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.
Evelyn a Modified Dog
Frank Zappa Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Viewed the quivering fringe of a special doily
Draped across the piano, with some surprise
In the darkened room
Where the chairs dismayed
And the horrible curtains
Muffled the rain
A curious breeze
A garlic breath
Which sounded like a snore
Somewhere near the Steinway (or even from within)
Had caused the doily fringe to waft & tremble in the gloom
Evelyn, a dog, having undergone
Further modification
Pondered the significance of short-person behavior
In pedal-depressed panchromatic resonance
And other highly ambient domains...
Arf she said
The lyrics to Frank Zappa's song "Evelyn A Modified Dog" are quite abstract and open to interpretation, but they seem to depict a surreal scene where Evelyn, a dog that has undergone some kind of modification, is observing a fringed doily draped over a piano in a darkened room. She is surprised by the movement of the fringes, which are trembling and wafting in the breeze, possibly from a snore emanating from the Steinway piano or even from within it. Evelyn seems to be contemplating the strange behavior of short persons, likely referring to the pianist who may be playing the piano, or perhaps it's a commentary on human behavior in general.
The lyrics may be seen as a commentary on the absurdity of human behavior and the meaningless of life. The surreal imagery of a modified dog and a quivering doily over a piano suggests a dreamlike state, where reality is distorted and ambiguous. The use of anthropomorphic animals and inanimate objects also adds to the absurdity and surrealism of the scene. The lyrics may be interpreted in many different ways, but they ultimately showcase Zappa's unique sense of humor and his ability to subvert expectations with his lyrical and musical creativity.
Line by Line Meaning
Evelyn, a modified dog
Evelyn is a dog that has been genetically modified
Viewed the quivering fringe of a special doily
Evelyn saw the fringes of a unique doily shaking
Draped across the piano, with some surprise
The doily was placed on the piano and Evelyn was surprised by it
In the darkened room
The room was dimly lit
Where the chairs dismayed
The chairs looked sad and in disrepair
And the horrible curtains
The curtains were terrible and unpleasant
Muffled the rain
The curtains stopped the sound of the rain from coming in
She could hardly believe her eyes
Evelyn was amazed by what she was seeing
A curious breeze
There was an unusual draft
A garlic breath
It sounded like someone was breathing garlic-scented air
Which sounded like a snore
The breathing sounded like snoring
Somewhere near the Steinway (or even from within)
The sound seemed to come from the Steinway piano or from somewhere inside the room
Had caused the doily fringe to waft & tremble in the gloom
The breathing caused the doily to shake and move in the dim light
Evelyn, a dog, having undergone
Evelyn is a dog that has undergone
Further modification
More changes have been made to Evelyn
Pondered the significance of short-person behavior
Evelyn thought about why short people act the way they do
In pedal-depressed panchromatic resonance
Thinking about the sound made when pressing pedals on the piano
And other highly ambient domains...
And other things in the room that affect the sound
Arf she said
Evelyn barked
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Frank Zappa
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@bodhisattva71
1:01 Arf she said 🤣
@MrMusicbyMartin
If I only had one minute of tape, this would be the music that filled it.
@brianrankin4550
Cool album cover, would like to see that done with more album covers
@stuartberke5845
Only one Frank Zappa. 😊
@kb4446
Frank was the only frank i ever met.
@patriciapolitakis7818
I grew up Zappa !!!! Awesome that’s all I can guess !!
@MeissnerEffect
Yeah (sighs). I do believe it’s the best we can hope for….
@PonderousEclectica4383
"arf she said" has become an in-joke for me and my friends whenever someone says a load of overcomplicated bullshit
@kb4446
Yeah !!!! Me n .y brother especially!🎸
@kb4446
Hahahaaaa! Arf she said is so fuckin dynamic!!!@