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.
Ruthie-Ruthie
Frank Zappa Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Mark volman (vocals)
Howard kaylan (vocals)
Jim pons (bass, vocals)
Ian underwood (keyboards, alto saxophone)
Aynsley dunbar (drums)
I, I cant see you, but I know that youre out there...
Its that little voice...
That same little voice at all of the concerts,
Of the guy in the back of the room
Okay...? !? !? !? !? !? !? !?
A couple a years ago,
There was a guy that used to come
To all the concerts on the east coast
I swore I heard him every night for a month
That he was somewhere in the audience
Anyway, its this little voice, and he would say:
"freak me out frank!
Freak me out!
Freak me out frank!"
Okay, here we go!
Arf arf! ? !? !? !?
Arf!
Ruthie-ruthie
Where did you go?
Oh, ruthie-ruthie
Where did you go?
Last night, I tried to ... her
This burned pennsylvania all ... your story
Right after ruth got through barfin
She pushed the tray out the door
She rocks me compassionate
Ruthie-ruthie
Where did you go?
What could you do now,
What could you do?
Ruthie-ruthie
Oh yeah
What did you do?
Ruthie had on a thin night gown
She wouldnt fill it everywhere
No no no no
She pushed the tray out the door
Some guy tried to come in
She kicked him in the nose
She said: "oh oh oh oh!"
Ruthie-ruthie
What did you do?
(now, what did you do?
What did you do?
What did you do? )
Ruthie-ruthie
(ruthie-ruthie
That was the best thing anybody could do)
What did you do now?
Well, we have another song for you
That goes far beyond louie-louie,
Ruthie-ruthie, or even brian-brian
This song is so advanced
It takes us all the way from nineteen fifty-five
Directly to approximately nineteen fifty-seven,
Which is when it should have been written,
But actually it was written about nineteen seventy
This is a song,
We like to dedicate this song to marty, our road manager,
Who has a fondness for the k-nine species
And the orifice attendant thereto
The song "Ruthie-Ruthie" by Frank Zappa is a comical and nonsensical tune. The lyrics are a mishmash of various phrases, making it difficult to draw any clear meaning from it. The opening lines of the song suggest that the singer can't see the audience but can hear them. The singer then speaks about a guy who used to come to all their concerts on the east coast and yell, "Freak me out Frank!" which leads into another random section featuring dog barks.
The main part of the song, "Ruthie-Ruthie, where did you go?" seems to be focused on a character named Ruthie. The lyrics are scattered, but it appears that Ruthie may have been a waitress or server who became ill, vomited, and then went missing. The singer tries to find out what happened to Ruthie but is unable to get any answers. Throughout the song, there are various incongruous phrases and nonsense lyrics which make it difficult to discern the actual meaning.
Overall, the song seems to be a satirical commentary on the strange and sometimes nonsensical aspects of life. It's a tongue-in-cheek portrayal of the absurdity of human existence and our attempts to make sense of it.
Line by Line Meaning
I, I cant see you, but I know that youre out there...
Although I'm unable to physically witness your presence, I'm certain that you are here with me
Its that little voice...
Intrigued by a particular voice that I keep hearing
That same little voice at all of the concerts,
The same individual who keeps repeating their message at every concert
Of the guy in the back of the room
Belonging to an individual located at the rear of the venue
A couple a years ago,
A couple of years in the past
There was a guy that used to come
There was an individual who frequented our shows
To all the concerts on the east coast
Attending each concert that took place on the east coast
I swore I heard him every night for a month
I believed that I heard his voice every night for a duration of one month
That he was somewhere in the audience
Speculating that he was present somewhere within the crowd
Anyway, its this little voice, and he would say:
This peculiar voice that I keep hearing, he would repeatedly say:
"freak me out frank!
'Frank, please surprise me and do something crazy!'
Freak me out!
'I want to be amazed by your performance!'
Freak me out frank!"
'Frank, blow my mind with something unexpected!'
Okay, here we go!
Very well, prepare for something exciting!
Arf arf! ? !? !? !?
Woof woof! What could this mean?
Arf!
Bark! Maybe my barking will invoke a reaction
Ruthie-ruthie
A name of a person I'm attempting to locate
Where did you go?
Where did you disappear to?
Oh, ruthie-ruthie
Oh, dear Ruthie
Last night, I tried to ... her
Last night, I made an attempt to find her
This burned pennsylvania all ... your story
This area of Pennsylvania has been destroyed in some way and your account of what occurred there is no longer true
Right after ruth got through barfin
Immediately following Ruth's vomiting
She pushed the tray out the door
She propelled the tray outside of the door
She rocks me compassionate
She has an effect on me that makes me feel sympathy
What could you do now,
What actions can be taken at this moment?
Ruthie-ruthie
I'm still inquiring about Ruthie
What did you do?
What happened in your life?
Ruthie had on a thin night gown
Ruthie was wearing a nightgown made of delicate material
She wouldnt fill it everywhere
Ruthie didn't have the adequate amount of material to cover everywhere
No no no no
No, that can't be
Some guy tried to come in
An unknown man attempted to enter the room
She kicked him in the nose
He received a blow to his nose by Ruthie's action of kicking
She said: "oh oh oh oh!"
Ruthie made an exclamation multiple times
What did you do now?
What actions are you currently taking?
Well, we have another song for you
We are excited to play another song for you
That goes far beyond louie-louie,
This song is beyond the level of complexity of the popular song 'Louie Louie'
Ruthie-ruthie, or even brian-brian
It even surpasses 'Ruthie Ruthie' and 'Brian Brian'
This song is so advanced
The level of proficiency required to perform this song is higher than normal
It takes us all the way from nineteen fifty-five
This song is a deviation from music in the year 1955
Directly to approximately nineteen fifty-seven,
It's more in alignment with styles developed around 1957
Which is when it should have been written,
This song's era of distinction is tied to when it should've originally been produced
But actually it was written about nineteen seventy
In actuality, this song was written approximately in 1970
This is a song,
I will now play you a song
We like to dedicate this song to marty, our road manager,
We would like to give special thanks to our road manager named Marty
Who has a fondness for the k-nine species
Who demonstrates a liking for canines
And the orifice attendant thereto
And the openings that are associated with canines
Contributed by Mason V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.