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.
Go Cry on Somebody Else's Shoulder
Frank Zappa Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Jimmy carl black (drums)
Roy estrada (bass, guitarron, boy soprano)
Elliot ingber (lead guitar, rhythm guitar)
A year ago today
Was when you went away
But now you come back knockin' on my door
But I say...
Go cry
On somebody else's shoulder
I'm somewhat wiser now
And one whole year older
I sure don't need you now
And I don't love you
Anymore
You cheated me baby,
And told some dirty lies about me
Fooled around with all those other guys
That's why I had to set you free
I sure don't need you now
And I don't love you
Anymore
A year ago today
You went away
And now you come back crying
Crying, crying: please, let me in
But I don't need you
No I don't love you anymore
So go lean on...go cry on
Somebody else's door
Go cry
On somebody else's shoulder
I'm somewhat wiser now
And one whole year older
I sure don't need you now
And I don't love you
Anymore (oh, my darling!)
(spoken:)
Go ahead and cry
Go ahead and let the tears fall outa your eye
Let 'em fall on your dress
Who cares if it makes a mess?
I gave you my high school ring
At the root beer stand
We had a teen-age love baby
I thought it was sharp
It was really so grand...but
You cheated me baby
And told some dirty lies about me
Fooled around with all those other guys
That's why I had to get my khakis pressed
I sure don't need you now
And I don't love you
Anymore
(spoken:)
Baby, I love you so much, darling
Why don't you dig me?
I dig you
But you don't dig me
I don't understand what it is
I had my car re-upholstered
I got my hair processed
I got a nice pompadour job on it
I bought a new pair of shoes
I got some new khakis and I met you
And we went out to get a coca-cola...
In the song Go Cry On Somebody Else's Shoulder by Frank Zappa, the singer is addressing an ex-lover who comes back to him after a year of separation. The singer says he is wiser and a year older than when they were last together. The ex-lover cheated on him and spread lies about him, leading to their breakup. The singer tells his ex-lover to go cry on somebody else's shoulder because he doesn't need her anymore and doesn't love her anymore.
This song represents the feelings of people who have come out of a bad breakup and are trying to move on with their life. The singer shows confidence and is not willing to take his ex-lover back, despite her attempts to reconcile. The line "I sure don't need you now and I don't love you anymore" highlights the strength and independence a person can develop after a breakup. The spoken lines in the middle of the song highlight the singer's attempts to impress his ex-lover, which were futile as she went on to cheat on him.
Line by Line Meaning
A year ago today
It has been a year since you left
Was when you went away
You left me a year ago today
But now you come back knockin' on my door
Now you've returned and are knocking on my door
And you say you're back to stay,
You claim that you're back for good
But I say...
But I disagree
Go cry
On somebody else's shoulder
Find someone else to cry to
I'm somewhat wiser now
And one whole year older
I've gained wisdom and aged a year
I sure don't need you now
And I don't love you
Anymore
I don't need you or love you anymore
You cheated me baby,
And told some dirty lies about me
You cheated on me and spread rumors
Fooled around with all those other guys
You were unfaithful with other men
That's why I had to set you free
That's why I had to let you go
A year ago today
You went away
You left me a year ago today
And now you come back crying
And now you're back, crying
Crying, crying: please, let me in
Crying and asking to come back in
But I don't need you
No I don't love you anymore
I don't need or love you anymore
So go lean on...go cry on
Somebody else's door
Find someone else to lean on and cry to
Go ahead and cry
Go ahead and let the tears fall outa your eye
Let 'em fall on your dress
Who cares if it makes a mess?
Go ahead and cry, even if it's messy
I gave you my high school ring
At the root beer stand
We had a teen-age love baby
I thought it was sharp
It was really so grand...but
We used to be in love and I gave you my ring, but that's in the past
And told some dirty lies about me
Fooled around with all those other guys
That's why I had to get my khakis pressed
You lied about me and cheated with other men, which hurt me
But you don't dig me
I don't understand what it is
I had my car re-upholstered
I got my hair processed
I got a nice pompadour job on it
I bought a new pair of shoes
I got some new khakis and I met you
And we went out to get a coca-cola...
I tried to make myself attractive to you, but it didn't work out
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Frank Zappa, Ray Collins
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Lou De Smyter
A year ago today
Was when you went away
But now you come back knockin' on my door
And you say you're back to stay, But I say...
Go cry on somebody else's shoulder
I'm somewhat wiser now
And one whole year older
I sure don't need you now
And I don't love you
Anymore
You cheated me baby,
And told some dirty lies about me
Fooled around with all those other guys
That's why I had to set you free
I sure don't need you now and I don't love you
Anymore
A year ago today
You went away
And now you come back crying
Crying, crying: please, let me in
But I don't need you
No I don't love you anymore
So go lean on... go cry on
Somebody else's door
Go cry on somebody else's shoulder
I'm somewhat wiser now
And one whole year older
I sure don't need you now
And I don't love you
Anymore (Oh, my darling!)
Go ahead and cry
Go ahead and let the tears fall outa your eye
Let 'em fall on your dress
Who cares if it makes a mess?
I gave you my high school ring
At the root beer stand
We had a teen-age love baby
I thought it was sharp
It was really so grand... but
You cheated me baby
And told some dirty lies about me
Fooled around with all those other guys
That's why I had to get my khakis pressed
I sure don't need you now
And I don't love you anymore
Baby, I love you so much, darling
Why don't you dig me?
I dig you
But you don't dig me
I don't understand what it is
I had my car re-upholstered
I got my hair processed
I got a nice pompadour job on it
I bought a new pair of shoes
I got some new khakis and I met you
And we went out to get a Coca-Cola...
fastnbulbouss
Baby, I love you so much, darling
Why don't you dig me?
I dig you
But you don't dig me
I don't understand what it is
I had my car re-upholstered
I got my hair processed
I got a nice pompadour job on it
I bought a new pair of shoes
I got some new khakis and I met you
And we went out to get a Coca-Cola...
David Moffat
In one interview Frank claimed he hated do-wop but obviously he got a kick out of parodying it every chance he could...I love it!
Doomkid
I heard he loved doo-wop in spite of the cheese. He had like a dozen doo-wop songs lol
Raúl
Hate do-wop or hate do-wop lyrics? I think I read the later.
Lou De Smyter
A year ago today
Was when you went away
But now you come back knockin' on my door
And you say you're back to stay, But I say...
Go cry on somebody else's shoulder
I'm somewhat wiser now
And one whole year older
I sure don't need you now
And I don't love you
Anymore
You cheated me baby,
And told some dirty lies about me
Fooled around with all those other guys
That's why I had to set you free
I sure don't need you now and I don't love you
Anymore
A year ago today
You went away
And now you come back crying
Crying, crying: please, let me in
But I don't need you
No I don't love you anymore
So go lean on... go cry on
Somebody else's door
Go cry on somebody else's shoulder
I'm somewhat wiser now
And one whole year older
I sure don't need you now
And I don't love you
Anymore (Oh, my darling!)
Go ahead and cry
Go ahead and let the tears fall outa your eye
Let 'em fall on your dress
Who cares if it makes a mess?
I gave you my high school ring
At the root beer stand
We had a teen-age love baby
I thought it was sharp
It was really so grand... but
You cheated me baby
And told some dirty lies about me
Fooled around with all those other guys
That's why I had to get my khakis pressed
I sure don't need you now
And I don't love you anymore
Baby, I love you so much, darling
Why don't you dig me?
I dig you
But you don't dig me
I don't understand what it is
I had my car re-upholstered
I got my hair processed
I got a nice pompadour job on it
I bought a new pair of shoes
I got some new khakis and I met you
And we went out to get a Coca-Cola...
Matthew White
Now I 100% know for sure where Mike Patton gets his style from, holy shit!! Have you heard a Mr Bungle album? They're the Beach Boys crossed over w/Frank Zappa!
Dizzy108
Dude! I heard this album for the first time today and it immediately reminded me of the song Vanity Fair from Mr. Bungle's California album. Absolutely love that album, but it's wild to think Frank Zappa was tapping into that experimental style way back in 1966. I'm sure Mike Patton had a wide array of other influences, but I'm glad I'm not alone in making that connection. :)
Attila Füredi
I love them too, but Trey said that they never listened to Zappa.
R- D
Totalmente de acuerdo y deseo agregar que la música norteamericana tiene mucho de eso. Tradición y fractura.
dreg
Mr bungle isnt exactly an obscure band, and patton just like zappa, draws from many, many influences.
EricCross
Matthew White mr. Bungle kicks ass