Zappa's earliest influences were 1950s pop and rock (such as doo-wop and rhythm and blues), and 20th-century classical composers including Igor Stravinsky and Edgard Varèse. His output was divided between adventurous instrumental compositions and succinct, catchy rock songs with ribald, satirical, or comically absurd lyrics. On stage he demanded virtuosity and spontaneity from his musicians, and employed many performers who would later go on to achieve fame in their own rights. He directed and released a number of films featuring himself, his musicians and entourage, including 200 Motels and Baby Snakes.
His career started in 1955. His earliest recordings date from the mid-1960s, and include collaborations with his school friend Captain Beefheart. In 1965 he joined a bar-band called The Soul Giants, quickly dominating its musical direction and rechristening it The Mothers. Their first release (as The Mothers of Invention; the name alteration requested by their record company) was the 1966 double album Freak Out!. The line-up of the Mothers gradually expanded to accommodate Zappa's increasingly ambitious and avant-garde music, but by 1969 he decided to work outside the band structure, focusing on his solo career, and effectively disbanding the Mothers in 1971.
The beginnings of his solo career in the late sixties and early seventies was characterised by a strong free jazz influence, with albums containing little, if any, lyrical content, such as Hot Rats, Waka/Jawaka and The Grand Wazoo. Towards the mid-seventies his albums became more rock-orientated, with a combination of Jazz Fusion instrumentation and Rock song structures. This more accessible sound bore reasonable mainstream appeal, especially with the release of the well-advertised albums Over-Nite Sensation and Apostrophe (') (which both went Gold), but Zappa's unpredictably eclectic output never led to solid mainstream recognition. He received uniformly lukewarm reviews from popular music publications such as Rolling Stone throughout his career. In his late seventies' output, the gulf between his humorous songs and more lengthy, complex instrumental music widened, and albums, such as Zappa in New York, Joe's Garage: Acts I, II & III, and Sleep Dirt displayed, by track, both sides firmly segregated.
Zappa saw a second run of success in the early eighties with the release of many albums with predominantly comedic rock songs, but later continued to experiment with virtually every style of music through the eighties, and was productive as ever until his death. His output in this later-career period included two albums of strikingly original classical music with the London Symphony Orchestra, an electronic take on 18th-century chamber music (written by the obscure Italian composer 'Francesco Zappa', no relation), an album of Synclavier compositions (misleadingly titled Jazz From Hell which garnered a Grammy award), a double-CD release of electric guitar instrumental music (the laconically titled Guitar) and a plenitude of official live releases, revisiting fan-favourites as well as showcasing Zappa's talent for reinventing the music of others; his version of Stairway to Heaven becoming a word-of-mouth favourite.
Zappa produced almost all of his own albums, spending many hours in the studio recording and manipulating tracks, and was always at the forefront of emerging technologies; from tape editing, collage, multitrack and overdubbing in the sixties to digital recording, electronic instruments and sampling in the eighties. Conversely, Zappa was also a obsessive self-archivist, recording virtually every one of his live performances, and often using live recordings of new material without needing to enter the studio. The archive of tapes at his family home in Los Angeles continues to be a source of posthumous releases for the Zappa Family Trust. He was also noted as a spotter of talent and his shifting line-up of musicians included Lowell George, Jean-Luc Ponty, Terry Bozzio, Chad Wackerman, George Duke, Mike Keneally, Adrian Belew and Steve Vai, as well as giving Alice Cooper his first break in music and working again with his old collaborator Captain Beefheart when his career was in decline.
In the late 1980s he became active in politics, campaigning against the PMRC's music censorship scheme and acting as culture and trade representative for Czechoslovakia in 1989; and considered running as an independent candidate for president of the US.
His death in Los Angeles, California, on 4th December 1993 came three years after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Ain't Got No Heart
Frank Zappa Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I ain't got no heart to give away
I sit and laugh at fools in love
There ain't no such thing as love
No angels singing up above today
Girl I don't believe
You say your heart is only mine
I say to you, You must be blind,
What makes you think that you're so fine
That I would throw away the groovy life I lead
'Cause baby, what you've got yeah
It sure ain't what I need
Girl you better go
Girl you'd better go away
I think that life with you would be
Just not quite the thing for me
Why is it so hard to see my way?
Why should I be stuck with you
It's just not what I want to do
Why should an embrace or two
Make me such a part of you
I ain't got no heart to give away!
Frank Zappa's "I Ain't Got No Heart" is a song about love, or rather the lack of it. Through its lyrics, he conveys his disdain for the concept of love, which he believes is a mere illusion, and that he has no heart to give away to anyone. He scoffs at the idea of love, dismissing it as something that doesn't exist and is a mere figment of one's imagination. The song's protagonist is cynical and believes that the idea of love is just an excuse for people to fool themselves into thinking that they're happy.
Zappa's lyrics are particularly scathing towards the woman who claims to love him. He tells her that he doesn't believe in what she says and that her heart isn't what he needs. He thinks she's delusional for believing that her heart is solely his, and that she mustn't be able to see the truth. He urges her to go away, declaring that life with her would be "not quite the thing" for him.
Overall, Zappa's "I Ain't Got No Heart" is a cynical take on love and the lengths people will go to believe in it. He makes it clear that he has no intention of being just another fool in love, and that he'd rather lead his life alone than to be bound to someone who doesn't share his values or beliefs.
Line by Line Meaning
Ain't got no heart
I lack the emotional capacity to care for someone else
I ain't got no heart to give away
I have nothing to offer anyone in terms of love or affection
I sit and laugh at fools in love
I find the idea of love to be a joke or a delusion
There ain't no such thing as love
Love is a made-up concept with no real existence
No angels singing up above today
There are no heavenly forces that validate the existence of love or its importance
Girl I don't believe
I don't trust or accept what you're saying to me
Girl I don't believe in what you say
I don't think you're being truthful or honest with me
You say your heart is only mine
You claim to have exclusive feelings for me
I say to you, You must be blind
I think you're foolish or delusional to believe that
What makes you think that you're so fine
I'm questioning why you believe that you're special enough to deserve my love
That I would throw away the groovy life I lead
I'm not willing to give up my enjoyable and successful lifestyle for someone else
'Cause baby, what you've got yeah
Your qualities, whatever they are, aren't enough to sway me from my position
It sure ain't what I need
I don't see what you have to offer as something that's attractive or necessary to me
Girl you better go
I'm telling you that you should leave and move on
Girl you'd better go away
I don't want you to be a part of my life anymore
I think that life with you would be
I have a negative outlook towards a potential future with you
Just not quite the thing for me
Being with you doesn't align with my values or preferences
Why is it so hard to see my way?
I'm perplexed as to why you can't understand my perspective
Why should I be stuck with you
I don't see any reason why I should be obligated to be with you
It's just not what I want to do
I have no desire to pursue any kind of relationship with you
Why should an embrace or two
I don't see how physical contact could change my feelings towards you
Make me such a part of you
Simply hugging or kissing isn't enough to make me feel emotionally connected to you
I ain't got no heart to give away!
I'm still not capable of offering any kind of emotional presence to you
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Frank Zappa
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Marijanche Skelorad
Ain't got no heart
I ain't got no heart to give away
I sit and laugh at fools in love
There ain't no such thing as love
No angels singing up above today
Girl I don't believe
Girl I don't believe in what you say
You say your heart is only mine
I say to you, You must be blind,
What makes you think that you're so fine
That I would throw away the groovy life I lead
'Cause baby, what you've got yeah
It sure ain't what I need
Girl you better go
Girl you'd better go away
I think that life with you would be
Just not quite the thing for me
Why is it so hard to see my way?
Why should I be stuck with you
It's just not what I want to do
Why should an embrace or two
Make me such a part of you
I ain't got no heart to give away!
Adam-24
Frank Zappa music is perfect.
Evan Gardner
Came looking for a Grateful Dead song and found one of my old favorite musicians. Frank Zappa what a legend
ItsaZappathing "The Son Of"
What a band. What a bunch of fine musical freaks. What a tune.
Marijanche Skelorad
Ain't got no heart
I ain't got no heart to give away
I sit and laugh at fools in love
There ain't no such thing as love
No angels singing up above today
Girl I don't believe
Girl I don't believe in what you say
You say your heart is only mine
I say to you, You must be blind,
What makes you think that you're so fine
That I would throw away the groovy life I lead
'Cause baby, what you've got yeah
It sure ain't what I need
Girl you better go
Girl you'd better go away
I think that life with you would be
Just not quite the thing for me
Why is it so hard to see my way?
Why should I be stuck with you
It's just not what I want to do
Why should an embrace or two
Make me such a part of you
I ain't got no heart to give away!
Imperio Samara
¡Gran rola!
Jimmy Q Jones
BAD ASS ! REVOLUTIONARY !! WAY AHEAD OF IT'S TIME !! This sounds like a song grooving from 1971 or 72 !! But it's from,................. 1966 ????? WOW ! Dig those timpani drums buried deep in the background of this too !!!
Veleda Johnson
Ahead of its time brilliance that sends shivers down the spines of Lou reed , bowie, iggy,,standells,..the who,..etc,..and anyone else that thinks there ahead of their time ,..
Andrew Collins
Freak Out! rock's greatest debut. One of the first rock double LP's, beaten by Bob Dylan first double debut
GreenhouseEffectMusic
The First Zappa album completely Revolutionized THE WHOLE WORLD ,..NOT JUST ALL OF ROCK N ROLL !! THE PLANET Was never the same ever again !!! Everyone had to get heavier ,... This music right here was some of the only sh**t to actually warp and change the Beatles themselves,. No one to this day has recaptured anything like Zappa though !!
Daniel Hyman
Death Grips and Kanye west