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.
Porn Wars Deluxe
Frank Zappa Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Senator Hollings (D-South Carolina)
Senator Trible (R-Virginia)
Senator Hawkins (R-Florida)
Senator Exon (D-Nebraska)
Senator Gorton (R-Washington)
Senator Gore (D-Tennessee)
Tipper Gore
FZ
Spider Barbour voice
All-Night John Kilgore voice
Monica voice]
Chairman (John Danforth): The reason for this hearing is not to promote any legislation. Indeed, I don't know of any suggestion that any legislation be passed. But to simply provide a forum for airing the issue itself, for ventilating the issue, for bringing it out in the public domain. Senator Hollings.
Senator Hollings: I've had the opportunity to, ah, attend a, a showing, you might say, or presentation of, ah, this porn rock, as they call it. In the test of pornography, one of the things to look at is it, it does not have any redeeming social value. Ah, there could be an exception here, because having attended that pres, presentation, the redeeming social value I find that is inaudible. I have a hard time understanding it, then. Paul, since I traveled the country for 3 years, 'n they said they could not understand me. Maybe I could make a good rock star. I don't know. Heh But in all candor, I would tell you it's, it's outrageous filth. So, I'll be looking from this Senator's standpoint, not just to bring pressures but to try to see if there is some constitutional provisions to tax, or approach that can be used on the Congress to limit this outrageous filth.
Chairman: Senator Trible.
Senator Trible: Rape, incest, sexual violence
Senator Hollings: It's outrageous filth
Senator Trible: Is like sandpaper to the soul Now, the effects of such lyrics on a well adjusted child may not be cataclysmic
Senator Hollings: It's outrageous filth!
Senator Trible: Rather the emotional damage is more subtle
Senator Hawkins: Fire and chains and
Senator Hollings: It's outrageous filth!
Senator Hawkins: Other objectionable tools of gratification in some twisted mind
Johnny Guitar Watson: YEAH!
Senator Trible: Now, the effects of such lyrics on a well adjusted child may not be cataclysmic
Senator Hollings: Porn Rock
Senator Trible: Rather the emotional damage is more subtle
Senator Hollings: Willy nilly over the air
?: (And hear it now hear it hear it )
Senator Hollings: If I could find some way constitutionally to do away with it, I would.
Senator Hawkins: Fire and chains and other objectionable
Senator Hollings: Rock porn
Senator Hawkins: Tools of gratification in some twisted mind
Johnny Guitar Watson: YEAH!
Senator Trible: Now, the effects of such lyrics on a well adjusted child may not be cataclysmic
Senator Hollings: Porn rock!
Senator Trible: Now, the effects of such lyrics on a well adjusted child may not be cataclysmic
Senator Hollings: Porn rock!
Senator Trible: Rather the emotional damage
Senator Hollings: If I could find some way constitutionally to do away with it, I would.
Senator Hawkins: This issue is too hot not to cool down
Senator Trible: Now, the effects of such lyrics on a well adjusted child may not be cataclysmic
Senator Trible: Rather the emotional damage is more subtle
Senator Hollings: Porn Rock
Senator Hollings: Porn Rock
Senator Hollings: Porn Rock
Burn! Burn !
Senator Hollings: Willy nilly over the air
Senator Hollings: Willy nilly over the air
Senator Hollings: Willy nilly over the air
Senator Hollings: Rock porn rock porn rock porn
Senator Hawkins: This issue is too hot not to cool down
Senator Hawkins: Fire and chains and other objectionable tools of gratification in some twisted mind
Senator Hawkins: This issue is too hot not to cool down
Senator Hollings: Porn Rock
Senator Hollings: Porn Rock!
Senator Hollings: Porn Rock
Senator Hollings: Porn Rock!
Senator Hawkins: This issue is too
Spider: This must be the end of the world! All the people turning into pigs and ponies I can't let it happen to me!
Senator Exon: What is the reason for these hearings in front of the Commerce Committee?
FZ: Sex!
Well
FZ: Sex!
Senator Hawkins: Thank you. I think that statement tells the story to this committee.
Rev. Jeff Ling: "Listen you little slut, do as you are told"
Senator Exon: What is the reason
FZ: Sex!
Senator Exon: For these hearings in front of the Commerce Committee?
FZ: Sex!
Underwear
FZ: Bondage!
Rev. Jeff Ling: Listen you little slut
Rev. Jeff Ling: Listen you little slut, do as you are told
FZ: Sex, and lots of it
Rev. Jeff Ling: Fixed her good.
FZ: Sex! Sex! Sex! Sex!
Senator Hawkins: I would be interested to see what toys your kids ever had.
FZ: Why would you be interested?
Senator Hawkins: Just as a point of interest in this
FZ: Well, come on over to the house. I'll show 'em to you Really!
Senator Hawkins: I I might do that.
Senator Trible: Rape, incest, sexual violence is like sandpaper to the soul
Senator Trible: Now, the effects of such lyrics on a well adjusted child may not be cataclysmic
Senator Hollings: It's outrageous filth!
Senator Trible: Rather the emotional damage is more subtle
Senator Hawkins: Fire and chains and other
Senator Hollings: It's outrageous filth!
Senator Hawkins: Objectionable tools of gratification in some twisted minds
Johnny Guitar Watson: YEAH!
Senator Trible: Now the effects of such lyrics on a well adjusted child may not be cataclysmic
Senator Hollings: Porn rock
Senator Hollings: Willy nilly over the air
Senator Trible: Rather the emotional damage is more subtle
Senator Hawkins: Fire and chains and other
Senator Hollings: If I could find some way constitutionally to do away with it, I would.
Senator Hawkins: Objectionable tools of gratification in some twisted minds
Senator Trible: Now the effects of such lyrics on a well adjusted child may not be cataclysmic
Johnny Guitar Watson: YEAH!
Senator Hollings: Something that we have got to give some kind of attention to.
Senator Trible: The mere announcement of this hearing led to cries of censorship.
Senator Trible: Now the effects of such lyrics on a well adjusted child may not be cataclysmic
Senator Hollings: Porn Rock
Senator Trible: Now the effects of such lyrics on a well adjusted child may not be cataclysmic
Senator Hollings: If I could find some way constitutionally to do away with it, I would.
Senator Trible: Rather the emotional damage
Chairman: Thank you very much, Mr. Zappa. You understand that the, the, ah, previous witnesses were not asking for legislation. And I, I don't know, I can't speak for Senator Hollings, but I think that the prevailing view here is that nobody is asking for legislation. The question is just focusing on what a lot of people perceived to be a problem, and you have indicated that you at least understand that there is another point of view.
Senator Hollings: Willy nilly over the air
Senator Hollings: Willy nilly over the air
Senator Hollings: Willy nilly over the air
Chairman: Senator Gore.
Senator Gore: Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I found your statement very interesting and, ah, let me say although I disagree with some of the statements that you make and have made on other occasions, I have been a fan of your music, believe it or not. And I, I, ah, respect you as a true original and a tremendously talented musician.
Spider: Ooh, wait a minute!
Senator Hollings: Maybe I could make a good rock-star, I don't know
Rev. Jeff Ling: Come with come with come with daddy!
Senator Hollings: Maybe I could make a good rock-star, I don't know
Rev. Jeff Ling: Come with come with daddy!
Senator Hollings: Maybe I could make a good rock-star, I don't know
Rev. Jeff Ling: Come with come with come with daddy!
Spider: They don't even understand their own music of course nobody does, but
John: They don't, they don't even know what they're doing
Spider: No!
John: I've, I've seen 'em a couple of times
Spider: Did did you see their uniforms?
John: Unbelievable!
Monica: Which ones? They, the red ones?
John: All those rhinestones over their rings and things like that
Monica: Do you know what I
John: Gold lame hoof-covers Unbelievable!
Senator Hollings: Maybe I could make a good rock-star
Senator Hollings: Maybe I could make a good rock-star
Rev. Jeff Ling: Gonna drive my love inside you
etc.
Senator Hollings: It's outrageous filth
Senator Hollings: It's outrageous filth
Rev. Jeff Ling: Come with daddy!
etc., etc.
Senator Hollings: Rock, rock, Porn Rock!
Senator Hollings: Rock porn
etc.
Senator Hollings: Willy nilly over the air
Senator Hollings: An' I think your suggestion is a good one. If you print those words, that would go a long way to satisfying everyone's objections, I
FZ: All we have to do is find out how it is going to be paid for.
Pyromania
No questions
Burn the building!
Burn! Burn! Burn!
Johnny Guitar Watson: YEAH!
Senator Hollings: If I could find some way constitutionally to do away with it I would
Senator Hollings: Willy nilly over the air
Senator Hawkins: This issue is too hot not to cool down
Senator Hollings: So, I'll be looking from this Senator's standpoint, not just to bring pressures but to try to see if there is some constitutional provisions to tax, or approach that can be used on the Congress to limit this outrageous filth.
Johnny Guitar Watson: YEAH!
Thing-Fish:
We'll get back to de wimp and his low-budget conceptium of personal freedom in just a moment. But foist, welcome to: WHAT DE FUCK GWINE ON HERE? (A celebratium o' de American way o' life!) I see some o' y'all be FROWNIN' 'cause mebbe y'think what I's tellin' ya' is a LIE! Am I right? Les' jes' have a test How many o' you nice folks think I knows what I's talkin' 'bout? RAISE Y'HAIN UP! Uh-huh! An' how many thinks my potato been bakin' too long? RAISE YO MIZZABLE HAIN UP! Uh-huh! Now how many you folks is CONVINCED de gubnint be totally 'UNCONCERNED' wit de proliferatium o' UNDESIRABLE TENANTS in de CONDOMINIUM o' LIFE? An' how many folks believe THEY number won't come up, next time de breeze blow fum de Easterly directium? Les' face it, peoples! Ugly as I mights be, I AM YO' FUTCHUM! Ain't that right, SISTER OB'DEWLLA? Hmm hmm! Oh, oh yeah! Thass right!
Chairman: Senator Gorton.
Senator Gorton: Mr. Zappa, I, ah, am astounded at the courtesy and soft-voiced nature of the comments of my friend, the Senator from Tennessee. I can only say that I found your statement to be boorish, ah, incredibly and insensitively insulting to the people that were here previously; that you could manage to give the first amendment of the Constitution of the United States a bad name, if I felt that you had the slightest understanding of it, which I do not. You do not have the slightest understanding of the difference between Government action and private action, and you have certainly destroyed any case you might otherwise have had with this Senator. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
FZ: Is this private action?
Rev. Jeff Ling: Degradation. Humiliation. Thrusting, shoving. Animals humping.
Senator Hawkins?: There's no absolute right to free speech
FZ: I don't think this is constitutional
Tipper Gore: A voluntary labeling is not censorship
Rev. Jeff Ling: Bend up and smell my anal vapor
Tipper Gore: A voluntary voluntary voluntary
Tipper Gore: A voluntary labeling is not censorship
Rev. Jeff Ling: Degradation humiliation
Well
Rev. Jeff Ling: Gonna drive my love inside of you
Well
FZ: Is this private action?
Senator Hawkins: In chains
Rev. Jeff Ling: Listen you little slut, do as you are told
Senator Hawkins?: There's no absolute right
Senator Hawkins?: There's no absolute right
Well
Well
Rev. Jeff Ling: Dressed in leather bondage, masks
Well
Rev. Jeff Ling: Bend up and smell my anal vapor
There's no There's no
Chairman: Mr. Zappa, thank you very much for your testimony.
FZ: Thank you.
Chairman: Next witness is John Denver
Senator Hollings?: We haven't got 'em whipped on this one yet. You got a bear by the tail here, uh? Jeezis!
The song "Porn Wars Deluxe" by Frank Zappa is a satirical commentary on the issue of censorship in music lyrics, particularly in rock music. The lyrics are a collection of statements made during a Senate hearing on the issue of "porn rock," featuring Senators Danforth, Hollings, Trible, Hawkins, Exon, and Gorton, Tipper Gore, and Reverend Jeff Ling. The Senators express their concerns about the influence of music lyrics on children and the need to regulate it, while Zappa presents counterarguments challenging their views.
Senator Hollings criticizes the lyrics and calls them "outrageous filth," while Senator Trible suggests that such lyrics could have subtle emotional effects on children. Senator Gorton takes offense at Zappa's testimony, calling it "boorish" and "insensitively insulting." Reverend Jeff Ling offers his take on the matter by describing the lyrics in graphic detail and advocating for censorship.
Zappa's song is a critique of censorship and the infringement on free speech. By presenting the Senators' arguments in an exaggerated manner, he highlights the absurdity of their views and makes a case for artistic expression. The song also criticizes the music industry for pandering to censorship and for its voluntary labeling system.
Line by Line Meaning
The reason for this hearing is not to promote any legislation. Indeed, I don't know of any suggestion that any legislation be passed. But to simply provide a forum for airing the issue itself, for ventilating the issue, for bringing it out in the public domain.
The purpose of this hearing is not to propose any bills, but only to discuss the issue in public.
In the test of pornography, one of the things to look at is it, it does not have any redeeming social value. Ah, there could be an exception here, because having attended that pres, presentation, the redeeming social value I find that is inaudible.
Pornography is generally considered to have no societal benefits, although there may be rare exceptions. However, the pornography that I saw had no redeeming qualities whatsoever.
So, I'll be looking from this Senator's standpoint, not just to bring pressures but to try to see if there is some constitutional provisions to tax, or approach that can be used on the Congress to limit this outrageous filth.
As a Senator, I will look into whether there are constitutional ways to limit the distribution of pornography, such as through taxation or other means.
Rape, incest, sexual violence is like sandpaper to the soul. Now, the effects of such lyrics on a well-adjusted child may not be cataclysmic; rather, the emotional damage is more subtle.
Songs with lyrics about rape, incest, and sexual violence can be emotionally damaging to children in a subtle way rather than catastrophic.
Fire and chains and other objectionable tools of gratification in some twisted mind.
Certain individuals with twisted minds may find pleasure in using tools such as fire and chains for sexual gratification.
If I could find some way constitutionally to do away with it, I would.
If there were a constitutional way to eliminate pornography, I would do it.
This issue is too hot not to cool down. Burn! Burn!
This issue is too controversial to be ignored. It must be addressed with urgency.
Listen you little slut, do as you are told.
This demeaning and degrading language is unacceptable and should not be used towards anyone.
Sex! Sex! Sex! Sex!
There is an overwhelming focus on sexual content and explicit imagery in society.
This must be the end of the world! All the people turning into pigs and ponies. I can't let it happen to me!
The artist is afraid of societal degradation and loss of personal morality. This concern may be exaggerated or unrealistic.
What is the reason for these hearings in front of the Commerce Committee?
The purpose of this hearing, held in front of the Commerce Committee, is being questioned and clarified.
Bondage!
The practice of bondage, or tying a person up for sexual gratification, is being emphasized.
A voluntary labeling is not censorship.
Labeling explicit content for consumers is not considered censorship.
There's no absolute right to free speech.
Freedom of speech may be limited in certain situations and there is no absolute right to it.
Dressed in leather bondage, masks.
Some people engage in BDSM practices and wear bondage gear like leather and masks.
Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind