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.
Prologue
Frank Zappa Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Steve vai (guitar)
Ray white (guitar, vocals)
Tommy mars (keyboards)
Chuck wild (piano)
Arthur barrow (bass)
Scott thunes (bass)
Jay anderson (string bass)
Chad wackerman (drums)
Ike willis (vocals)
Terry bozzio (vocals)
Dale bozzio (vocals)
Napoleon murphy brock (vocals)
Bob harris (vocals)
Johnny "guitar" watson (vocals)
Thing-fish:
Once upon a time, musta been 'round October, few years back, in one o' dose top secret lab-motories de gubbnint keep stashed away underneath virginia, an evil prince, occasion'ly employed as a p
Ime theatrical criticizer set to woikin' on a plot fo de systematic genocidical remove'lance of all unwanted highly-rhythmic individj'lls an' sissy-boys!
De cocksucker done whiffed up a secret potium... an' right 'long wid it, de atrocious idea dat what he been boilin' up down deahhhh jes' mights be de final solutium to de white main's 'boidennn'
Yo' acquire my drift...
Well, he were sure he had a good thing goin'... but, dere was always de possobility dat somethin' might fuck up, so, he planned to have a little test, jes' to check it all out befo' he dump't it
E wattuh supply.
Sho'tly denafter, wit high-level gubnint co-robberatium, he arranged to have a good-will visit to san quentim, 'long wit some country-westin mu- zishnin's, 'n sprinkle a little bit of it on some
E boys in deahhh (since dey done used a few of 'em befo' when dey was messin' wit de zyph'liss).
So, heah dey come wit de potium, dump'nit all in de mash potatoes!
Den dey wen' up to de warden's office fo' some hot toddy, watchin' a little football while dey's waitin' to see what gone happen!
Fact o' de matter were: nothin' happened, so dey went off'n dribbled it in a special shipnint of galoot co-log-nuh dat went out 'bouts November!
Next thing why'know, fagnits be droppin' off like flies...'long wit a large number of severely-tanned individj'lls, pre-zumnably of hay'chen extrakment!
But not de boys in de rest home! oh no! mixin' de shit wit de mash potatoes done smoothed it out a little, so's it wouldn't kill yo' ass, but, it sho' would make why'ugly! 'n ef why'was already ugly
D make yo ass mean 'n ugly...'n ef you was already mean 'n ugly, it'd turn ya into a strange, unknown kreetchuh, never befo' seen on broadway!^lthass right! it'd turn ya' into a 'mammy nun'! hea
E a potato...lips like a duck...big ol' hands, puffin' up! big ones! science! me-jev'l re-lij-mus costumery all over yo' body! yow! oh yeah! mmmm-hmmm!
The lyrics to Frank Zappa's song "Prologue" tell a story of an evil prince who creates a potion with the intention to systematically eliminate anyone who does not fit into his narrow view of acceptable society. He tests the potion on prisoners at San Quentin and a shipment of cologne that is ultimately responsible for killing a large number of people. However, the mixture of the potion with the mash potatoes in the rest home was not lethal, but it turned those who were already mean and ugly into a strange, unknown creature called a "mammy nun."
The lyrics of "Prologue" are a satirical commentary on societal attitudes towards race, sexuality, and other forms of differences. The evil prince's desire to eliminate highly-rhythmic individuals and sissy-boys is a veiled reference to the intolerance of those who do not conform to societal norms. The use of the term "fagnits" and the line about severely-tanned individuals presumably of hay'chen extrakment also suggests racial and ethnic biases.
Additionally, the mixing of the potion with the mashed potatoes, which smooths it out a little, is a reflection on how society often tries to "smooth over" or ignore differences rather than accepting and celebrating them. Overall, "Prologue" is a biting critique of the harmful effects of intolerance and the importance of embracing diversity.
Line by Line Meaning
Once upon a time, musta been 'round October, few years back, in one o' dose top secret lab-motories de gubbnint keep stashed away underneath virginia, an evil prince, occasion'ly employed as a p
Ime theatrical criticizer set to woikin' on a plot fo de systematic genocidical remove'lance of all unwanted highly-rhythmic individj'lls an' sissy-boys!
Long time ago in a secret government laboratory underneath Virginia, an evil prince who worked as a theatrical criticizer started working on a plan to systematically eliminate all unwanted individuals who were too rhythmic or effeminate.
De cocksucker done whiffed up a secret potium... an' right 'long wid it, de atrocious idea dat what he been boilin' up down deahhhh jes' mights be de final solutium to the white main's 'boidennn'
Yo' acquire my drift...
The prince created a secret potion and a terrible idea popped up in his mind that it could be a final solution to eradicate white people who would object to his plan. Do you get what I'm saying?
Well, he were sure he had a good thing goin'... but, dere was always de possobility dat somethin' might fuck up, so, he planned to have a little test, jes' to check it all out befo' he dump't it
E wattuh supply.
Although he was confident in his plan, he knew there was a possibility of things going wrong, so he decided to do a little test before he put the potion in the water supply.
Sho'tly denafter, wit high-level gubnint co-robberatium, he arranged to have a good-will visit to san quentim, 'long wit some country-westin mu- zishnin's, 'n sprinkle a little bit of it on some
E boys in deahhh (since dey done used a few of 'em befo' when dey was messin' wit de zyph'liss).
Soon after, with high-level government cooperation, he arranged a goodwill visit to San Quentin along with some country-western musicians and sprinkled some of the potion on some boys there (since they had used a few of them before when they were experimenting with syphilis).
So, heah dey come wit de potium, dump'nit all in de mash potatoes!
Den dey wen' up to de warden's office fo' some hot toddy, watchin' a little football while dey's waitin' to see what gone happen!
They brought the potion and dumped it all in the mashed potatoes. Then, they went to the warden's office for some hot toddy and watched a little football while waiting to see what would happen.
Fact o' de matter were: nothin' happened, so dey went off'n dribbled it in a special shipnint of galoot co-log-nuh dat went out 'bouts November!
The fact of the matter was that nothing happened, so they poured it into a special shipment of cologne that went out in November.
Next thing why'know, fagnits be droppin' off like flies...'long wit a large number of severely-tanned individj'lls, pre-zumnably of hay'chen extrakment!
The next thing you know, gay people started dying and a large number of severely tanned individuals, who were presumably of Hispanic origin, also died.
But not de boys in de rest home! oh no! mixin' de shit wit de mash potatoes done smoothed it out a little, so's it wouldn't kill yo' ass, but, it sho' would make why'ugly! 'n ef why'was already ugly
D make yo ass mean 'n ugly...'n ef you was already mean 'n ugly, it'd turn ya into a strange, unknown kreetchuh, never befo' seen on broadway!^lthass right! it'd turn ya' into a 'mammy nun'! hea
E a potato...lips like a duck...big ol' hands, puffin' up! big ones! science! me-jev'l re-lij-mus costumery all over yo' body! yow! oh yeah! mmmm-hmmm!
However, the boys in the rest home were not affected. Mixing the potion with the mashed potatoes made it less lethal but it would make you ugly. If you were already ugly, it would make you mean and ugly. If you were already mean and ugly, it would transform you into a never-before-seen strange creature like a Mama Nun with potato-like body, duck-like lips, big hands, and covered in strange religious costumes. Yow! Oh yeah! Mmmm-hmmm!
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Frank Vincent Zappa
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind