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.
Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance
Frank Zappa Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Who is lonely will be free . . .
TO SING & DANCE & LOVE
There will come a time when every evil
That we know will be an evil . . .
THAT WE CAN RISE ABOVE
Who cares if hair is long or short
WE KNOW THAT HAIR AIN'T WHERE IT'S AT
(there will come a time when you won't even be ashamed if you are fat!)
WAH WAH-WAH WAH
La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la
La la la la la la la la (a-a-ah!)
La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la
La la la la la la la la (oo-wee-ooh!)
Diddle-diddle-dee
(Diddle-diddle-dee)
Diddle-diddle-dee
(Diddle-diddle-dee)
Diddle-diddle-dee
(Diddle-diddle-dee)
Diddle-diddle-dee
(Diddle-diddle-dee)
La la la la la la la la la la la la
La la la la la
WAH WAH-WAH WAH
There will come a time when everybody
Who is lonely will be free . . .
TO SING & DANCE & LOVE (dance and love)
There will come a time when every evil
That we know will be an evil . . .
THAT WE CAN RISE ABOVE (rise above)
Who cares if you're so poor you can't afford
To buy a pair of Mod A Go-Go stretch-elastic pants . . .
THERE WILL COME A TIME WHEN YOU CAN EVEN
TAKE YOUR CLOTHES OFF WHEN YOU DANCE
The lyrics to Frank Zappa's "Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance" are about a time in the future when everyone will be free to express themselves through song, dance, and love. Zappa speaks of a world where people will rise above evil and embrace everything that makes them unique, including their hair, body shape, and clothing choices. The song is about acceptance of oneself and others and not caring about societal norms or conventional beauty standards.
Zappa encourages people not to be ashamed of their body by saying there will come a time when it won't matter if people are fat. He urges people not to be hung up on material possessions, like clothes, because there will come a time when everyone can take their clothes off when they dance.
The song is a reflection of Zappa's counter-culture beliefs, where he challenges people to be true to themselves and not conform to society's standards. The lyrics also suggest that there is a better world than the one we know, and it is up to us to create it.
Line by Line Meaning
There will come a time when everybody
Who is lonely will be free . . .
TO SING & DANCE & LOVE
A day will come when all of those who consider themselves alone will be liberated, and they can sing, dance, and love with absolute freedom.
There will come a time when every evil
That we know will be an evil . . .
THAT WE CAN RISE ABOVE
A time will arrive when all the detestable images associated with the term 'evil' shall become openhanded to us, and we will have the strength to resist them.
Who cares if hair is long or short
Or sprayed or partly grayed . . .
WE KNOW THAT HAIR AIN'T WHERE IT'S AT
(there will come a time when you won't even be ashamed if you are fat!)
WAH WAH-WAH WAH
The strands on our heads should not be relevant, whether they are lengthy or abbreviated, dyed or few grey ones. Hair is insignificant. We know that the weight of our body won't even deter us in the future from taking off our clothes and enjoying ourselves even if we look chubby.
La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la
La la la la la la la la (a-a-ah!)
La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la
La la la la la la la la (oo-wee-ooh!)
Diddle-diddle-dee
(Diddle-diddle-dee)
Diddle-diddle-dee
(Diddle-diddle-dee)
Diddle-diddle-dee
(Diddle-diddle-dee)
Diddle-diddle-dee
(Diddle-diddle-dee)
La la la la la la la la la la la la
La la la la la
WAH WAH-WAH WAH
Lyrics are nonsensical and have no particular importance or meaning.
There will come a time when everybody
Who is lonely will be free . . .
TO SING & DANCE & LOVE (dance and love)
There will come a time when every evil
That we know will be an evil . . .
THAT WE CAN RISE ABOVE (rise above)
These lines are a repetition of the starting verses.
Who cares if you're so poor you can't afford
To buy a pair of Mod A Go-Go stretch-elastic pants . . .
THERE WILL COME A TIME WHEN YOU CAN EVEN
TAKE YOUR CLOTHES OFF WHEN YOU DANCE
It doesn't matter if you can't afford to purchase those fashionable trousers; the time will arise when you'll be comfortable enough to remove your clothes altogether and enjoy the party.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind