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.
Time Is Money
Frank Zappa Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But space is a long, long time!
Perhaps you are surprised
To see I speak your language?
But I have been monitoring
Your earthly broadcasts for
Many years
And the reception on my little planet
Is extremely fine!
Time is money
But space is a long, long time!
On my lonely throne
In the cosmic night I ponder the vast expanses
Between your puny world and mine!
From my couch-in-the-sky,
As my planet goes by,
I behold all your misery below there!
I have seen all your lying,
And crying, and dying,
And, believe me,
Your planet is nowhere!
Space is a very long time!
(And if the equation,as set forth above, is proved when we get to the bottom line
The 'powers financial' I'll hold o'er your world will complete my fantastic design!)
And the whole 'equivalent earth' shall be mine!
And the whole 'equivalent earth' shall be mine!
And the whole 'equivalent earth' shall be mine!
Mine! mine!
In Frank Zappa's song Time is Money, the singer is an alien who has been monitoring Earth for many years through its broadcasts. The lyrics suggest that the alien is fascinated with humanity and the planet Earth, but also finds it amusing to observe the human struggles and misery. The alien reminds us that time is valuable and finite, but space is infinite, "a long, long time," which may suggest that we should make the most of the time we have on Earth. The alien's tone is one of detachment, superiority, and even greed, as it speaks of holding financial power over humanity and taking over the "equivalent earth."
The song's lyrics are open to interpretation, with some fans suggesting that the song speaks to Zappa's own views on capitalism and the destructive nature of greed. Others have read the song as a commentary on the Cold War and the struggle for power between the US and the Soviet Union. Regardless of its intended meaning, Time is Money is a testament to Zappa's signature style of blending humor, social commentary, and musical experimentation in his music.
Line by Line Meaning
Time is money
The passage of time has a financial value
But space is a long, long time!
The vastness of space makes time seem insignificant and immaterial
Perhaps you are surprised
To see I speak your language?
The singer is an extraterrestrial who can understand and speak the language of Earth
But I have been monitoring
Your earthly broadcasts for
Many years
Many years
And the reception on my little planet
Is extremely fine!
The extraterrestrial has been receiving and studying Earth's broadcasts for a long time and has a good reception signal
On my lonely throne
In the cosmic night I ponder the vast expanses
Between your puny world and mine!
The extraterrestrial sits on a throne in the cosmos and thinks about the vastness of space between Earth and their planet
From my couch-in-the-sky,
As my planet goes by,
I behold all your misery below there!
The extraterrestrial watches from their vantage point as their planet goes by and sees all the misery on Earth
I have seen all your lying,
And crying, and dying,
And, believe me,
Your planet is nowhere!
The extraterrestrial has witnessed all the lying, crying, and dying on Earth, and believes that it is inferior to their planet
Space is a very long time!
Space is vast and expansive, making time seem insignificant in comparison
(And if the equation,as set forth above, is proved when we get to the bottom line
The 'powers financial' I'll hold o'er your world will complete my fantastic design!)
If the artist's belief that time is money is proven to be true, they will hold power and control over Earth's financial systems
And the whole 'equivalent earth' shall be mine!
And the whole 'equivalent earth' shall be mine!
And the whole 'equivalent earth' shall be mine!
Mine! mine!
The extraterrestrial desires to conquer and control Earth, believing that their planet is superior
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Frank Vincent Zappa
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind