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.
The World
Frank Zappa Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I said, the world's greatest sinner.
As a sinner he's a winner.
Honey, he's no beginner.
He's rotten to the core,
Daddy, you can't say no more.
He's the world's greatest sinner.
Then you know what I mean.
If you see him walkin'
Around the floor,
He's the meanest creature you ever seen.
I mean, he is terrible!
Too much!
He's no beginner.
He's the world's greatest sinner.
Unbelievable
The lyrics to Frank Zappa's song The World describe a character who is considered by the singer to be the greatest sinner in the world. The character is portrayed as being experienced in sinning, not a beginner in any way. The singer describes him as being rotten to the core, and the most terrible and meanest creature ever seen. The song suggests that the more a person sins, the more experienced and powerful they become, elevating them to a status of greatness.
However, this interpretation can also be viewed in a different light. The lyrics may be ironic, as the singer could be mocking the idea that being a great sinner is a desirable achievement. The lyrics, then, could be interpreted as a commentary on society's glorification of sin and immoral behavior.
Line by Line Meaning
Ah, he's the world's greatest sinner.
He is perceived as the greatest sinner in the world.
I said, the world's greatest sinner.
I reiterated that he is the greatest sinner in the world.
As a sinner he's a winner.
He excels at sinning.
Honey, he's no beginner.
He is not a novice at sinning.
He's rotten to the core,
He is thoroughly bad, wicked and corrupt.
Daddy, you can't say no more.
It is impossible to enumerate how bad he is.
He's the world's greatest sinner.
He is still perceived as the greatest sinner in the world.
If you've never sinned before,
If you have never committed a sin before,
Then you know what I mean.
You can understand what I am talking about.
If you see him walkin'
If you see him walking around,
Around the floor,
Moving around the vicinity,
He's the meanest creature you ever seen.
He is the most vicious and cruel entity you've ever laid eyes on.
I mean, he is terrible!
He is incredibly bad.
Too much!
He is excessively bad!
He's no beginner.
He is not a novice at sinning.
He's the world's greatest sinner.
He is still perceived as the greatest sinner in the world.
Unbelievable
It is difficult to believe and impossible to deny his wrongdoing.
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: FRANK ZAPPA
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
TRUARTE
Franks first gig out of composition school, back then a "straight" guy with suit and tie, soon to transform into a total music anarchist - hard to believe no mind-altering drugs were consumed. Genius in any event.
tigress and the u-fraidees
FZ never went to any composition school.
ModMokkaMatti
I don't find it difficult to believe. Drugs are a pathetic means to futilely achieve a rather short-lived enlightenment. The greatest minds create their own.
Nasty Hardcore
@tigress and the u-fraidees i read his autobiography many years ago. he briefly enrolled at a college or community college with a major on music. I don't think he studied for long though and definitely didn't finish his drgree.
Dr. Ray
this is the best version of zappa
Joe Flink
Frank did once mention he smoked the devil's weed around ten times in the mid 60s, but all it ever did was hurt his throat and make him feel sleepy.
Julio Jesus Jimenez
This Elvis style impersonator is Thimoty Carey.
He wrote, directed, produced, distributed and starred in the film "The World's Greatest Sinner" (1962) from which this video is.
A young Zappa wrote the whole music score of the film, including this song (most probably also played all guitar parts of the score himself).
Check out the "early surf guitar solo" on this tune.
Gregory Scanlon
Thanks for keeping it real, Julio
HEADLINEZOO
He appears to be impersonating Bill Haley
peter hlinka
@HEADLINEZOO
Did not know Haley was
Epileptic...