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.
What Kind Of Girl Do You Think We Are
Frank Zappa Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
What's a girl like you
Doin' in a place like this?
Mark:
I left my place after midnight
And I came to this hall
Me and my girlfriend, we came here
Howard:
You came to the right place
This is it
This is the swingin'-est place
In New York City
Chorus:
NO SHIT!
Mark:
How true that is!
Howard:
Oh, how true indeed
Mark:
Yeah, me and my,
Me and my girlfriend, we come here
Every Friday 'n Saturday night looking for that
Hot romance we need
We like to get it on-
Do you like to get it on, too?
Howard:
Well now, what did you have in mind?
Mark:
Well, I'll tell ya
Well I get off bein' juked
With a baby octopus
And spewed upon with creamed corn . . .
An' my girlfriend, she digs it
With a hot Yoo-hoo bottle
While somebody's screamin':
CORKS 'N SAFETIES
PIGS 'N DONKEYS
ALICE COOPER, baby . . .
WAAAAH!
Bob:
Well, it gets me so hot
I could scream
Chorus:
ALICE COOPER, ALICE COOPER! WAAAAH!
ALICE COOPER, ALICE COOPER! WAAAAH!
Howard:
You two chicks sound real far out and groovy
Ever been to a Holiday Inn?
Mna-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-haaa . . .
Magic Fingers in the bed (Picture it!)
Wall-mounted TV screens
Coffee-Host plugged into the bathroom wall
Formica's really keen!
Chorus:
(What kind of girl?)
What kind of girl do you think we are?
(What kind of girl?)
What kind of girl do you think we are?
(I ain't no groupie)
Don't call us groupies
That is going too far
(What kind of girl?)
We woul
d never sleep with you
And your rusty trombone
We're just here to dance and have some fun
But you wouldn't know, you're too busy being alone
The lyrics of Frank Zappa's song "What Kind of Girl Do You Think We Are?" are a satire on the sexual revolution of the 1960s. The song is a conversation between two men, Howard and Mark, and two women who are present in a nightclub. Howard and Mark are depicted as trying to pick up the two women, who are defiant and reject their advances. The women assert their independence and make it clear that they are not groupies and will not sleep with the men.
The lyrics are full of references to sexual kinks, such as being "juked with a baby octopus" and "spewed upon with creamed corn." The women are unimpressed and mock the men's attempts to impress them with their sexual prowess. The men try to defuse the situation by suggesting that they all go to a Holiday Inn, but the women see through their ploy and reject them outright.
Line by Line Meaning
What's a girl like you Doin' in a place like this?
Howard is asking why the girl is in such a sketchy place
I left my place after midnight And I came to this hall Me and my girlfriend, we came here Lookin' to ball
Mark and his girlfriend came to the place to have sex and have a good time
You came to the right place This is it This is the swingin'-est place In New York City
Howard confirms that the place is, indeed, great
NO SHIT!
Chorus agrees with Howard
How true that is!
Mark also agrees with Howard's statement
Oh, how true indeed
Howard reiterates his previous statement
Yeah, me and my, Me and my girlfriend, we come here Every Friday 'n Saturday night looking for that Hot romance we need We like to get it on- Do you like to get it on, too?
Mark and his girlfriend come to the place often to have sex and are asking if Howard also enjoys it
Well now, what did you have in mind?
Howard is curious about what Mark has in mind to do
Well, I'll tell ya Well I get off bein' juked With a baby octopus And spewed upon with creamed corn . . . An' my girlfriend, she digs it With a hot Yoo-hoo bottle While somebody's screamin': CORKS 'N SAFETIES PIGS 'N DONKEYS ALICE COOPER, baby . . . WAAAAH!
Mark likes to indulge in unorthodox sexual experiences with his girlfriend involving unusual objects while listening to Alice Cooper
Well, it gets me so hot I could scream
Another person named Bob likes the same things as Mark and gets very aroused by them
ALICE COOPER, ALICE COOPER! WAAAAH! ALICE COOPER, ALICE COOPER! WAAAAH!
Chorus screams Alice Cooper's name in a state of excitement
You two chicks sound real far out and groovy Ever been to a Holiday Inn? Mna-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-haaa . . . Magic Fingers in the bed (Picture it!) Wall-mounted TV screens Coffee-Host plugged into the bathroom wall Formica's really keen!
Howard suggests a slightly more luxurious place with better amenities like a Holiday Inn
(What kind of girl?) What kind of girl do you think we are? (What kind of girl?) Don't call us groupies That is going too far (What kind of girl?) We would never make it With a guy that won't even buy us a beer (What kind of girl?) We only like to get up close and personal With those that we hold dear
Chorus clarifies that they are not groupies and would not settle for someone who won't even buy them a beer. They only like to be intimate with people they care about.
Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind