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.
Shove It Right In
Frank Zappa Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
She'll wear tonight to dance in!
(She dances, she prances, she dances, she prances
She prances, she prances, she...)
The places that she goes
Are filled with guys from groups,
(Yeah-yeah-yeah)
PROVOCATIVE SQUATS!
(gum-me-on-m'lung-a)
PROVOCATIVE SQUATS!
(gum-me-on-m'lung-a)
PROVOCATIVE SQUATS!
(gum-me-on-m'lung-a)
PROVOCATIVE SQUATS!
(gum-me-on-m'lung-a)
Well, at least there's sort of a choice there;
Twenty or thirty at times there have been--
Somewhat desirable boys there--
Dressed really spiffy, with long hair--
Waiting for girls they can shove it right in
Well, at least there's sort of a choice there;
Twenty or thirty at times there have been--
Somewhat desirable boys there--
Dressed really spiffy, with long hair--
Waiting for girls they can shove it right in
The lyrics of Frank Zappa's "Shove It Right In" provide a vivid depiction of a woman who likes to dance and prance, wearing provocative clothes that attract the attention of men in groups. The guys at these places are, according to the lyrics, eagerly waiting for a chance to break her pants in. The song also highlights the provocative squats performed by the woman, an act that may be viewed as sexually suggestive. Overall, the lyrics come off as intensely sexualized, describing the woman's interactions with men at these events as purely hedonistic.
This song shines a light on the sexually charged dance culture of the 1970s, where people went to discotheques to dance, drink, and meet new people. It also portrays a sad truth about how young women were viewed and used as sex objects. The line about "breaking her pants in" is especially crude, suggesting that these men were only interested in having sex with her, rather than getting to know her as a person.
It's also possible that Zappa was attempting to flip the script on societal expectations of how men and women should behave in sexual situations. The lyrics imply that women can be just as active and willing participants in sexual encounters as men, rather than being passive recipients of male advances.
Line by Line Meaning
She chooses all the clothes
She'll wear tonight to dance in!
The girl takes great care and attention to select the outfit that she will wear for an evening of dancing.
The places that she goes
Are filled with guys from groups,
(Yeah-yeah-yeah)
The girl frequents locations where groups of men hang out and men will be competing for her attention.
Waiting for a chance to break her pants in
PROVOCATIVE SQUATS!
(gum-me-on-m'lung-a)
PROVOCATIVE SQUATS!
(gum-me-on-m'lung-a)
PROVOCATIVE SQUATS!
(gum-me-on-m'lung-a)
PROVOCATIVE SQUATS!
(gum-me-on-m'lung-a)
These men are eagerly awaiting an opportunity to engage in sexual activity with the girl, regardless of how vulgar and inappropriate it might seem.
Well, at least there's sort of a choice there;
Twenty or thirty at times there have been--
Somewhat desirable boys there--
Dressed really spiffy, with long hair--
Waiting for girls they can shove it right in
Despite the abundance of men and their impolite intentions, the girl still has the freedom to select someone from the group of somewhat desirable men who will shove it right in at the first opportunity.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
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