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Misuse. Repurposed Pop Song is specifically about pre-existing songs being reused as advertising jingles and does not cover albums reusing songs from earlier releases.
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* RepurposedPopSong: After president UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter considered reinstating the draft Zappa released a ProtestSong called "I Don't Wanna Get Drafted" in 1980. The single "Drafted Again" on "You Are What You Is" is the same song, but sped up in comedically funny voices. For those who want to hear the original version, check out "The Lost Episodes" (1995).
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** At the start of the 1980s the Moral Majority and Christian fundamentalists were very powerful in American politics, with UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan directly profiting from their support and vice versa. Zappa's concerns about these evolutions were strong enough to inspire no less than three songs on this album ("Heavenly Bank Account", "Dumb All Over" and "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing"). He would cricitize this topic on later albums that decade again. "Drafted Again" was directly inspired by the US government under President UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter considering the re-instatement of the draft.
to:
** At the start of the 1980s the Moral Majority and Christian fundamentalists were very powerful in American politics, with UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan directly profiting from their support and vice versa. Zappa's concerns about these evolutions were strong enough to inspire no less than three songs on this album ("Heavenly Bank Account", "Dumb All Over" and "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing"). He would cricitize this topic on later albums that decade again.continue to criticize the religious right in his material throughout the '80s. "Drafted Again" was directly inspired by the US government under President UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter considering the re-instatement of the draft.
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** The televangelist in "Heavenly Bank Account" has got a Wembley tie, which [[IncrediblyLamePun ties in]] with tie imagery in Zappa's lyrics.
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** The televangelist in "Heavenly Bank Account" has got a Wembley tie, which [[IncrediblyLamePun [[{{Pun}} ties in]] with tie imagery in Zappa's lyrics.
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** "Goblin Girl": At first it appears to be a song about a female goblin, but then it turns out be an IncrediblyLamePun on the verb "to gobble".
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** "Goblin Girl": At first it appears to be a song about a female goblin, but then it turns out be an IncrediblyLamePun a {{pun}} on the verb "to gobble".
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* GreedyTelevangelist: "Heavenly Bank Account" is an early example, being released in 1981, well before the televangelism scandals of the late '80s that popularized the trope. The song depicts a televangelist who gets himself in the good graces of both the American public and the American government for the sake of embezzling donations without scrutiny, becoming a multimillionaire through invoking "the Fear of God in the Common Man."
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* NonAppearingTitle: "Teen-age Wind"--The "Teen-age" part anyway.
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Now he talks like Kingfish from ''Series/AmosAndAndy''\\
He tells you that Chitlins, well, they taste just like candy
He tells you that Chitlins, well, they taste just like candy
to:
Now he talks like Kingfish from ''Series/AmosAndAndy''\\
''Amos n' Andy''\\
He tells you that Chitlins, well, they taste just likecandycandy''
He tells you that Chitlins, well, they taste just like
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--> ''A foolish man of the Negro persuasion''
--> ''Donated his life to become a Caucasian''
--> ''He stopped eat boar, he stopped eating greens''
--> ''He traded his Dashiki for some Jord'ache Jeans''
--> ''He learned to play golf and he got a good score''
--> ''Now he says to himself: "I ain't no nigger no more."''
--> ''Donated his life to become a Caucasian''
--> ''He stopped eat boar, he stopped eating greens''
--> ''He traded his Dashiki for some Jord'ache Jeans''
--> ''He learned to play golf and he got a good score''
--> ''Now he says to himself: "I ain't no nigger no more."''
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* PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy: The first verse of "You Are What You Is" describes a (presumably white) middle-class guy appropriating Black culture out of superficial fondness for its style without really understanding the subculture or the people who created it.
-->''A foolish young man from a middle-class family\\
Started singing the Blues 'cuz he thought it was manly\\
Now he talks like Kingfish from ''Series/AmosAndAndy''\\
He tells you that Chitlins, well, they taste just like candy
-->''A foolish young man from a middle-class family\\
Started singing the Blues 'cuz he thought it was manly\\
Now he talks like Kingfish from ''Series/AmosAndAndy''\\
He tells you that Chitlins, well, they taste just like candy
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* TheWhitestBlackGuy: The second verse of "You Are What You Is" focuses on a Black man who renounces his heritage to fit in with his white peers.
--> ''A foolish man of the Negro persuasion''
--> ''Devoted his life to become a Caucasian''
--> ''He stopped eating pork, he stopped eating greens''
--> ''He traded his Dashiki for some Jord'ache Jeans''
--> ''He learned to play golf and he got a good score''
--> ''Now he says to himself: "I ain't no nigger no more."''
--> ''A foolish man of the Negro persuasion''
--> ''Devoted his life to become a Caucasian''
--> ''He stopped eating pork, he stopped eating greens''
--> ''He traded his Dashiki for some Jord'ache Jeans''
--> ''He learned to play golf and he got a good score''
--> ''Now he says to himself: "I ain't no nigger no more."''
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The TitleTrack was made into a music video in 1981, the first and only time Zappa made one. It didn't receive much airplay, mostly because it featured a lookalike of UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan seated on an electric chair and Zappa using the N-word.
to:
The TitleTrack was made into a music video in 1981, 1984, the first and only time Zappa made one. one (other songs of his had music videos, but these were either performance recordings or animations made without Zappa's involvement). It didn't receive much airplay, mostly because it featured a lookalike of UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan seated on an electric chair and Zappa an unidentified vocalist (via overdubbing) using the N-word.
N-word. The most exposure the video got in the US was on ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtHead'', and even then it only appeared by Zappa's own request and occurred after his death.
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!! ''Heavenly Bank Tropes'':
to:
!! ''Heavenly Bank Tropes'':''Are you shot in the trope hole?''
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* ArtisticLicenseLinguistics: The correct English term would be "You Are What You '''Are'''".
to:
* ArtisticLicenseLinguistics: The correct English term would be "You Are What You '''Are'''". The use of the grammatically incorrect phrase could tie in with the song's concept of people pretending to be other races, with "you is" being a common element of African-American Vernacular English.
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* DistinctDoubleAlbum: The original LP was a double album, but the CD version put everything on one disc.
to:
* DistinctDoubleAlbum: The original LP album was a double album, but LP; CD releases meanwhile are able to store the CD version put everything whole album on one disc.
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''You Are What You Is'' is a 1981 album by Music/FrankZappa. On this ConceptAlbum Zappa returned to political and [[{{Satire}} satirical]] [[ProtestSong protest songs]] which targeted the American government, Christian fundamentalism, the Moral Majority, yuppies and the reinstatement of the draft. "You Are What You Is" was for many years dismissed along with most of his 80s work, though in recent years it has [[VindicatedByHistory risen in stature]], with more than a few fans feeling it's his last good/great rock album. In particular, "Doreen", "Goblin Girl", "Sinister Footwear", "You Are What You Is", "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing", "Dumb All Over", "Heavenly Bank Account", "Suicide Chump" and "Drafted Again" have become fan favorites.
to:
''You Are What You Is'' is a 1981 album by Music/FrankZappa. On this ConceptAlbum Zappa returned to political and [[{{Satire}} satirical]] [[ProtestSong protest songs]] which targeted the American government, Christian fundamentalism, the Moral Majority, yuppies and the reinstatement of the draft. "You ''You Are What You Is" Is'' was for many years dismissed along with most of his 80s work, though in recent years it has [[VindicatedByHistory risen in stature]], with more than a few fans feeling it's his last good/great rock album. In particular, "Doreen", "Goblin Girl", "Sinister Footwear", "You Are What You Is", "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing", "Dumb All Over", "Heavenly Bank Account", "Suicide Chump" and "Drafted Again" have become fan favorites.
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''You Are What You Is'' is a 1981 album by Music/FrankZappa. On this ConceptAlbum Zappa returned to political and [[{{Satire}} satirical]] [[ProtestSong protest songs]] which targeted the American government, Christian fundamentalism, the Moral Majority, yuppies and the reinstatement of the draft. "You Are What You Is", like many of Zappa's 1980s albums, is generally not ranked among his classics because a lot of tracks feature very obnoxious silly voices, sparse musical instrumentation and topical references that are nowadays heavily dated. Still, "Doreen", "Goblin Girl", "Sinister Footwear", "You Are What You Is", "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing", "Dumb All Over", "Heavenly Bank Account", "Suicide Chump" and "Drafted Again" have become fan favorites.
to:
''You Are What You Is'' is a 1981 album by Music/FrankZappa. On this ConceptAlbum Zappa returned to political and [[{{Satire}} satirical]] [[ProtestSong protest songs]] which targeted the American government, Christian fundamentalism, the Moral Majority, yuppies and the reinstatement of the draft. "You Are What You Is", like Is" was for many years dismissed along with most of Zappa's 1980s albums, is generally not ranked among his classics because 80s work, though in recent years it has [[VindicatedByHistory risen in stature]], with more than a lot of tracks feature very obnoxious silly voices, sparse musical instrumentation and topical references that are nowadays heavily dated. Still, few fans feeling it's his last good/great rock album. In particular, "Doreen", "Goblin Girl", "Sinister Footwear", "You Are What You Is", "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing", "Dumb All Over", "Heavenly Bank Account", "Suicide Chump" and "Drafted Again" have become fan favorites.
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'''Tracklist'''
to:
!!!LP One
!!!LP Two
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'''Personnel'''
to:
!!Personnel
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* BeYourself: "You Are What You Is" features a young middle class white man trying to sing {{Blues}} and even mimicking Afro-American slang while he sings. Later in the song a black man tries to act white and learns golf, eventually claiming he "ain't no [[NWordPrivileges nigger]] no more." The central message of the song is that people are who they are and shouldn't try to act what "they are not."
to:
* BeYourself: "You Are What You Is" features a young middle class white man trying to sing {{Blues}} {{blues}} and even mimicking Afro-American slang while he sings. Later in the song a black man tries to act white and learns golf, eventually claiming he "ain't no [[NWordPrivileges nigger]] no more." The central message of the song is that people are who they are and shouldn't try to act what "they are not."
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* NWordPrivileges: "You Are What You Is"
to:
* NWordPrivileges: "You Are What You Is"Is"; of note is that the song's infamous n-bomb is audibly overdubbed by a different vocalist. Whether or not the vocalist was the black singer in the last act of the song has never been clarified.
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[[caption-width-right:350:''Do you know what you are?'']]
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* DrugsAreBad: "Charlie's Enormous Mouth" about someone who snorted so much cocaine that his nose fell off and his face is now a gaping hole.
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* DrugsAreBad: "Charlie's Enormous Mouth" about someone who snorted so much cocaine that his her nose fell off and his her face is now a gaping hole.
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** "Charlie's Enormous Mouth" about someone who snorted so much cocaine that his nose fell off and his face is now a gaping hole.
to:
** "Charlie's Enormous Mouth" about someone who snorted so much cocaine that his her nose fell off and his her face is now a gaping hole.
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How To Create A Works Page explicitly says "No bolding is used for work titles."
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'''You Are What You Is''' is a 1981 album by Music/FrankZappa. On this ConceptAlbum Zappa returned to political and [[{{Satire}} satirical]] [[ProtestSong protest songs]] which targeted the American government, Christian fundamentalism, the Moral Majority, yuppies and the reinstatement of the draft. "You Are What You Is", like many of Zappa's 1980s albums, is generally not ranked among his classics because a lot of tracks feature very obnoxious silly voices, sparse musical instrumentation and topical references that are nowadays heavily dated. Still, "Doreen", "Goblin Girl", "Sinister Footwear", "You Are What You Is", "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing", "Dumb All Over", "Heavenly Bank Account", "Suicide Chump" and "Drafted Again" have become fan favorites.
to:
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Deleted line(s) 214,216 (click to see context) :
* RealLifeWritesThePlot:
** At the start of the 1980s the Moral Majority and Christian fundamentalists were very powerful in American politics, with UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan directly profiting from their support and vice versa. Zappa's concerns about these evolutions were strong enough to inspire no less than three songs on this album ("Heavenly Bank Account", "Dumb All Over" and "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing"). He would cricitize this topic on later albums that decade again. "Drafted Again" was directly inspired by the US government under President UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter considering the re-instatement of the draft.
** "Jumbo Go Away" was inspired by an ugly groupie who got punched out by band member Denny Walley, explaining the line "No Denny, don't hit me."
** At the start of the 1980s the Moral Majority and Christian fundamentalists were very powerful in American politics, with UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan directly profiting from their support and vice versa. Zappa's concerns about these evolutions were strong enough to inspire no less than three songs on this album ("Heavenly Bank Account", "Dumb All Over" and "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing"). He would cricitize this topic on later albums that decade again. "Drafted Again" was directly inspired by the US government under President UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter considering the re-instatement of the draft.
** "Jumbo Go Away" was inspired by an ugly groupie who got punched out by band member Denny Walley, explaining the line "No Denny, don't hit me."
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* RippedFromTheHeadlines:
** At the start of the 1980s the Moral Majority and Christian fundamentalists were very powerful in American politics, with UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan directly profiting from their support and vice versa. Zappa's concerns about these evolutions were strong enough to inspire no less than three songs on this album ("Heavenly Bank Account", "Dumb All Over" and "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing"). He would cricitize this topic on later albums that decade again. "Drafted Again" was directly inspired by the US government under President UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter considering the re-instatement of the draft.
** "Jumbo Go Away" was inspired by an ugly groupie who got punched out by band member Denny Walley, explaining the line "No Denny, don't hit me."
** At the start of the 1980s the Moral Majority and Christian fundamentalists were very powerful in American politics, with UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan directly profiting from their support and vice versa. Zappa's concerns about these evolutions were strong enough to inspire no less than three songs on this album ("Heavenly Bank Account", "Dumb All Over" and "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing"). He would cricitize this topic on later albums that decade again. "Drafted Again" was directly inspired by the US government under President UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter considering the re-instatement of the draft.
** "Jumbo Go Away" was inspired by an ugly groupie who got punched out by band member Denny Walley, explaining the line "No Denny, don't hit me."
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** "Heavenly Bank Account"
-->''And the govenors agree to say:''\\
''"He's a lovely man!"''\\
''He makes it easier for''\\
''Them to screw''\\
''All of you...''\\
''Yes, that's true!''
-->''And the govenors agree to say:''\\
''"He's a lovely man!"''\\
''He makes it easier for''\\
''Them to screw''\\
''All of you...''\\
''Yes, that's true!''
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* TeensAreMonsters: In "Teen-age Wind" they're at least whiny and unreflective.
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** The music video of "You Are What You Is" features a lot of American stereotypes, including an American footballer, a police man (who looks a bit like Music/ElvisPresley in his G.I. period), a UsefulNotes/KuKluxKlan member, a Magazine/{{Playboy}} Bunny and President UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan on the electric chair.
to:
** The music video of "You Are What You Is" features a lot of American stereotypes, including an American footballer, a police man (who looks a bit like Music/ElvisPresley in his G.I. period), a UsefulNotes/KuKluxKlan member, a Magazine/{{Playboy}} Bunny PlayboyBunny and President UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan on the electric chair.
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** The music video of "You Are What You Is" features an actress dressed up as a [[Magazine/{{Playboy}} Playboy Bunny]]. The lyrics also namedrop the lotions "Nivea" and "Royal Crown", as well as "Dashiki" and "Jord'ache" jeans.
to:
** The music video of "You Are What You Is" features an actress dressed up as a [[Magazine/{{Playboy}} Playboy Bunny]].PlayboyBunny. The lyrics also namedrop the lotions "Nivea" and "Royal Crown", as well as "Dashiki" and "Jord'ache" jeans.
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* SurrealMusicVideo: "You Are What You Is" features Zappa electrocuting UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan on the electric chair, a man with a lettuce head, a CannibalTribe around a cauldron, a nun, a police man, an American footballer, a nurse, a stewardess, a KKK member, a Playboy Bunny,...
to:
* SurrealMusicVideo: "You Are What You Is" features Zappa electrocuting UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan on the electric chair, a man with a lettuce head, a CannibalTribe around a cauldron, a nun, a police man, an American footballer, a nurse, a stewardess, a KKK member, a Playboy Bunny,...PlayboyBunny,...
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** The music video of "You Are What You Is" features a lot of American stereotypes, including an American footballer, a police man (who looks a bit like Music/ElvisPresley in his G.I. period), a UsefulNotes/KuKluxKlan member, a Magazine/PlayboyMagazine Bunny and President UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan on the electric chair.
to:
** The music video of "You Are What You Is" features a lot of American stereotypes, including an American footballer, a police man (who looks a bit like Music/ElvisPresley in his G.I. period), a UsefulNotes/KuKluxKlan member, a Magazine/PlayboyMagazine Magazine/{{Playboy}} Bunny and President UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan on the electric chair.
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** The music video of "You Are What You Is" features an actress dressed up as a [[Magazine/PlayboyMagazine Playboy Bunny]]. The lyrics also namedrop the lotions "Nivea" and "Royal Crown", as well as "Dashiki" and "Jord'ache" jeans.
to:
** The music video of "You Are What You Is" features an actress dressed up as a [[Magazine/PlayboyMagazine [[Magazine/{{Playboy}} Playboy Bunny]]. The lyrics also namedrop the lotions "Nivea" and "Royal Crown", as well as "Dashiki" and "Jord'ache" jeans.
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[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/4b191282ac26e046eb456a14d8fe2477.jpg]]
'''You Are What You Is''' is a 1981 album by Music/FrankZappa. On this ConceptAlbum Zappa returned to political and [[{{Satire}} satirical]] [[ProtestSong protest songs]] which targeted the American government, Christian fundamentalism, the Moral Majority, yuppies and the reinstatement of the draft. "You Are What You Is", like many of Zappa's 1980s albums, is generally not ranked among his classics because a lot of tracks feature very obnoxious silly voices, sparse musical instrumentation and topical references that are nowadays heavily dated. Still, "Doreen", "Goblin Girl", "Sinister Footwear", "You Are What You Is", "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing", "Dumb All Over", "Heavenly Bank Account", "Suicide Chump" and "Drafted Again" have become fan favorites.
The TitleTrack was made into a music video in 1981, the first and only time Zappa made one. It didn't receive much airplay, mostly because it featured a lookalike of UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan seated on an electric chair and Zappa using the N-word.
The single "I Don't Wanna Get Drafted" (1980) is a ProtestSong against the reinstatement of the draft by the UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter administration. The original version can be heard on "The Lost Episodes" (1995), while a sped-up version can be heard on "You Are What You Is" as "Drafted Again".
'''Tracklist'''
[[AC:Side One]]
# "Teen-age Wind" (3:01)
# "Harder Than Your Husband" (2:29)
# "Doreen" (4:43)
# "Goblin Girl" (4:07)
# "Theme From The 3rd Movement Of Sinister Footwear" (3:34)
[[AC:Side Two]]
# "Society Pages" (2:27)
# "I'm A Beautiful Guy" (1:56)
# "Beauty Knows No Pain" (3:01)
# "Charlie's Enormous Mouth" (3:36)
# "Any Downers?" (2:09)
# "Conehead" (4:20)
[[AC:Side Three]]
# "You Are What You Is" (4:22)
# "Mudd Club" (3:11)
# "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing" (3:10)
# "Dumb All Over" (5:50)
[[AC:Side Four]]
# "Heavenly Bank Account" (4:03)
# "Suicide Chump" (2:50)
# "Jumbo Go Away" (3:42)
# "If Only She Woulda" (3:47)
# "Drafted Again" (3:05)
'''Personnel'''
* Music/FrankZappa: vocals, lead guitar
* Ike Willis and Ray White: vocals, rhythm guitar
* Bob Harris: vocals, trumpet
* Music/SteveVai: guitar
* Tommy Mars: keyboards
* Arthur Barrow: bass
* Ed Mann: percussion
* David Ocker: clarinet, bass clarinet
* Jim "Motorhead" Sherwood: vocals, tenor saxophone
* Denny Walley: slide guitar
* David Logeman: drums
* Craig Steward: harmonica
* Jimmy Carl Black, Ahmet Zappa, Moon Zappa and Denny Walley: vocals
!! ''Heavenly Bank Tropes'':
* AllWomenAreLustful: In "Charlie's Enormous Mouth" we learn that "the girl has a very large mouth (...) and we can only assume as to how she's been using it". The conehead girl and the goblin girls are also down on their knees a lot.
* AlliterativeName: Connie the Cone in "Conehead".
* AlliterativeTitle: "'''H'''arder Than Your '''H'''usband" and "'''G'''oblin '''G'''irl".
* ArtisticLicenseLinguistics: The correct English term would be "You Are What You '''Are'''".
* AsTheGoodBookSays: "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing" is a biblical phrase, attributed to UsefulNotes/JesusChrist, who said that "the meek shall inherit the Earth." The song also mentions that "Moses, Aaron and Abraham are all a waste of time."
* BeliefMakesYouStupid:
** "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing"
--> ''Those Jesus Freaks, well, they're friendly but''
--> ''The shit they believe has got their minds all shut''
--> ''An' they don't even care when the church takes a cut''
--> ''Ain't it bleak when you got so much nothin'?''
** "Dumb All Over"
--> ''Religious fanatics can make it be all gone''
--> ''I mean it won't blow up 'n' disappear''
--> ''It'll just look ugly for a thousand years''
--> ''You can't run a country by a book of religion''
--> ''Not by a heap or a lump or a smidgeon''
--> ''Or foolish rules of ancient date''
--> ''Designed to make you all feel great''
--> ''While you fold, spindle and mutilate''
--> ''Those unbelievers from a neighboring state''
* BeYourself: "You Are What You Is" features a young middle class white man trying to sing {{Blues}} and even mimicking Afro-American slang while he sings. Later in the song a black man tries to act white and learns golf, eventually claiming he "ain't no [[NWordPrivileges nigger]] no more." The central message of the song is that people are who they are and shouldn't try to act what "they are not."
* BreakupSong: "Harder Than Your Husband"
--> ''Our affair has been quite heated''
--> ''You thought I was what you needed''
--> ''But the time has come, my darling to set things right''
--> ''I'll be harder than your husband''
--> ''Harder than your husband''
--> ''And I don't want our love affair to end with a fight''
* CallBack and ContinuityNod:
** The album ends with sped up noises saying "Leave my nose alone, please", which was also a line during "Flower Punk" on ''Music/WereOnlyInItForTheMoney'' (1968).
** "Drafted Again" shares a similar theme with Ethell not wanting to be drafted during "Billy The Mountain" from ''Music/JustAnotherBandFromLA (1972)''. The original non-sped up version of "I Don't Wanna Get Drafted", which was released as a single in 1980, would become available on "The Lost Episodes" (1995), a posthumous album.
** During "Teenage Wind" the teenager says "he could go to a midnight show of ''Film/TwoHundredMotels''". Later the lines "Opal, you hot little bitch!" and "Where's my waitress?" from the "200 Motels" song "Lonesome Cowboy Burt" are repeated.
** Parents who neglect their children while spending time drinking beer are addressed in "Teenage Wind" and "Conehead", a theme Zappa visited earlier during "Mom & Dad" and "Lonely Little Girl" from ''Music/WereOnlyInItForTheMoney'' (1968).
** Lines from "Doreen" are repeated again during "Goblin Girl", which follows directly afterwards.
** "Sinister Footwear" ties in with shoe imagery in Zappa's lyrics. The track would reappear as "Sinister Footwear II" on ''Music/ThemOrUs'' (1984), as a guitar solo, "Variations On Sinister Footwear III" on ''Music/{{Guitar}}'' (1988) and live on ''Make A Jazz Noise Here'' (1988). He explained what the work is about in a radio interview with Charles Amirkhanian, broadcast on KPFA-FM, May 17, 1984:
--> ''(...) a ballet about a guy who designs the ugliest shoe in the world and then all the things that happen before you get to wear it. And the shoe has been designed and I just saw like about … twenty pairs of it, sitting around this place, it's really great.''.
** The line "kinda young, kinda wow" in "Charlie's Enormous Mouth" is a reference to "Catholic Girls" from ''Music/JoesGarage'' (1979).
** The father of the conehead girl in "Conehead" is described "workin' all day at the drivin' school in a stupid lookin' hat". We know from the liner notes of "The Lost Episodes" (1995) that the description of "The Grand Wazoo" (see also ''Music/TheGrandWazoo'') is anyone "at a meeting with a big dumb hat."
** "You Are What You Is" ends with a lot of lines that are lyrics from various Zappa songs: "Give me a five dollar bill and an overcoat too" ("Wonderful Wino" from ''Music/ZootAllures'' (1976)), "Where's my waitress?" ("Lonesome Cowboy Burt" from ''Film/TwoHundredMotels''), "Harder Than Your Husband" (another track on this album.) (reference to the track "Mudd Club" on this album)
** The music video for "You Are What You Is" features a man with lettuce for a head. This is a CallBack to the vegetable themes of ''Music/AbsolutelyFree (1967)''. The black protagonist "stopped eating greens", which is a call back to the first line ("eat your greens") from "Mr. Green Genes" of ''Music/UncleMeat'' (1969). In the same video we also see a nun, which brings of memories of Keith Moon's role in ''Film/TwoHundredMotels''(1971)''. The line "Mercedez Benz" is a reference to car imagery in Zappa's work.
** During "You Are What You Is" Zappa mentions a character talking "like a Kingfish from the Amos 'N' Andy." This references the character Kingfish from the radio show ''Radio/AmosNAndy'', of whom Ike Willis could give a pretty spot on vocal impression. Zappa would make this a running gag for years, eventually culminating in the album "Thing-Fish" (1984).
** "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing" references "Hare Rama", which Zappa namedropped before in "Can't Afford No Shoes" from ''Music/OneSizeFitsAll''
--> ''Is Hare Rama really wrong?''
--> ''If you wander around with a napkin on?''
--> ''With a bell on a stick and your hair is all gone?''
--> ''The geek shall inherit nothing''
** In "Mudd Club" Zappa uses the line "Lemme straighten you out", which he used before in "Stink-Foot" from ''Music/{{Apostrophe}} (1974)''. The song also mentions "fabulous poodles doin' the Peppermint Twist for real", which ties in with poodle imagery from ''Music/{{Apostrophe}}'', ''Music/OverniteSensation'' (1973) and ''Music/RoxyAndElsewhere'' (1973). A "guy with a blue mohawk" comes in "in serious leather". Leather is a RunningGag in Zappa's lyrics. It also mentions Greek Town, which is mentioned again in "Jumbo Go Away".
** The televangelist in "Heavenly Bank Account" has got a Wembley tie, which [[IncrediblyLamePun ties in]] with tie imagery in Zappa's lyrics.
** "You Are What You Is", "Mudd Clubb" and "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing" would be covered in a different voiceover on Zappa's "Thing-Fish" (1984).
* CannibalTribe and StewedAlive: In the music video of "You Are What You Is" a man with lettuce on his head is put inside a cauldron while cannibals dance a tribal dance around him.
* ConceptAlbum: Several songs are bound together, but the album lacks an overall storyline.
* CountryMusic: "Harder Than Your Husband" is played in a country style and sang by Jimmy Carl Black.
* CorruptChurch: "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing", "Dumb All Over" and "Heavenly Bank Account" attack Christian fundamentalists and the Moral Majority which were a very powerful force in American politics during the 1980s.
** "Dumb All Over"
--> ''And when his humble TV servant''
--> ''With humble white hair''
--> ''And humble glasses''
--> ''And a nice brown suit''
--> ''And maybe a blonde wife who takes phone calls''
--> ''Tells us our God says''
--> ''It's okay to do this stuff''
--> ''Then we gotta do it,''
--> '''Cause if we don't do it,''
--> ''We ain't gwine up to hebbin!''
--> ''(Depending on which book you're using at the time ... Can't use theirs ... it don't work ... it's all lies ... Gotta use mine ...)''
--> (...) ''Hey, we can't really be dumb''
--> ''If we're just following God's Orders''
--> ''Hey, Let's get serious ...''
--> ''God knows what he's doin' ...''
--> ''He wrote this book here''
--> ''An' the book says''
--> ''"He made us all to be just like Him," so ...''
--> ''If we're dumb ...''
--> ''Then God is dumb ...''
--> ''(An' maybe even a little ugly on the side)''
** "Heavenly Bank Account"
--> ''Remember there is a big difference between kneeling down and bending over''
--> ''He's got 20 million dollars in his heavenly bank account''
--> ''All from those chumps who as born again, oh yeah, oh yeah''
--> ''He's got 7 limousines and a private plane''
--> ''All for the use of his special friends, oh yeah''
--> ''(...) He is dealin', he is really dealin' ''
--> ''IRS can't determine where the hook is''
--> ''He's got presidential help all along the way''
--> ''He says the grace while the lawyers chew, oh yeah, they sure do''
* CradleOfLoneliness: "Teen-Age Wind"
--> ''It's a miserable Friday night''
--> ''I'm so lonely and nobody will give me a ride to the Grateful Dead concert.''
* DancingIsSeriousBusiness: The club visitors of the Mudd Club in "Mudd Club" are portrayed in a satirical way, thus subverting this trope.
* DeathByIrony: The cocaine sniffing girl in "Charlie's Enormous Mouth" has a large hole in her face from where her nose used to be. Eventually she is dumped in a hole herself:
--> ''She got dirt all around the hole''
--> ''Where they dumped her box in''
--> ''They call it the grave''
* DistinctDoubleAlbum: The original LP was a double album, but the CD version put everything on one disc.
* DoubleEntendre:
** "Goblin Girl": At first it appears to be a song about a female goblin, but then it turns out be an IncrediblyLamePun on the verb "to gobble".
--> ''She's a Goblin Girl''
--> ''And she can gobble it all''
** "Conehead"
--> ''Conehead''
--> ''When she's on her knees, the point is so high''
** "You Are What You Is"
--> ''He learned to play golf and he got a good score''
* DrugsAreBad: "Charlie's Enormous Mouth" about someone who snorted so much cocaine that his nose fell off and his face is now a gaping hole.
* EvilLaugh: Several are heard in "Goblin Girl".
* FaceOnTheCover: A close-up of Zappa, smiling.
* FadingIntoTheNextSong: Several songs fade into one another thematically:
** The girl from "Society Pages" has a son who came to be a "beautiful guy", which fades into "I'm A Beautiful Guy". The protagonist in "I'm A Beautiful Guy" concludes near the end of his song that "Beauty Can Feel No Pain", which is the title of the following track. In this next song the beautiful guy "has a head that is north, feet that are south" and he saves "the rest for Charlie's mouth", cue "Charlie's Enormous Mouth" as the next song. The girl described in "Charlie's Enormous Mouth" is Charlie's girlfriend but dies from a cocaine overdose and is buried in "Any Downers?". To find relief for the funeral Charlie watches television and sees the coneheads on Series/SaturdayNightLive'', which leads to "Conehead".
** After informing the audience in "Heavenly Bank Account" about money grabbing televangelists the depressed protagonist decides to commit suicide, which leads to "Suicide Chump". As he is about to jump a girl named Jumbo prevents him from doing so ("Jumbo Go Away"), but she turns out to be ugly and nagging. Eventually he regrets having send her away ("If Only She Woulda"), because he gets drafted ("Drafted Again").
* GratuitousSpanish: "Harder Than Your Husband"
--> ''So it's adios, adios, my little darlin' ''
* GrossupCloseUp: A close-up of Zappa's mouth and nicotine stained teeth is seen several times in the music video of "You Are What You Is".
* HumansAreMorons: "Dumb All Over"
--> ''We are dumb all over, dumb all over, yes we are''
--> ''Dumb all over, near and far''
--> ''Dumb all over, black and white''
--> ''People, we is not wrapped tight''
* IJustWantToBeFree': "Teen-Age Wind" where a teenager wants to be free from his parents, teachers and go to a rock concert.
--> ''I got to be free, free as the wind''
* {{Instrumentals}}: "Sinister Footwear"
* MyCountryTisOfTheeThatISting:
** "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing"
--> ''Well people, you ain't even got no kinda deal at all''
--> ''Cause what they do in Washington''
--> ''They just takes care of Number One''
--> ''And Number One ain't you''
--> ''You ain't even number two''
** The music video of "You Are What You Is" features a lot of American stereotypes, including an American footballer, a police man (who looks a bit like Music/ElvisPresley in his G.I. period), a UsefulNotes/KuKluxKlan member, a Magazine/PlayboyMagazine Bunny and President UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan on the electric chair.
* NightmareFace:
** A man with lettuce for a head appears in the music video of "You Are What You Is".
** "Charlie's Enormous Mouth" about someone who snorted so much cocaine that his nose fell off and his face is now a gaping hole.
** "Jumbo Go Away"
--> ''The girl got a head like a buffalo''
* NWordPrivileges: "You Are What You Is"
--> ''A foolish man of the Negro persuasion''
--> ''Donated his life to become a Caucasian''
--> ''He stopped eat boar, he stopped eating greens''
--> ''He traded his Dashiki for some Jord'ache Jeans''
--> ''He learned to play golf and he got a good score''
--> ''Now he says to himself: "I ain't no nigger no more."''
* ObsessionSong: "Doreen"
--> ''Doreen, don't make me wait till tomorrow''
--> ''Oh no, please darling, let me love you tonight''
--> ''And it'll be alright''
* OneWomanSong: "Doreen", "Goblin Girl" and "Jumbo Go Away".
* OneWordTitle: "Conehead".
* OurGoblinsAreDifferent: "Goblin Girl": They are apparently "black and green" dress in little green shoes, have MessyHair and by gobbling they can "make your face look like you got scales on it."
* TheParody:
** "Harder Than Your Husband" is a parody of CountryMusic.
** "Teenage Wind" is a parody of "Ride Like A Wind" by Christopher Cross, which was a radio hit in 1980. One of Zappa's band members, Arthur Barrow, had been to school with Cross and was impressed that he now had a hit in the charts. Zappa, as always, was not humoured. As Barrow told it:
--> ''Frank said: "I can write a song like that in 5 minutes - get me a piece of paper", and proceeded to whip out the "Teenage" lyrics, in probably about 5 minutes. When word got back to Chris that Zappa had written the song, Chris was quoted saying: "Oh, I hope he doesn't release it while I'm peaking!". When I told Frank that, Frank said "Ooo, I've been in the business 15 minutes and I'm peaking!", which is, of course, where all that "I'm peaking!" stuff comes from."''
** "Heavenly Bank Account" starts off with music that mimicks a church service.
* ProductPlacement:
** The music video of "You Are What You Is" features an actress dressed up as a [[Magazine/PlayboyMagazine Playboy Bunny]]. The lyrics also namedrop the lotions "Nivea" and "Royal Crown", as well as "Dashiki" and "Jord'ache" jeans.
--> ''He thinks he's got the whole thing down from the Nivea lotion to the Royal Crown''
--> ''(...) He trades his Dashiki for some Jord'ache jeans''
* ProtestSong: Zappa attacks American politics and Christian fundamentalists ("The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing", "Dumb All Over", "Heavenly Bank Account"), cocaine addicted yuppies ("Charlie's Enormous Mouth"), the Mudd Club ("Mudd Club"), suicidal people ("Suicide Chump") and the reinstatement of the draft ("Drafted Again").
* QuestioningTitle: "Any Downers?"
* RealLifeWritesThePlot:
** At the start of the 1980s the Moral Majority and Christian fundamentalists were very powerful in American politics, with UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan directly profiting from their support and vice versa. Zappa's concerns about these evolutions were strong enough to inspire no less than three songs on this album ("Heavenly Bank Account", "Dumb All Over" and "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing"). He would cricitize this topic on later albums that decade again. "Drafted Again" was directly inspired by the US government under President UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter considering the re-instatement of the draft.
** "Jumbo Go Away" was inspired by an ugly groupie who got punched out by band member Denny Walley, explaining the line "No Denny, don't hit me."
* RecordProducer: Frank Zappa.
* ReligionRantSong:
** "Dumb All Over"
--> ''We can't be dumb if we're just following God's orders. He put it right in this book here that he made us all to be just like Him. So if we're dumb, then God is dumb, and maybe a little ugly on the side.''
** "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing"
--> ''Some take the Bible for what it's worth''
--> ''When it says that the meek shall inherit the Earth''
--> ''But I Heard that some Sheik just bought New Jersey last week''
--> ''And you suckers ain't gettin' nothing.''
* RepurposedPopSong: After president UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter considered reinstating the draft Zappa released a ProtestSong called "I Don't Wanna Get Drafted" in 1980. The single "Drafted Again" on "You Are What You Is" is the same song, but sped up in comedically funny voices. For those who want to hear the original version, check out "The Lost Episodes" (1995).
* ShoutOut:
** "Teenage Wind" is a parody of "Ride Like The Wind" by Christopher Cross and references Music/TheGratefulDead.
--> ''It's a miserable Friday Night. I'm SO lonely and nobody will give me a ride to the Grateful Dead concert.''
** "Goblin Girl" makes reference to "Bad Girls" by Music/DonnaSummer from ''Music/BadGirls''
--> ''(How 'bout you?)''
--> ''Talkin' 'bout the bad girls''
--> ''(How 'bout yer . . . )''
--> ''All the Goblin Girls''
--> ''(Are you . . . POO-AHH!)''
--> ''Talkin' 'bout the bad, bad girls''
--> ''(Sweetheart)''
** "You Are What You Is" references ''Radio/AmosNAndy''.
--> ''Now he talks like a Kingfish, from the "Amos 'N' Andy"''
** "Conehead" is a shout-out to the Coneheads sketch on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'', about extraterrestrial aliens with cone shaped heads from the planet Remulak who have somehow landed on Earth incognito. Zappa appeared twice on the show and played along in some of these sketches, until he began BreakingTheFourthWall and wasn't allowed to return. The song "Conehead" mentions Remulak and the fact that it is "saturday night" several times.
** "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing" references evangelist preacher Billy Graham, Moses, Aaron and Abraham
--> ''Eat that pork, eat that ham''
--> ''Laugh till ya choke on Billy Graham''
--> ''Moses, Aaron and Abraham: they're all a waste of time''
--> ''And it's your ass that' on the line''
** "Mudd Club" references the Mudd Club, a night club in Manhattan, New York, and Studio 54, another night club. Zappa visited it a few times and played dj there.
** ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead'': In the episode "Canoe" (1994) Beavis and Butt-head watches the music video of "You Are What You Is" and get so annoyed by what they see that they zap away. Creator/MikeJudge did this as a tribute to Zappa, as explained in "A Dinner with Extract's Mike Judge" on Coming Soon Net, December 2002:
--> ''Frank Zappa was another one who made a really nice quote about 'Beavis and Butt-head.' It was, like, on his deathbed. He said three or four really nice things when he was being interviewed. Then somebody said, 'Put one of his videos on 'Beavis and Butt-head' and have them rag on it!' I think he had said to have them do that. So I did it and I had this backlash from fans... I was just trying to give him his dying wish, [laughing] but I just pissed everybody off.''
* SillyLoveSongs: "Doreen", a love song sang straight, which doesn't happen much in Zappa's lyrics.
* SpokenWordInMusic: "Beauty Knows No Pain" features a spoken word interlude by Zappa.
* SuicideAsComedy: "Suicide Chump", probably the funniest song ever written about suicide:
--> ''Now maybe you're scared of jumpin' ''
--> ''And poison makes you sick''
--> ''And you want a little attention''
--> ''And you need it pretty quick''
--> ''Don't wanna mess your face up''
--> ''Or we won't know if it's you?''
--> ''Aw, there is so much to worry about''
--> ''Now what you gonna do?''
--> ''Go ahead on 'n' get it over with then''
--> ''Find you a bridge and take a jump''
--> ''Just make sure you do it right the first time''
--> ''Cause nothing is worse than a suicide chump''
* SurrealMusicVideo: "You Are What You Is" features Zappa electrocuting UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan on the electric chair, a man with a lettuce head, a CannibalTribe around a cauldron, a nun, a police man, an American footballer, a nurse, a stewardess, a KKK member, a Playboy Bunny,...
* TakeThat: The music video of "You Are What You Is" features president UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan on an electric chair, with the caption "president from Hell".
* TimeMarchesOn: Former president UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan is featured on the electric chair in the music video of "You Are What You Is". The song "Mudd Club" has a man appear "in an arrogant gesture to the best of what the 20th century has to offer."
* TitleTrack: "You Are What You Is"
--> ''Do you know what you are?''
--> ''You are what you is''
* UnrequitedLove: "Jumbo Go Away" features an ugly nagging girl harrassing somebody.
* WarIsHell: "Drafted Again", written in protest against the reinstatement of the draft.
----
'''You Are What You Is''' is a 1981 album by Music/FrankZappa. On this ConceptAlbum Zappa returned to political and [[{{Satire}} satirical]] [[ProtestSong protest songs]] which targeted the American government, Christian fundamentalism, the Moral Majority, yuppies and the reinstatement of the draft. "You Are What You Is", like many of Zappa's 1980s albums, is generally not ranked among his classics because a lot of tracks feature very obnoxious silly voices, sparse musical instrumentation and topical references that are nowadays heavily dated. Still, "Doreen", "Goblin Girl", "Sinister Footwear", "You Are What You Is", "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing", "Dumb All Over", "Heavenly Bank Account", "Suicide Chump" and "Drafted Again" have become fan favorites.
The TitleTrack was made into a music video in 1981, the first and only time Zappa made one. It didn't receive much airplay, mostly because it featured a lookalike of UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan seated on an electric chair and Zappa using the N-word.
The single "I Don't Wanna Get Drafted" (1980) is a ProtestSong against the reinstatement of the draft by the UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter administration. The original version can be heard on "The Lost Episodes" (1995), while a sped-up version can be heard on "You Are What You Is" as "Drafted Again".
'''Tracklist'''
[[AC:Side One]]
# "Teen-age Wind" (3:01)
# "Harder Than Your Husband" (2:29)
# "Doreen" (4:43)
# "Goblin Girl" (4:07)
# "Theme From The 3rd Movement Of Sinister Footwear" (3:34)
[[AC:Side Two]]
# "Society Pages" (2:27)
# "I'm A Beautiful Guy" (1:56)
# "Beauty Knows No Pain" (3:01)
# "Charlie's Enormous Mouth" (3:36)
# "Any Downers?" (2:09)
# "Conehead" (4:20)
[[AC:Side Three]]
# "You Are What You Is" (4:22)
# "Mudd Club" (3:11)
# "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing" (3:10)
# "Dumb All Over" (5:50)
[[AC:Side Four]]
# "Heavenly Bank Account" (4:03)
# "Suicide Chump" (2:50)
# "Jumbo Go Away" (3:42)
# "If Only She Woulda" (3:47)
# "Drafted Again" (3:05)
'''Personnel'''
* Music/FrankZappa: vocals, lead guitar
* Ike Willis and Ray White: vocals, rhythm guitar
* Bob Harris: vocals, trumpet
* Music/SteveVai: guitar
* Tommy Mars: keyboards
* Arthur Barrow: bass
* Ed Mann: percussion
* David Ocker: clarinet, bass clarinet
* Jim "Motorhead" Sherwood: vocals, tenor saxophone
* Denny Walley: slide guitar
* David Logeman: drums
* Craig Steward: harmonica
* Jimmy Carl Black, Ahmet Zappa, Moon Zappa and Denny Walley: vocals
!! ''Heavenly Bank Tropes'':
* AllWomenAreLustful: In "Charlie's Enormous Mouth" we learn that "the girl has a very large mouth (...) and we can only assume as to how she's been using it". The conehead girl and the goblin girls are also down on their knees a lot.
* AlliterativeName: Connie the Cone in "Conehead".
* AlliterativeTitle: "'''H'''arder Than Your '''H'''usband" and "'''G'''oblin '''G'''irl".
* ArtisticLicenseLinguistics: The correct English term would be "You Are What You '''Are'''".
* AsTheGoodBookSays: "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing" is a biblical phrase, attributed to UsefulNotes/JesusChrist, who said that "the meek shall inherit the Earth." The song also mentions that "Moses, Aaron and Abraham are all a waste of time."
* BeliefMakesYouStupid:
** "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing"
--> ''Those Jesus Freaks, well, they're friendly but''
--> ''The shit they believe has got their minds all shut''
--> ''An' they don't even care when the church takes a cut''
--> ''Ain't it bleak when you got so much nothin'?''
** "Dumb All Over"
--> ''Religious fanatics can make it be all gone''
--> ''I mean it won't blow up 'n' disappear''
--> ''It'll just look ugly for a thousand years''
--> ''You can't run a country by a book of religion''
--> ''Not by a heap or a lump or a smidgeon''
--> ''Or foolish rules of ancient date''
--> ''Designed to make you all feel great''
--> ''While you fold, spindle and mutilate''
--> ''Those unbelievers from a neighboring state''
* BeYourself: "You Are What You Is" features a young middle class white man trying to sing {{Blues}} and even mimicking Afro-American slang while he sings. Later in the song a black man tries to act white and learns golf, eventually claiming he "ain't no [[NWordPrivileges nigger]] no more." The central message of the song is that people are who they are and shouldn't try to act what "they are not."
* BreakupSong: "Harder Than Your Husband"
--> ''Our affair has been quite heated''
--> ''You thought I was what you needed''
--> ''But the time has come, my darling to set things right''
--> ''I'll be harder than your husband''
--> ''Harder than your husband''
--> ''And I don't want our love affair to end with a fight''
* CallBack and ContinuityNod:
** The album ends with sped up noises saying "Leave my nose alone, please", which was also a line during "Flower Punk" on ''Music/WereOnlyInItForTheMoney'' (1968).
** "Drafted Again" shares a similar theme with Ethell not wanting to be drafted during "Billy The Mountain" from ''Music/JustAnotherBandFromLA (1972)''. The original non-sped up version of "I Don't Wanna Get Drafted", which was released as a single in 1980, would become available on "The Lost Episodes" (1995), a posthumous album.
** During "Teenage Wind" the teenager says "he could go to a midnight show of ''Film/TwoHundredMotels''". Later the lines "Opal, you hot little bitch!" and "Where's my waitress?" from the "200 Motels" song "Lonesome Cowboy Burt" are repeated.
** Parents who neglect their children while spending time drinking beer are addressed in "Teenage Wind" and "Conehead", a theme Zappa visited earlier during "Mom & Dad" and "Lonely Little Girl" from ''Music/WereOnlyInItForTheMoney'' (1968).
** Lines from "Doreen" are repeated again during "Goblin Girl", which follows directly afterwards.
** "Sinister Footwear" ties in with shoe imagery in Zappa's lyrics. The track would reappear as "Sinister Footwear II" on ''Music/ThemOrUs'' (1984), as a guitar solo, "Variations On Sinister Footwear III" on ''Music/{{Guitar}}'' (1988) and live on ''Make A Jazz Noise Here'' (1988). He explained what the work is about in a radio interview with Charles Amirkhanian, broadcast on KPFA-FM, May 17, 1984:
--> ''(...) a ballet about a guy who designs the ugliest shoe in the world and then all the things that happen before you get to wear it. And the shoe has been designed and I just saw like about … twenty pairs of it, sitting around this place, it's really great.''.
** The line "kinda young, kinda wow" in "Charlie's Enormous Mouth" is a reference to "Catholic Girls" from ''Music/JoesGarage'' (1979).
** The father of the conehead girl in "Conehead" is described "workin' all day at the drivin' school in a stupid lookin' hat". We know from the liner notes of "The Lost Episodes" (1995) that the description of "The Grand Wazoo" (see also ''Music/TheGrandWazoo'') is anyone "at a meeting with a big dumb hat."
** "You Are What You Is" ends with a lot of lines that are lyrics from various Zappa songs: "Give me a five dollar bill and an overcoat too" ("Wonderful Wino" from ''Music/ZootAllures'' (1976)), "Where's my waitress?" ("Lonesome Cowboy Burt" from ''Film/TwoHundredMotels''), "Harder Than Your Husband" (another track on this album.) (reference to the track "Mudd Club" on this album)
** The music video for "You Are What You Is" features a man with lettuce for a head. This is a CallBack to the vegetable themes of ''Music/AbsolutelyFree (1967)''. The black protagonist "stopped eating greens", which is a call back to the first line ("eat your greens") from "Mr. Green Genes" of ''Music/UncleMeat'' (1969). In the same video we also see a nun, which brings of memories of Keith Moon's role in ''Film/TwoHundredMotels''(1971)''. The line "Mercedez Benz" is a reference to car imagery in Zappa's work.
** During "You Are What You Is" Zappa mentions a character talking "like a Kingfish from the Amos 'N' Andy." This references the character Kingfish from the radio show ''Radio/AmosNAndy'', of whom Ike Willis could give a pretty spot on vocal impression. Zappa would make this a running gag for years, eventually culminating in the album "Thing-Fish" (1984).
** "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing" references "Hare Rama", which Zappa namedropped before in "Can't Afford No Shoes" from ''Music/OneSizeFitsAll''
--> ''Is Hare Rama really wrong?''
--> ''If you wander around with a napkin on?''
--> ''With a bell on a stick and your hair is all gone?''
--> ''The geek shall inherit nothing''
** In "Mudd Club" Zappa uses the line "Lemme straighten you out", which he used before in "Stink-Foot" from ''Music/{{Apostrophe}} (1974)''. The song also mentions "fabulous poodles doin' the Peppermint Twist for real", which ties in with poodle imagery from ''Music/{{Apostrophe}}'', ''Music/OverniteSensation'' (1973) and ''Music/RoxyAndElsewhere'' (1973). A "guy with a blue mohawk" comes in "in serious leather". Leather is a RunningGag in Zappa's lyrics. It also mentions Greek Town, which is mentioned again in "Jumbo Go Away".
** The televangelist in "Heavenly Bank Account" has got a Wembley tie, which [[IncrediblyLamePun ties in]] with tie imagery in Zappa's lyrics.
** "You Are What You Is", "Mudd Clubb" and "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing" would be covered in a different voiceover on Zappa's "Thing-Fish" (1984).
* CannibalTribe and StewedAlive: In the music video of "You Are What You Is" a man with lettuce on his head is put inside a cauldron while cannibals dance a tribal dance around him.
* ConceptAlbum: Several songs are bound together, but the album lacks an overall storyline.
* CountryMusic: "Harder Than Your Husband" is played in a country style and sang by Jimmy Carl Black.
* CorruptChurch: "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing", "Dumb All Over" and "Heavenly Bank Account" attack Christian fundamentalists and the Moral Majority which were a very powerful force in American politics during the 1980s.
** "Dumb All Over"
--> ''And when his humble TV servant''
--> ''With humble white hair''
--> ''And humble glasses''
--> ''And a nice brown suit''
--> ''And maybe a blonde wife who takes phone calls''
--> ''Tells us our God says''
--> ''It's okay to do this stuff''
--> ''Then we gotta do it,''
--> '''Cause if we don't do it,''
--> ''We ain't gwine up to hebbin!''
--> ''(Depending on which book you're using at the time ... Can't use theirs ... it don't work ... it's all lies ... Gotta use mine ...)''
--> (...) ''Hey, we can't really be dumb''
--> ''If we're just following God's Orders''
--> ''Hey, Let's get serious ...''
--> ''God knows what he's doin' ...''
--> ''He wrote this book here''
--> ''An' the book says''
--> ''"He made us all to be just like Him," so ...''
--> ''If we're dumb ...''
--> ''Then God is dumb ...''
--> ''(An' maybe even a little ugly on the side)''
** "Heavenly Bank Account"
--> ''Remember there is a big difference between kneeling down and bending over''
--> ''He's got 20 million dollars in his heavenly bank account''
--> ''All from those chumps who as born again, oh yeah, oh yeah''
--> ''He's got 7 limousines and a private plane''
--> ''All for the use of his special friends, oh yeah''
--> ''(...) He is dealin', he is really dealin' ''
--> ''IRS can't determine where the hook is''
--> ''He's got presidential help all along the way''
--> ''He says the grace while the lawyers chew, oh yeah, they sure do''
* CradleOfLoneliness: "Teen-Age Wind"
--> ''It's a miserable Friday night''
--> ''I'm so lonely and nobody will give me a ride to the Grateful Dead concert.''
* DancingIsSeriousBusiness: The club visitors of the Mudd Club in "Mudd Club" are portrayed in a satirical way, thus subverting this trope.
* DeathByIrony: The cocaine sniffing girl in "Charlie's Enormous Mouth" has a large hole in her face from where her nose used to be. Eventually she is dumped in a hole herself:
--> ''She got dirt all around the hole''
--> ''Where they dumped her box in''
--> ''They call it the grave''
* DistinctDoubleAlbum: The original LP was a double album, but the CD version put everything on one disc.
* DoubleEntendre:
** "Goblin Girl": At first it appears to be a song about a female goblin, but then it turns out be an IncrediblyLamePun on the verb "to gobble".
--> ''She's a Goblin Girl''
--> ''And she can gobble it all''
** "Conehead"
--> ''Conehead''
--> ''When she's on her knees, the point is so high''
** "You Are What You Is"
--> ''He learned to play golf and he got a good score''
* DrugsAreBad: "Charlie's Enormous Mouth" about someone who snorted so much cocaine that his nose fell off and his face is now a gaping hole.
* EvilLaugh: Several are heard in "Goblin Girl".
* FaceOnTheCover: A close-up of Zappa, smiling.
* FadingIntoTheNextSong: Several songs fade into one another thematically:
** The girl from "Society Pages" has a son who came to be a "beautiful guy", which fades into "I'm A Beautiful Guy". The protagonist in "I'm A Beautiful Guy" concludes near the end of his song that "Beauty Can Feel No Pain", which is the title of the following track. In this next song the beautiful guy "has a head that is north, feet that are south" and he saves "the rest for Charlie's mouth", cue "Charlie's Enormous Mouth" as the next song. The girl described in "Charlie's Enormous Mouth" is Charlie's girlfriend but dies from a cocaine overdose and is buried in "Any Downers?". To find relief for the funeral Charlie watches television and sees the coneheads on Series/SaturdayNightLive'', which leads to "Conehead".
** After informing the audience in "Heavenly Bank Account" about money grabbing televangelists the depressed protagonist decides to commit suicide, which leads to "Suicide Chump". As he is about to jump a girl named Jumbo prevents him from doing so ("Jumbo Go Away"), but she turns out to be ugly and nagging. Eventually he regrets having send her away ("If Only She Woulda"), because he gets drafted ("Drafted Again").
* GratuitousSpanish: "Harder Than Your Husband"
--> ''So it's adios, adios, my little darlin' ''
* GrossupCloseUp: A close-up of Zappa's mouth and nicotine stained teeth is seen several times in the music video of "You Are What You Is".
* HumansAreMorons: "Dumb All Over"
--> ''We are dumb all over, dumb all over, yes we are''
--> ''Dumb all over, near and far''
--> ''Dumb all over, black and white''
--> ''People, we is not wrapped tight''
* IJustWantToBeFree': "Teen-Age Wind" where a teenager wants to be free from his parents, teachers and go to a rock concert.
--> ''I got to be free, free as the wind''
* {{Instrumentals}}: "Sinister Footwear"
* MyCountryTisOfTheeThatISting:
** "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing"
--> ''Well people, you ain't even got no kinda deal at all''
--> ''Cause what they do in Washington''
--> ''They just takes care of Number One''
--> ''And Number One ain't you''
--> ''You ain't even number two''
** The music video of "You Are What You Is" features a lot of American stereotypes, including an American footballer, a police man (who looks a bit like Music/ElvisPresley in his G.I. period), a UsefulNotes/KuKluxKlan member, a Magazine/PlayboyMagazine Bunny and President UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan on the electric chair.
* NightmareFace:
** A man with lettuce for a head appears in the music video of "You Are What You Is".
** "Charlie's Enormous Mouth" about someone who snorted so much cocaine that his nose fell off and his face is now a gaping hole.
** "Jumbo Go Away"
--> ''The girl got a head like a buffalo''
* NWordPrivileges: "You Are What You Is"
--> ''A foolish man of the Negro persuasion''
--> ''Donated his life to become a Caucasian''
--> ''He stopped eat boar, he stopped eating greens''
--> ''He traded his Dashiki for some Jord'ache Jeans''
--> ''He learned to play golf and he got a good score''
--> ''Now he says to himself: "I ain't no nigger no more."''
* ObsessionSong: "Doreen"
--> ''Doreen, don't make me wait till tomorrow''
--> ''Oh no, please darling, let me love you tonight''
--> ''And it'll be alright''
* OneWomanSong: "Doreen", "Goblin Girl" and "Jumbo Go Away".
* OneWordTitle: "Conehead".
* OurGoblinsAreDifferent: "Goblin Girl": They are apparently "black and green" dress in little green shoes, have MessyHair and by gobbling they can "make your face look like you got scales on it."
* TheParody:
** "Harder Than Your Husband" is a parody of CountryMusic.
** "Teenage Wind" is a parody of "Ride Like A Wind" by Christopher Cross, which was a radio hit in 1980. One of Zappa's band members, Arthur Barrow, had been to school with Cross and was impressed that he now had a hit in the charts. Zappa, as always, was not humoured. As Barrow told it:
--> ''Frank said: "I can write a song like that in 5 minutes - get me a piece of paper", and proceeded to whip out the "Teenage" lyrics, in probably about 5 minutes. When word got back to Chris that Zappa had written the song, Chris was quoted saying: "Oh, I hope he doesn't release it while I'm peaking!". When I told Frank that, Frank said "Ooo, I've been in the business 15 minutes and I'm peaking!", which is, of course, where all that "I'm peaking!" stuff comes from."''
** "Heavenly Bank Account" starts off with music that mimicks a church service.
* ProductPlacement:
** The music video of "You Are What You Is" features an actress dressed up as a [[Magazine/PlayboyMagazine Playboy Bunny]]. The lyrics also namedrop the lotions "Nivea" and "Royal Crown", as well as "Dashiki" and "Jord'ache" jeans.
--> ''He thinks he's got the whole thing down from the Nivea lotion to the Royal Crown''
--> ''(...) He trades his Dashiki for some Jord'ache jeans''
* ProtestSong: Zappa attacks American politics and Christian fundamentalists ("The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing", "Dumb All Over", "Heavenly Bank Account"), cocaine addicted yuppies ("Charlie's Enormous Mouth"), the Mudd Club ("Mudd Club"), suicidal people ("Suicide Chump") and the reinstatement of the draft ("Drafted Again").
* QuestioningTitle: "Any Downers?"
* RealLifeWritesThePlot:
** At the start of the 1980s the Moral Majority and Christian fundamentalists were very powerful in American politics, with UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan directly profiting from their support and vice versa. Zappa's concerns about these evolutions were strong enough to inspire no less than three songs on this album ("Heavenly Bank Account", "Dumb All Over" and "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing"). He would cricitize this topic on later albums that decade again. "Drafted Again" was directly inspired by the US government under President UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter considering the re-instatement of the draft.
** "Jumbo Go Away" was inspired by an ugly groupie who got punched out by band member Denny Walley, explaining the line "No Denny, don't hit me."
* RecordProducer: Frank Zappa.
* ReligionRantSong:
** "Dumb All Over"
--> ''We can't be dumb if we're just following God's orders. He put it right in this book here that he made us all to be just like Him. So if we're dumb, then God is dumb, and maybe a little ugly on the side.''
** "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing"
--> ''Some take the Bible for what it's worth''
--> ''When it says that the meek shall inherit the Earth''
--> ''But I Heard that some Sheik just bought New Jersey last week''
--> ''And you suckers ain't gettin' nothing.''
* RepurposedPopSong: After president UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter considered reinstating the draft Zappa released a ProtestSong called "I Don't Wanna Get Drafted" in 1980. The single "Drafted Again" on "You Are What You Is" is the same song, but sped up in comedically funny voices. For those who want to hear the original version, check out "The Lost Episodes" (1995).
* ShoutOut:
** "Teenage Wind" is a parody of "Ride Like The Wind" by Christopher Cross and references Music/TheGratefulDead.
--> ''It's a miserable Friday Night. I'm SO lonely and nobody will give me a ride to the Grateful Dead concert.''
** "Goblin Girl" makes reference to "Bad Girls" by Music/DonnaSummer from ''Music/BadGirls''
--> ''(How 'bout you?)''
--> ''Talkin' 'bout the bad girls''
--> ''(How 'bout yer . . . )''
--> ''All the Goblin Girls''
--> ''(Are you . . . POO-AHH!)''
--> ''Talkin' 'bout the bad, bad girls''
--> ''(Sweetheart)''
** "You Are What You Is" references ''Radio/AmosNAndy''.
--> ''Now he talks like a Kingfish, from the "Amos 'N' Andy"''
** "Conehead" is a shout-out to the Coneheads sketch on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'', about extraterrestrial aliens with cone shaped heads from the planet Remulak who have somehow landed on Earth incognito. Zappa appeared twice on the show and played along in some of these sketches, until he began BreakingTheFourthWall and wasn't allowed to return. The song "Conehead" mentions Remulak and the fact that it is "saturday night" several times.
** "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing" references evangelist preacher Billy Graham, Moses, Aaron and Abraham
--> ''Eat that pork, eat that ham''
--> ''Laugh till ya choke on Billy Graham''
--> ''Moses, Aaron and Abraham: they're all a waste of time''
--> ''And it's your ass that' on the line''
** "Mudd Club" references the Mudd Club, a night club in Manhattan, New York, and Studio 54, another night club. Zappa visited it a few times and played dj there.
** ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead'': In the episode "Canoe" (1994) Beavis and Butt-head watches the music video of "You Are What You Is" and get so annoyed by what they see that they zap away. Creator/MikeJudge did this as a tribute to Zappa, as explained in "A Dinner with Extract's Mike Judge" on Coming Soon Net, December 2002:
--> ''Frank Zappa was another one who made a really nice quote about 'Beavis and Butt-head.' It was, like, on his deathbed. He said three or four really nice things when he was being interviewed. Then somebody said, 'Put one of his videos on 'Beavis and Butt-head' and have them rag on it!' I think he had said to have them do that. So I did it and I had this backlash from fans... I was just trying to give him his dying wish, [laughing] but I just pissed everybody off.''
* SillyLoveSongs: "Doreen", a love song sang straight, which doesn't happen much in Zappa's lyrics.
* SpokenWordInMusic: "Beauty Knows No Pain" features a spoken word interlude by Zappa.
* SuicideAsComedy: "Suicide Chump", probably the funniest song ever written about suicide:
--> ''Now maybe you're scared of jumpin' ''
--> ''And poison makes you sick''
--> ''And you want a little attention''
--> ''And you need it pretty quick''
--> ''Don't wanna mess your face up''
--> ''Or we won't know if it's you?''
--> ''Aw, there is so much to worry about''
--> ''Now what you gonna do?''
--> ''Go ahead on 'n' get it over with then''
--> ''Find you a bridge and take a jump''
--> ''Just make sure you do it right the first time''
--> ''Cause nothing is worse than a suicide chump''
* SurrealMusicVideo: "You Are What You Is" features Zappa electrocuting UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan on the electric chair, a man with a lettuce head, a CannibalTribe around a cauldron, a nun, a police man, an American footballer, a nurse, a stewardess, a KKK member, a Playboy Bunny,...
* TakeThat: The music video of "You Are What You Is" features president UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan on an electric chair, with the caption "president from Hell".
* TimeMarchesOn: Former president UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan is featured on the electric chair in the music video of "You Are What You Is". The song "Mudd Club" has a man appear "in an arrogant gesture to the best of what the 20th century has to offer."
* TitleTrack: "You Are What You Is"
--> ''Do you know what you are?''
--> ''You are what you is''
* UnrequitedLove: "Jumbo Go Away" features an ugly nagging girl harrassing somebody.
* WarIsHell: "Drafted Again", written in protest against the reinstatement of the draft.
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