History Music / AbsolutelyFree

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* CorruptCorporateExecutive: the "creep who makes the toys", ugly, violent, even murderous toys, in "Uncle Bernie's Farm"

* FamilyUnfriendlyViolence: The toys in "Uncle Bernie's Farm".
* FilleFatale: The "teenage queen" in "Brown Shoes Don't Make It", possibly.

* One of the advertisements on the back cover of ''Absolutely Free'' shows a dog collar with the slogan "Buy a 'Fydo' fits swell". Zappa would references dogs and collars frequently in his lyrics, including Fido the poodle in ''Music/{{Apostrophe}}'' (1974) and ''Music/RoxyAndElsewhere'' (1974).

* {{Corpsing}}: Zappa starts laughing when he mentions "there's a doll that looks like mummy" in "Uncle Bernie's Farm". He does it again in "Brown Shoes Don't Make It" when singing "o-only thirteen and she knows how to nasty."

TV tonight!''
* DesignStudentsOrgasm: The album cover was designed by Alice Ochs.

[[quoteright:348:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/absolutely_free_frank_zappa_4663.jpg]]

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: In "America Drinks" the line "you came..." is followed by someone snickering over the sexual innuendo.
** A politician having sex with a thirteen year old girl in "Brown Shoes Don't Make It".

----

'''Personnel'''

[[AC:Side One (Absolutely Free)]]

[[AC:Side Two (The M.O.I. American Pageant)]]

''Absolutely Free'', released in 1967, is the second album by Music/FrankZappa and his group The Mothers of Invention. Following the debut album ''Music/FreakOut!'' from the previous year, ''Absolutely'' marked a more extravagant display of Zappa's innovation and boldness in seeking to debunk mores of hippies and straights alike. The original album consisted of a series of two "Underground Oratorios", the first side giving you "Absolutely Free" and the second side giving you "The M.O.I. American Pageant"; all later compact disc reissues include, sandwiched between the oratorios, the bonus tracks "Big Leg Emma" and "Why Don'tcha Do Me Right?" The contributing Mothers as credited on ''Absolutely Free'' had lost guitarist [[ThePeteBest Eliott Ingber]], and gained Euclid James "Motorhead" Sherwood, Bunk Gardner, and Billy Mundi. Early printed editions of the complete libretto, distributed separately from the album owing to Verve's doubt of lyrics such as "I'd like to make her do a nasty on the White House lawn" (from "Brown Shoes Don't Make It"), were bowdlerized.

* FundamentallyFunnyFruit: Pumpkins are mentioned.

''Absolutely Free'', released in 1967, is the second album by Music/FrankZappa and his group The Mothers of Invention. Following the debut album ''Music/FreakOut!'' from the previous year, ''Absolutely'' marked a more extravagant display of Zappa's innovation and boldness in seeking to debunk mores of hippies and straights alike. The original album consisted of a series of two "Underground Oratorios", the first side giving you "Absolutely Free" and the second side giving you "The M.O.I. American Pageant"; later editions of the compact disk include, sandwiched between oratorios, the bonus tracks "Big Leg Emma" and "Why Don'tcha Do Me Right?" The contributing Mothers as credited on ''Absolutely Free'' had lost guitarist [[ThePeteBest Eliott Ingber]], and gained Euclid James "Motorhead" Sherwood, Bunk Gardner, and Billy Mundi. Early printed editions of the complete libretto, distributed separately from the album owing to Verve's doubt of lyrics such as "I'd like to make her do a nasty on the White House lawn" (from "Brown Shoes Don't Make It"), were bowdlerized.

The album is best remembered for "Plastic People", which became a freedom anthem in Czechoslovakia under the Iron Curtain as Czech President Vaclav Havél told Zappa in 1989, "Duke Of Prunes", "Call Any Vegetable" and "Brown Shoes Don't Make It".

[[AC:Side One]]

# "The Duke Of Prunes" (2:12)

# "Invocation And Ritual Dance Of The Young Pumpkin" (6:57)

# "Big Leg Emma" (2:31) [[note]] This track was not included on the original LP. It was a 1967 single, added as a bonus track to the CD reissue [[/note]]
# "Why Don'tcha Do Me Right?" (2:37) [[note]] This track was not included on the original LP. It was a 1967 single, added as a bonus track to the CD reissue [[/note]]

[[AC:Side Two]]

# "Son Of Suzy Creamcheese" (1:34)

# "America Drinks And Goes Home" (2:46)

* BarBrawl: Several at the same time in "America Drinks And Goes Home". It also closes the album.

** Plastic and especially plastic people already appeared during "Who Are The Brain Police?" on ''Music/FreakOut (1966)'' and are revisited again on "Absolutely Free".
** Biting someone's neck was referenced earlier during "Motherly Love" on ''Music/FreakOut (1966)'' and is mentioned twice on "Absolutely Free", namely during "Duke Of Prunes" and "Brown Shoes Don't Make It".
** The song "Son Of Suzy Chreamcheese" is a callback to "It Can't Happen Here" and "The Return Of The Son Of Monster Magnet" from "Freak Out".

** "I wanna hear "Caravan" with a drum solo", a line from "You're Probably Wondering Why I'm Here" from ''Music/FreakOut (1966)'' can be heard again during "America Drinks & Goes Home".
* One of the advertisements on the back cover of ''Absolutely Free'' shows a dog collar with the slogan "Buy a "Fydo" fits swell". Zappa would references dogs and collars frequently in his lyrics, including Fido the poodle in ''Music/{{Apostrophe}}'' (1974) and ''Music/RoxyAndElsewhere'' (1974).

** In "Suzy Creamcheese" on ''Music/AbsolutelyFree'' we are informed that Suzy "blew her mind on too much Kool-Aid". In ''The Story Of Uncle Meat'' inside the sleeve of ''Music/UncleMeat (1969)'' Uncle Meat drugs rock 'n' roll musicians with Kool-Aid.

* GranolaGirl: In the interval between ''Freak Out!'' and ''Absolutely Free'''s "Son of Suzy Creamcheese", Suzy Creamcheese has dropped out and become one

* IconicSongRequest: Frank Zappa once heard someone request "Caravan" by Music/DukeEllington, but with a drum solo. He referenced this bizarre request before in "You're Probably Wondering Why I'm Here" on ''Music/FreakOut'' and did it again on this album, during "America Drinks And Goes Home".

* LyricalDissonance: The song "America Drinks And Goes Home" is a very cheesy number about someone with a broken heart who doesn't regret it. Despite this hopeful message you can hear a bar fight going on in the background.

* MyCountryTisOfTheeThatISting: Especially in "America Drinks", "America Drinks And Goes Home" and "Brown Shoes Don't Make It".

* NonAppearingTitle: The phrase "Absolutely Free" is never said once on the album, yet there is a track with that title on ''[[Music/WereOnlyInItForTheMoney We're Only In It For The Money]]''.

* ProtestSong: "Plastic People", "Status Back, Baby", "Brown Shoes Don't Make It".
* ReferenceOverdosed: This was the first Zappa album where clear recognizable musical quotes from other composers and artists could be heard.
** "Plastic People" and "Son Of Suzy Creamcheese" pay homage to the tune "Louie Louie" by Richard Berry.

** "Invocation And Ritual Dance Of The Young Pumpkin" borrows a melody from Music/GustavHolst 's "Jupiter" from his work "The Planets".
** "Amnesia Vivace" includes quotes from ''Theatre/TheRiteOfSpring'' and ''Theatre/TheFirebird'' by Music/IgorStravinsky and "Duke Of Earl" by Gene Chandler.

** "Soft-Sell Conclusion" musically quotes "God Bless America" by Music/IrvingBerlin, "America The Beautiful", "Marine's Hymn" and "A Soldier's Tale" by Music/IgorStravinsky.

** "Uncle Bernie's Farm" briefly quotes the opening of Music/BingCrosby 's [[Music/MerryChristmas "White Christmas"]] in the beginning ("I'm dreaming...")

* [[StrawCharacter Strawman Political]]: In an ironical tone it is noted that Suzy Creamcheese "protest marches styrofoam"