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.
That Would Be the End of That
Frank Zappa Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
John: That's right
Monica: Yeah . . . yeah
John: But the thing is, you know what?
Spider: What?
John: We don't even understand our own music
Spider: It doesn't, does it matter whether we understand it? At least it'll give us . . . strength
John: I know but maybe we could get into it more if we understood it
John: Yeah
Spider: No, I don't think so, because - see I think, I think our strength comes from our uncertainty. If we understood it we'd be bored with it and then we couldn't gather any strength from it
John: Like if we knew about our music one of us might talk and then that would be the end of that
The lyrics to Frank Zappa's song That Would Be the End of That explore the idea of the power of music and the importance of uncertainty in the creative process. The conversation between Spider, John, and Monica highlights the different perspectives on the role of understanding in the creation and performance of music. While John suggests that understanding the music would allow them to get more into it, Spider argues that their strength comes from the uncertainty and mystery of the music, and that understanding it would only lead to boredom and a lack of creative energy.
This conversation can be interpreted as a commentary on the nature of artistic creation and the tension between the desire for control and the need for spontaneity and experimentation. By emphasizing the importance of uncertainty and mystery, Zappa suggests that true creativity cannot be fully understood or controlled, but must be allowed to emerge and evolve in its own way.
Overall, the lyrics to That Would Be the End of That offer a thought-provoking exploration of the power and mystery of music, and the complex relationship between understanding and creativity.
Line by Line Meaning
Spider: We can get our strength up by making some music
Spider proposes that creating music can be empowering.
John: That's right
John affirms Spider's idea.
Monica: Yeah . . . yeah
Monica agrees with the conversation.
John: But the thing is, you know what?
John intends to express a caveat.
Spider: What?
Spider is curious to know what John is thinking.
John: We don't even understand our own music
John confesses that they lack understanding of their own music.
Spider: It doesn't, does it matter whether we understand it? At least it'll give us . . . strength
Spider thinks that knowledge is not essential to gain strength from their music.
John: I know but maybe we could get into it more if we understood it
John counters that they might enjoy and appreciate their music better if they understood it.
Spider: We'd get more strength from it if we understood it?
Spider questions John's assertion that understanding their music will boost their strength.
John: Yeah
John affirms his previous statement.
Spider: No, I don't think so, because - see I think, I think our strength comes from our uncertainty. If we understood it we'd be bored with it and then we couldn't gather any strength from it
Spider believes that their strength springs from the unpredictability of their music and that knowing it would make it dull, losing the potency they get from it.
John: Like if we knew about our music one of us might talk and then that would be the end of that
John fears that if they know too much about their music, one of them might mention it and lose the power of their ignorance.
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Frank Vincent Zappa
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind