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.
How The Pigs' Music Works
Frank Zappa Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Monica: Well, this should be interesting
Spider: Remember that they make music with a very dense light
John: Yeah
Monica: O.K.
Spider: And remember about the smoke standing still and how they they really get uptight when you try to move the smoke, right?
Monica: Right
John: Yeah?
Monica: Well don't the splitting ends change the density of the ponies' music so it affects the density of the pigs' music, which makes the smoke move which upsets the pigs?
Spider: No, it isn't like that
John: Well, how does it work?
Spider: Well, what it does is when it strikes any sort of energy field or solid object or even something as ephemeral as smoke, the first thing it does is begins to inactivate the molecular motion so that it slows down and finally stops. That's why the smoke stops. And also have you ever noticed how the the smoke clouds shrink up? That's because the molecules come closer together. The cold light makes it get so small, this is really brittle smoke
John: And that's why the pigs don't want you to touch it
Spider: See, when the smoke gets that brittle what happens when you try to move it is it disintegrates
John: And the pigs get uptight 'cause you know they, they worship that smoke. They salute it every day
Monica: You know we've got something here
John: And, and, and, and that's the basis of all their nationalism. Like if they can't salute the smoke every morning when they get up . . .
Spider: Yeah, it's a vicious circle. You got it
The above lyrics are a humorous conversation between the characters Spider, Monica, and John, who are trying to explain the concept of the pigs' music and how it works. According to Spider, the pigs make music with a dense light which has an effect on the smoke. The smoke stands still when the pigs play music because the music's density interacts with the smoke molecules to slow down its molecular motion, which in turn causes the smoke to stop moving. Spider goes on to explain that the smoke also shrinks up because the cold light makes it brittle, and the pigs worship this brittle smoke.
The conversation between the characters is a satire of the complexity of music theory and the often-confusing language used to describe it. It's also a commentary on human behavior and how we can create elaborate belief systems based on trivial things. The lyrics suggest that the pigs' nationalism, which revolves around their worship of the smoke, is a meaningless and self-perpetuating cycle.
Overall, "How the Pigs' Music Works" is a witty and thought-provoking song that pokes fun at human foibles while also challenging our assumptions about the nature of music and sound.
Line by Line Meaning
Spider: I think I can explain about about how the pigs' music works
Spider believes he can explain how the pigs' music works
Monica: Well, this should be interesting
Monica expresses interest in Spider's explanation
Spider: Remember that they make music with a very dense light
Spider reminds the group that the pigs make music with dense light
John: Yeah
John shows agreement
Monica: O.K.
Monica confirms her understanding
Spider: And remember about the smoke standing still and how they they really get uptight when you try to move the smoke, right?
Spider reminds the group about how the pigs react when someone moves the smoke they worship
Monica: Right
Monica confirms her understanding
John: Yeah?
John seeks further explanation
Spider: I think the music in that dense light is probably what makes the smoke stand still. As soon as the pony's mane starts to get good in the back any sort of motion, especially of smoke or gas, begins to make the ends split
Spider hypothesizes that the pigs' music in dense light makes the smoke stand still and that any movement causes it to split
Monica: Well don't the splitting ends change the density of the ponies' music so it affects the density of the pigs' music, which makes the smoke move which upsets the pigs?
Monica suggests that the density change in the ponies' music due to split smoke affects the density of the pigs' music, causing the smoke to move and upsetting the pigs
Spider: No, it isn't like that
Spider disagrees with Monica's suggestion
John: Well, how does it work?
John seeks further explanation
Spider: Well, what it does is when it strikes any sort of energy field or solid object or even something as ephemeral as smoke, the first thing it does is begins to inactivate the molecular motion so that it slows down and finally stops. That's why the smoke stops. And also have you ever noticed how the the smoke clouds shrink up? That's because the molecules come closer together. The cold light makes it get so small, this is really brittle smoke
Spider explains that the dense light inactivates molecular motion, causing the smoke to stop and the molecules to come closer together, making it brittle
John: And that's why the pigs don't want you to touch it
John deduces that the pigs don't want anyone to touch the brittle smoke
Spider: See, when the smoke gets that brittle what happens when you try to move it is it disintegrates
Spider explains that brittle smoke disintegrates when moved
John: And the pigs get uptight 'cause you know they, they worship that smoke. They salute it every day
John explains that the pigs get upset when someone touches the smoke they worship and salute daily
Monica: You know we've got something here
Monica acknowledges the group's newfound understanding
John: And, and, and, and that's the basis of all their nationalism. Like if they can't salute the smoke every morning when they get up . . .
John suggests that the pigs' nationalism is based on their ability to salute the smoke daily
Spider: Yeah, it's a vicious circle. You got it
Spider agrees and concludes that it is a vicious circle
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Frank Vincent Zappa
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind