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.
Xmas Values
Frank Zappa Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Monica: Well, this should be interesting
Spider: Remember that they make music with a very dense light
John: Yeah
Monica: O.K.
Spider: And remember about the smoke standing still and how they they really get uptight when you try to move the smoke, right?
Monica: Right
John: Yeah?
Monica: Well don't the splitting ends change the density of the ponies' music so it affects the density of the pigs' music, which makes the smoke move which upsets the pigs?
Spider: No, it isn't like that
John: Well, how does it work?
Spider: Well, what it does is when it strikes any sort of energy field or solid object or even something as ephemeral as smoke, the first thing it does is begins to inactivate the molecular motion so that it slows down and finally stops. That's why the smoke stops. And also have you ever noticed how the the smoke clouds shrink up? That's because the molecules come closer together. The cold light makes it get so small, this is really brittle smoke
John: And that's why the pigs don't want you to touch it
Spider: See, when the smoke gets that brittle what happens when you try to move it is it disintegrates
John: And the pigs get uptight 'cause you know they, they worship that smoke. They salute it every day
Monica: You know we've got something here
John: And, and, and, and that's the basis of all their nationalism. Like if they can't salute the smoke every morning when they get up . . .
Spider: Yeah, it's a vicious circle. You got it
"Xmas Values" is a satirical song by Frank Zappa that mocks the commercialization of Christmas and the values associated with it. The above lyrics are part of a nonsensical conversation between characters named Spider, Monica, and John about the pigs' music and their reverence for smoke. The absurdity of the conversation highlights the pointlessness of the values that society attaches to Christmas, such as the emphasis on material goods and rituals.
Zappa's use of humor and satire in this song is typical of his music and lyrics. He often used his art as a platform to criticize societal norms and conventions. In "Xmas Values," he attacks the rampant consumerism and shallow values of Christmas, showing how even something as trivial as smoke can become an object of worship.
The song also showcases Zappa's unique musical style, which blends various genres and techniques, including jazz, rock, and avant-garde. The music is complex and intricate, with unexpected shifts in rhythm and melody.
Line by Line Meaning
Spider: I think I can explain about about how the pigs' music works
Spider is confident in his ability to elucidate upon the workings of pig music.
Monica: Well, this should be interesting
Monica expresses anticipation about Spider's explanation.
Spider: Remember that they make music with a very dense light
Spider asks his comrades to remember the fact that pigs make music via dense light.
John: Yeah
John affirms his recollection of pig music production.
Monica: O.K.
Monica gives permission for Spider to continue.
Spider: And remember about the smoke standing still and how they they really get uptight when you try to move the smoke, right?
Spider recalls the phenomenon of static smoke and the pigs' sensitivity towards any alterations of such smoke.
Monica: Right
Monica agrees with Spider's statement.
John: Yeah?
John seeks further explanation from Spider.
Spider: I think the music in that dense light is probably what makes the smoke stand still. As soon as the pony's mane starts to get good in the back any sort of motion, especially of smoke or gas, begins to make the ends split
Spider hypothesizes that the music pig produce via dense light is responsible for static smoke, whereas any kind of movement may cause the smoke to disperse.
Monica: Well don't the splitting ends change the density of the ponies' music so it affects the density of the pigs' music, which makes the smoke move which upsets the pigs?
Monica wonders if disruption of the source of static smoke also disrupts pig music's density, causing the smoke to move and thus annoy the pigs.
Spider: No, it isn't like that
Spider denies Monica's conjecture.
John: Well, how does it work?
John enquires into the mechanics of the phenomenon under discussion.
Spider: Well, what it does is when it strikes any sort of energy field or solid object or even something as ephemeral as smoke, the first thing it does is begins to inactivate the molecular motion so that it slows down and finally stops. That's why the smoke stops. And also have you ever noticed how the the smoke clouds shrink up? That's because the molecules come closer together. The cold light makes it get so small, this is really brittle smoke
Spider explains how pig music's dense light interacts with smoke to cause static smoke which he describes as brittle and caused by a decrease in molecular motion brought about by pig music.
John: And that's why the pigs don't want you to touch it
John concludes that pigs are possessive of static smoke due to its brittleness which makes it susceptible to disintegration upon touch.
Spider: See, when the smoke gets that brittle what happens when you try to move it is it disintegrates
Spider reiterates the fragility of static smoke and what happens when somebody attempts to move it.
John: And the pigs get uptight 'cause you know they, they worship that smoke. They salute it every day
John suggests that static smoke holds great importance to pigs, being that they appear to revere it in daily rituals.
Monica: You know we've got something here
Monica realizes the significance of their discussion and its potential implications.
John: And, and, and, and that's the basis of all their nationalism. Like if they can't salute the smoke every morning when they get up . . .
John links the worship of static smoke to the pigs' nationalism, implying that its absence might adversely impact their ideological foundation.
Spider: Yeah, it's a vicious circle. You got it
Spider agrees with John's analysis, stating that it is a self-perpetuating cycle.
Contributed by Sadie E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Pierre Voyard
Fait pour ceux qui aiment les beaux sons et les graves amples et profonds ! Étonnante prise de son, et puis merde, quoi, c'est du Zappa !
pillihp zelaznog
Some people may say this is just noise.. but to me this is my kind of Christmas! And a Merry one to you all!
Brent Raby
This is my favorite side of Zappa
James A Georgiades
Superb stuff, well ahead, miss you Frank…xx
TheWalkinTED JR
This is genius!
Wayne Danberry
The 'Modern Day Composer'!
Brent Cheetham
Brilliant!
The Original Masters
With most Zappa orchestral stuff, it always sounds like a more intense version of atonal tv scoring from the 60s. Yawning strings and horns, then plucky percussion, then back to the yawning, then again with the plucky percussion.
Richard Morton
Merry Christmas. This is his best yet all love.
Wayne Danberry
+Richard Morton , But NOW There is His Last CD, 'Dance Me This', Some COOL, Interesting Stuff!