Replies to post #71648 on Tornado Alley (PROG)

[sortagreen]

Frank Zappa was pretty well known for his social commentary. As far as the music went, I he was largely uneducated, but his knowledge of music and his guitar playing was highly respected. The quality and diversity of musicians who played with him spoke to the genius there.

When I quipped that those quotes could have come right out of a Chunga post (the name comes from an album title, Chunga's Revenge I believe) I was being facetious. While Chunga seems to be a Zappa fan, he surely seems to disagree with the general thrust of Zappa's anti-authoritarian message.

Among the last things Zappa did was to testify in front of Congress during the music labeling controversy (Dee Snyder did also, and both were extremely eloquent in their defense of the 1st amendment and artistic expression )

If Chunga says it's mostly about the music with him, it probably is. The music is superb as well... at least in most places. I'd recommend a couple of the classics, like Apostrophe and Over-nite Sensation (which featured Jean-Luc Ponty and George Duke among others).

----------------------------
I Am the Slime
(Over-nite Sensation 1973)

I am gross and perverted
Im obsessed n deranged
I have existed for years
But very little had changed
I am the tool of the government
And industry too
For I am destined to rule
And regulate you

I may be vile and pernicious
But you cant look away
I make you think Im delicious
With the stuff that I say
I am the best you can get
Have you guessed me yet?
I am the slime oozin out
From your tv set

You will obey me while I lead you
And eat the garbage that I feed you
Until the day that we dont need you
Dont got for help...no one will heed you
Your mind is totally controlled
It has been stuffed into my mold
And you will do as you are told
Until the rights to you are sold

Thats right, folks..
Dont touch that dial

Well, I am the slime from your video
Oozin along on your livinroom floor

I am the slime from your video
Cant stop the slime, people, lookit me go




hungry freaks daddy
(Freak out 1966)

Mr. america, walk on by your schools that do not teach
Mr. america, walk on by the minds that wont be reached
Mr. america try to hide the emptiness thats you inside
But once you find that the way you lied
And all the corny tricks you tried
Will not forestall the rising tide of hungry freaks daddy!

They wont go on four no more
Great mid-western hardware store
Philosophy that turns away
From those who arent afraid to say whats on their minds
The left behinds of the great society

Hungry freaks, daddy!

Mr. america, walk on by your supermarket dream
Mr. america, walk on by the liquor store supreme
Mr. america try to hide the product of your savage pride
The useful minds that it denied
The day you shrugged and stepped aside
You saw their clothes, and then you cried,
Those hungry freaks, daddy!

They wont go on four no more
Great mid-western hardware store
Philosophy that turns away
From those who arent afraid to say whats on their minds
The left behinds of the great society

[arizona1]

This is well worth watching.

From Bill Moyers Journal...

Playing For Change. Peace Through Music.

My next guest continues to believe that through song we can change the world. We first introduced him to you a few weeks ago, and we were overwhelmed by your response. One woman whose family has been pitched overboard by the sinking economy wrote us to say: "I haven't felt much joy lately," but after watching the program, "for the first time in a very long time, my heart felt something other than pain and fear."

We lost count of the number of people who requested an encore so we're delighted now to oblige.

Mark Johnson is the co-director of a remarkable documentary about the simple but transformative power of music: "Playing for Change: Peace Through Music."
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/12052008/watch3.html