he's only acting as an agent provocateur prodding us enraged cattle along to keep us from getting too damned fucking docile and lazy.

How about that!

--Bat

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<------PhotoArtWerk by debutante_daisy http://www.facebook.com/BatchainTheMovie

Next you'll be trying to tell me The Beatle's weren't responsible for the Tate murders!

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You're probably wondering why I'm here
(not that it makes a heck of a lot of a difference to ya)

helter skelter

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"bit of nostalgia for the old folks."

I was more concerned about how Raoul didn't think it was important to rationally discern between the targets that really needed ridicule and the targets the attacking of which is merely amusing for those who like cheap entertainment, but ultimately comes off a bit crass, tbqh. I'm not saying songs like "Dinah", "Dirty Love", "I've Been In You" or others are immoral or bigoted, because i definitely ain't no prude at all, but they're just a little too heavily leaning on the tasteless and crass side of the fence.

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There are groups that tend to dazzle a drug-stupefied audience into submission

is this directed at me?

no, no, no. it was directed towards aybe sea. see his answer above.

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"bit of nostalgia for the old folks."

maybe you're not a prude, but you definitely show signs of political correctness...

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"bit of nostalgia for the old folks."

4. faggots

Say it isn't so, Aybe Sea!

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Let's hear it again for the London Philharmonic Orchestra!

Someone upthread probably already said this more eloquently, but what the fuck...

The man had a interesting life. He knew some weird fucking people (and he probably fucked some weird people, too.) and as FZ said (and I'm paraphrasing here...), in this day and age, you need lyrics over the top of your music or people get bored. Write what'cha know. He just censored himself less than others.

There was a thread about how FZ often contradicted himself in interviews, he said what he felt at the moment, regardless of what he had said before. I think he did the same with his lyrics.


Also, not to derail, but whoever said that "Zoot Alures" was a cold sounding album was full of shit.

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Shark and a Bishop!

Not just in interviews, for compare

1. Drop out of school and go to the library to learn...
2. I don't like reading, it makes me sleepy...

I think that part of what he said was, a lot of the time, part of the whole 'zappa persona' thing.... But I think that he actually grew to believing in a lot of that stuff.

By this I mean his 'one liners' and not the more elaborated things he said.

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www.freewebs.com/simonking - an unacknowledged literary prodigy
simonking1.blogspot.com - an angry recluse's written outpourings