Frank Zappa: Bobby Brown Goes Down

Factual Questions
1

In the song, Bobby Brown Goes Down, by Frank Zappa, vs. two goes:

Women’s liberation
came a sweepin all across the nation.
I tell you people, I was not ready,
when I fucked this dike by the name of Freddy.
She gave me a little speech then,
oh she tried to make me say when.
She had my balls in a vice but she left the dick
I guess it’s still hooked on, but now it shoots to quick.

Later, the song says:

Am I a boy or a lady, I don’t know which?
What the hell happened to this poor man’s genitalia? I have this horrible mental picture of a giant bull-dike (or mannish lesbian woman for the PC crowd, but can’t we sacrifice PC to humor?!?), holding Frank Zappa’s testicles with a pair of Sears Vice Grips, and penile disfuntion as a result… (Shudder)

Any thoughts on this passage?

2

My best guess is that Zappa suffered from one too many hits of LSD… but I’m thinking the same results could be obtained on the occasion of a poor thanksgiving.

-01134

3

I beg your pardon… Mr. Zappa was a staunch and vocal opponent of alcohol and drugs (with the exception of nicotine, which he considered a “food”).

I am a big fan of (the late) Mr. Zappa; I probably own 20 or so MOI / Zappa albums. While his lyrics and musical style are definitely not mainstream, many consider him to be one of the greatest composers of the 20th century.

And his autobiography is a real hoot of a read.

4

Heh. One of my favorite instrumentals of all time is Alien Orifice by Zappa. And a guy that can write a song called Illinois Enema Bandit about a true life criminal has to be a genius.

Take it away, Don Pardo.

5

I would not have believed this song existed but… here it is. As for the “genius” part I’ll reserve comment.

http://www.geocities.com/geniac2/dirstar/verse/the_illinois_enema_bandit.txt

The Illinois Enema Bandit

And now folks it’s time for
Don Pardo
To deliver our special
Illinois Enema Bandit-type announcement
Take it away, Don

[note: copyrighted lyrics redacted. -manhattan]

[Edited by manhattan on 10-17-2000 at 05:40 PM]

6

Yes, FZ WAS a genius… He wrote the silly stuff (such as Illinois Enema Bandit and Bobby Brown to finance the more serious work such as waka/jawaka, hot rats, civilization phase 3, etc…

Yes, I am a major zappa fan (as is obvious from my sig). I probably own about 50 of his titles… still have quite a few to go. The man put out (on average) two albums a year for the entire span of his career (almost 30 years)

As for the OP, it could be the result of some extreme S&M game, or an extremely exaggerated metaphor for women’s lib ‘emasculating’ american men…

7

Which I then forget to show :rolleyes:

Oy.

8

“Bobby Brown” is from FZ’s 1979 album,Sheik Yerbouti, a lively operatic commentary on the shallowness of the 70’s. Ironically, it also produced his one mainstream hit, “Dancin’ Fool”.

The Bobby Brown character is a chauvinistic jerk, as the first verse sets forth:

I’m dressin’ sharp ‘n’ I’m
Actin’ cool
I gotta cheerleader here wants to help with my paper
Let her do all the work ‘n’ maybe later I’ll rape her

(followed by a lovely chorus)

Oh God I am the American Dream
I do not think I’m too extreme
An’ I’m a handsome sonofabitch
I’m gonna get a good job ‘n’ be real rich

He then goes on to his encounter with Freddy, who has really done him a favor by delivering him to his emasculated fate of leisure suits, radio promo, and S&M fun.

Oh God I am the American Dream
With a spindle up my butt till it makes me scream
An’ I’ll do anything to get ahead
I lay awake nights sayin’ “Thank you, Fred!”
Oh God, Oh God, I’m so fantastic!
Thanks to Freddie, I’m a sexual spastic
And my name is Bobby Brown,
Watch me now; I’m goin’ down
(Repeat, etc.)

If ya look at the OP as isolated, FZ looks misogynist, but the song is about a creep who gets his eclairs justly creamed.

Damn, I really miss Zappa. He’s one of my musical heroes, and I really wish he were still around for his commentary on this nutso planet, all wrapped up with brilliant orchestration. And one of the reasons I cannot bring myself to vote for Gore is because of Tipper’s idiotic censorship crap in the 80’s. So, for Frank, who battled her over the issue, I won’t.

9

elelle,
Ditto- you summed it up nicely. Many people’s knee-jerk reaction to Zappa is caused by stereotyping of “rock-stars”.
Zappa was indeed a genius at least musically, probably in many other ways also. His long hair, strange politics, and lyrics led many to believe that he was just a burnt-out hippie from the 70’s. He did not do drugs, thought they were counter productive. However he did like “sex” and thought this was a much better topic to “discuss” in his songs. I assure you, he is greatly missed and was greatly misunderstood.

10

Was this guy prophetic or what! Whitney Houston’s husband Bobby Brown was only 10 when FZ wrote that. And now look at him!

11

AWB: oh, heh!

It’s true that Zappa often gets dismissed as a drug-crazed freak because of his looks, dress, and lyrics. And also true that he was very disciplined and didn’t abuse the usual inebriants. This rule was strictly applied to his band as well. If you were too messed up to play, so long.

As to the sexual nature of his lyrics, he dealt with the real meat of the issue, and all it’s subsequent warping of society, rather than drawing vapid cartoons to create enough salivation to peddle the regular tripe. I admire his ability to forgo the accolades that may have come from being a “straight” composer (he certainly was competent enough), and instead use the freedom of the era to push the boundaries of “acceptable” speech. All with a razor-sharp humor.

A nice side note: When Vaclav Havel, a long time admirer of Mr. Zappa, got out of prison, and became the President of Czechoslavakia, he invited Frank for an official visit. That’s my kind of politician!

12

In fact, it was Havel’s wish for Zappa to become the US ambassador to the Czech Republic; the US government would have nothing to do with that, however.