History Music / WereOnlyInItForTheMoney

* LackOfEmpathy: The parents in ''"Mum and Dad"''.
* LastNoteNightmare: Ending an album with ''“The Chrome Plated Megaphone Of Destiny”'': need to say more?
* LyndonJohnson: Seen twice on the album cover.

* MyCountryRightOrWrong:
** ''"Concentration Moon"'' - ''"American way/how did it start? Thousands of creeps killed in the park..."''
** ''"Harry You're A Beast"'' - ''"That's you, American womanhood."''
** ''"Flower Punk"'' - ''"The youth in America today is so wonderful. I'm glad to be part of this gigantic mass deception."''
** ''"The Idiot Bastard Son"'' - ''"The father's a Nazi in Congress today/The mother's a hooker somewhere in L.A."''

* TheNotRemix: FrankZappa remixed and re-recorded some parts of ''We're Only In It For The Money'' and ''Cruising With Ruben & The Jets'' in the mid 1980s with New-Wave style sounds. Not surprisingly, fans were pissed, and as a result, Zappa's estate restored and released ''Money'' to its original form in 1995, while the original mix of ''Ruben'' wouldn't appear again for another 15 years.
* OneWomanSong: ''“Lonely Little Girl”''
* OnlyInItForTheMoney: TropeNamer
* OutOfClothesExperience: ''“Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance”''
* ParentalHypocrisy: The parents in ''“Mom & Dad”'' think that the ''“creeps”'' who were killed in the park by the cops got what they deserved, until they find out their daughter was among them.
* ParentalObliviousness: ''“Lonely Little Girl”, “Mom & Dad”, “Mother People”, “Bow Tie Daddy”'',...
* TheParody[=/=]WholePlotReference: The album spoofs The Beatles ''“Sgt. Peppers”'' record.

* RageAgainstTheAuthor: ''“One of these days I’m going to erase all the Zappa tapes in the world”'' on ''“Are You Hung Up?”''

** “''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand''” on the album cover and liner notes

** Owsley Stanley in ''“Who Needs The Peace Corps?”''
** JimiHendrix’ ''“Hey Joe”'' and The Troggs ''“Wild Thing”'' in ''“Flower Punk”''
** Donovan’s song ''“Mellow Yellow”'' in ''“Absolutely Free”''
** Ronny and Kenny Williams in ''“Let’s Make The Water Turn Black”'' and ''“The Idiot Bastard Son”''
** LennyBruce on the album cover and ''“Harry You’re A Beast”''

-->''[...]'' First I'll buy some beads,\\

I will have a [[CloudCuckoolander psychedelic gleam]] in my eye [[EnforcedTrope at all times]].\\
I will ''love'' everyone. I will ''love'' the police as they [[LyricalDissonance kick the shit out of me on the street]]...

* SgtPeppersShoutOut: The TropeNamer (indirectly).
* ScunthorpeProblem: Some producers asked Zappa to change the line "And I still remember momma in her apron and her pad feeding all the boys at Ed’s café" in "Let’s Make The Water Turn Black" because they misunderstood the word ''pad'' (as in a completely harmless ''notepad'') and thought it referred to a ''sanitary napkin''.

** Music/JimiHendrix' ''"Hey Joe"'' on ''"Flower Punk"''
** Creator/LennyBruce's routine in ''"Harry You’re A Beast"''

* StageNames: ''“Hi, boys and girls, I’m Jimmy Carl Black and I’m the Indian of the group.”''

** Hippies in ''“Who Needs The Peace Corps?”, “Concentration Moon”'' and ''“Absolutely Free”''
** The commercialization of rock ‘n’ roll in the album title and tracks as ''“Absolutely Free”'' and “Flower Punk”
** ''“American womanhood”'' is targeted in ''“Harry You’re A Beast”''
** The police in ''“Concentration Moon”'' and ''“Mom & Dad”''
** The U.S.A in ''“Mom & Dad”''
** Ignorant parents in ''“Bow Tie Daddy”'', ''“Mother People”'', ''“Lonely Little Girl”, “Concentration Moon”'' and ''“Mom & Dad”''
** Gary Kellgren's line ''"And tomorrow I get to work with the Music/VelvetUnderground, which is [[SelfDeprecation just a shitty a group as Frank Zappa's group...]]"''. It was cut on the general release version, but some vinyl copies contained this dialogue by mistake.
* TakeThatAudience: The listener himself is attacked in ''"The Idiot Bastard Son"''
* ThrowItIn: The word ''"discorporate"'' is explained at the start of the song ''"Absolutely Free"''.
** The track ''"Telephone Conversation"'' is a piece of a telephone conversation (ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin) that Zappa recorded between Pamela Zarubica (the original Suzy Creamcheese from the album "Freak Out!") and a friend of her, Vicki , who claimed that Pamela's father was looking for her and had called in help from the FBI. Apparently the FBI was threatening to arrest Vicki for withholding information. Zarubica called her back to discuss matters and Zappa recorded the conversation including a 45 second snippet that made it on the album.

* ThisTropeIsBleep The tracks ''"Harry You’re A Beast"'' and ''"Hot Poop"'' has a few censored lyrics

** The lyrics in ''"Let’s Make The Water Turn Black"'' are about two eccentric friends of Zappa's, Ronnie and Kenny Williams, who used to collect all their urine in a giant jar and smeared their boogers on the windows.

->''"You know, the youth in America today is so wonderful. I'm proud to be part of this gigantic mass deception."''-- Lyrics from the song '''"Flower Punk"'''.

->''"Unbind your mind. There is no time bo-i-i-i-i-n-g to lick your stamps. And paste them in. Discorporate. And we’ll begin. Freedom! Freedom! Kindly loving! You’ll be absolutely free. Only if you want to be."''\
-- Lyrics from the song '''"Absolutely Free"'''.

* Music/TheBeatles: Parodied on the album cover, the liner notes and some musical segments have a similar feel as ''Sgt. Pepper's.''

Do you know"

/we’re listening”''
* BrokenRecord: The infamous needle scratch sound on ''“Nasal Retentive Calliope Music”''.
* BodyHorror: ''“What’s The Ugliest Part Of Your Body”''? Answer: your mind.
* BornUnlucky: ''“The Idiot Bastard Son”''
* CallBack and ContinuityNod: ''“What’s The Ugliest Part Of Your Body”'' is reprised later
** The quote ''“Hi, boys and girls. I’m Jimmy Carl Black and I’m the Indian of the group”'' first appears in the track ''“Are You Hung Up?”'' and is later reprised in ''“Concentration Moon”''
** Engineer Gary Kellgren contributes ''"creepy whispering"'', which can be heard in ''“Are You Hung Up?”'' and ''“Hot Poop”''.
** In the liner notes Zappa asks the audience “Is this phase one of ''“Lumpy Gravy”?”'', while he asked the opposite question in the album ''“Lumpy Gravy”'': ''“Is this phase two of “We’re Only In It For The Money”''?
** The classical piece heard in ''“Mother People”'' can also be heard on the album ''“Lumpy Gravy”''
** The theme of cops killing hippies is continued in ''"Concentration Moon"'' and ''"Mom & Dad"''.

** JimiHendrix on the album cover. And yes, it’s really him, not just some collage cut-out.
** Eric Clapton says ''“God, it’s God. I see God”'' in “Nasal Retentive Calliope Music”, and contributes clichéd stoner dialogue to "Are You Hung Up?".

* CreatorCameo: ''“Hello, Frank Zappa…...”''
* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: The person tortured in ''“The Chrome Plated Megaphone Of Destiny”''

** ''"Flower Punk"'' is entirely sped up.
** ''"What's The Ugliest Part Of Your Body?, Part 2"'' slowly starts slowing down near the end.
* EverybodyLaughsEnding: On the final track ''“The Chrome Plated Megaphone Of Destiny”'' characters laugh demonically with the fate of the tortured person.

* EvilTwin: Some CD packages describe this album as ''“Sgt. Peppers’ evil twin”''.

* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath: The parents’ daughter is shot by the cops too in ''“Mom & Dad”''.
* FinalSolution: ''"American way/ how did it start?/ thousands of creeps killed in the park." ''

* TheFutureWillBeBetter: The lyrics of ''"Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance"''.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: The line ''“Better shut your mouth about the length of my hair/How would you survive/if you were alive/shitty person?”'' was censored on the album.

** Gary Kellgren's ranting about erasing Zappa’s tapes in ''“Are You Hung Up?”'' and ''“Hot Poop”''.
** Rock musicians fantasize about the amount of money and groupies they’ll get after the show is over on ''“Flower Punk”''
* IntercourseWithYou: Harry wants sex with Madge on the track ''“Harry You’re A Beast”'' and gets his way.
* JimiHendrix: Seen on the far right of the album cover.

->''"You know, the youth in America today is so wonderful. I'm proud to be part of this gigantic mass deception."''-- Lyrics from the song '''“Flower Punk”'''.

-- Lyrics from the song '''“Absolutely Free”'''.

''We’re Only In It For The Money'' (recorded in 1967, released in 1968) is an album by The Mothers of Invention, and one of FrankZappa’s most famous and popular conceptual albums. A scathing attack on such 1960s topics as the flower power movement, police brutality, Music/TheBeatles, PsychedelicRock, the generation gap and the growing mass commercialization of pop music. Many fans call it one of his best albums and it's certainly one of his most characteristic.

Apart from this the album also has several instrumental “musique concrete” tracks and songs containing inside jokes about Zappa’s band and friends. According to the liner notes the listener should read the story ''In The Penal Colony'' by Creator/FranzKafka first, before listening to the final track “The Chrome Plated Megaphone Of Destiny”.

When the album went into production, it originally had a different concept and direction. In fact, the entirety of ''Money'', ''Cruisin' with Ruben & The Jets'', the dialogue sessions from the reissue of ''Lumpy Gravy'', and parts of ''Uncle Meat'' were recorded at the same New York sessions. Music/TheBeatles’ ''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand'' album came out while the Mothers of Invention were recording the album, and Zappa decided to change the album's concept to parody that album because he felt that the Beatles had ripped off concepts from the Mothers' ''Freak Out!'' (1966) album, and considered the Beatles themselves (and PsychedelicRock musicians in general) to be [[OnlyInItForTheMoney in it for the money]], hence the album title. The cover is particularly memorable for offering the UrExample of the SgtPeppersShoutOut.

The album is TropeNamer for OnlyInItForTheMoney.

!!Tropes:
* AccentuateTheNegative: ''“Flower power sucks, sucks, sucks….”''
* AndIMustScream: The victims in the concentration camps in ''“Concentration Moon”'' and ''“The Chrome Plated Megaphone Of Destiny”''

* AudienceParticipation: In the liner notes Zappa asks the audience to read Kafka’s ''“In The Penal Colony”'' before starting to listen to the final track.

** Two people collecting urine and smearing boogers on windows in ''“Let’s Make The Water Turn Black”''
** Rape in ''“Harry, You’re A Beast”''
** ''“What’s The Ugliest Part Of Your Body?”''
* Music/TheBeatles: Parodied on the album cover, the liner notes and some musical segments have a similar feel as ''"Sgt. Peppers."''

* BlackComedyRape: ''“Harry You’re A Beast”''
* BreakingTheFourthWall: ''“The child will grow and enter the world of liars and cheaters and people like you/who smile and think they know/what this is about/you think you know everything/maybe so/the song we sing/do you know/we’re listening”'' – ''“The Idiot Bastard Son”''

** Gary Kellgren's line ''"And tomorrow I get to work with TheVelvetUnderground, which is [[SelfDeprecation just a shitty a group as Frank Zappa's group...]]"''. It was cut on the general release version, but some vinyl copies contained this dialogue by mistake.

* TheBeatles: Parodied on the album cover, the liner notes and some musical segments have a similar feel as ''"Sgt. Peppers."''

When the album went into production, it originally had a different concept and direction. In fact, the entirety of ''Money'', ''Cruisin' with Ruben & The Jets'', the dialogue sessions from the reissue of ''Lumpy Gravy'', and parts of ''Uncle Meat'' were recorded at the same New York sessions. Music/TheBeatles’ ''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand'' album came out while the Mothers of Invention were recording the album, and Zappa decided to change the album's concept to parody that album because he felt that the Beatles had ripped off concepts from the Mothers' ''Freak Out!'' (1966) album, and considered the Beatles themselves (and PsychedelicRock musicians in general) to be [[OnlyInItForTheMoney in it for the money]], hence the album title. The cover is particularly memorable for offering the first SgtPeppersShoutOut.

* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath: The parents’ daughter is shot by the cops too in ''“Mom & Dad”''.

** Music/JimiHendrix' "Hey Joe" on "Flower Punk"
** Creator/LennyBruce's routine in "Harry You’re A Beast"

** “American womanhood” is targeted in ''“Harry You’re A Beast”''

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The album criticizes the hippie movement and Music/TheBeatles and therefore is both very dated and a document of its time at the same time.

* ArtInitiatesLife: Some of the rumors about concentration camps for hippies turned out to have some truth in them.

** JimiHendrix’ ''“Hey Joe”'' and TheTroggs ''“Wild Thing”'' in ''“Flower Punk”''

* ScunthorpeProblem: Some producers asked Zappa to change the line ''“And I still remember momma in her apron and her pad feeding all the boys at Ed’s café”'' in ''“Let’s Make The Water Turn Black”'' because they misunderstood the word ''"pad"'' and thought it referred to a ''“sanitary napkin”''.

** Jimi Hendrix’ ''“Hey Joe”'' on ''“Flower Punk”''
** LennyBruce’s routine in ''“Harry You’re A Beast”''
* ShroudedInMyth: Zappa’s strange hand gestures on the back cover of the album, while Ian Underwood holds up a piece of paper.

* TakeThatAudience: The listener himself is attacked in ''“The Idiot Bastard Son”''
* ThrowItIn: The word ''“discorporate”'' is explained at the start of the song ''“Absolutely Free”''.
** The track ''“Telephone Conversation”'' is a piece of a telephone conversation (ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin) that Zappa recorded between Pamela Zarubica (the original Suzy Creamcheese from the album "Freak Out!") and a friend of her, Vicki , who claimed that Pamela's father was looking for her and had called in help from the FBI. Apparently the FBI was threatening to arrest Vicki for withholding information. Zarubica called her back to discuss matters and Zappa recorded the conversation including a 45 second snippet that made it on the album.
* ThisTropeIsBleep The tracks ''“Harry You’re A Beast”'' and ''“Hot Poop”'' has a few censored lyrics

** The lyrics in ''“Let’s Make The Water Turn Black”'' are about two eccentric friends of Zappa's, Ronnie and Kenny Williams, who used to collect all their urine in a giant jar and smeared their boogers on the windows.

* HilariousInHindsight: Eric Clapton claiming he sees ''“God”'' on ''“Nasal Retentive Calliope Music”'', while this would later become his nickname.
** The line about a hippie going to get crabs in "Who Needs The Peace Corps?" becomes much more funnier after family restaurant chain Joe's Crab Shack released psychedelic t-shirts promoting "Peace, Love and Crabs", blissfully unaware of the potential double entendre related to the album.

* HypeBacklash: A key moment that led to the creation of this album was when Zappa went to check out the music scene in San Francisco and came back unimpressed, feeling that the music wasn't as revolutionary as they claimed.

** Gary Kellgren's line ''"And tomorrow I get to work with TheVelvetUnderground, which is [[SelfDeprecation just a shitty a group as Frank Zappa's group...]]"'' on the original vinyl version. This line was cut on the CD release.

''“We’re Only In It For The Money”'' (recorded in 1967, released in 1968) is one of FrankZappa’s most famous and popular conceptual albums. A scathing attack on such 1960s topics as the flower power movement, police brutality, Music/TheBeatles, the generation gap and the growing mass commercialization of pop music. Many fans call it one of his best albums and it's certainly one of his most characteristic.

Apart from this the album also has several instrumental “musique concrete” tracks and songs containing inside jokes about Zappa’s band and friends. According to the liner notes the listener should read the story ''“InThePenalColony”'' by Creator/FranzKafka first, before listening to the final track ''“The Chrome Plated Megaphone Of Destiny”''.

Its cover is particularly memorable for offering the first SgtPeppersShoutOut with an inside cover spoofing one for Music/TheBeatles’ “''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand''” album, an album that itself was inspired by Zappa’s “''Freak Out!''” (1966) album.

** The Beatles on the album cover

* {{Bowdlerized}}: The entire original album has completely been revised and re-recorded. This re-recorded version is now the official version. When one compares the older and newer version one notices extreme differences and changes made, mostly in sound quality and montage.

!! This album provides example of:

''“We’re Only In It For The Money”'' (recorded in 1967, released in 1968) is one of FrankZappa’s most famous and popular conceptual albums. A scathing attack on such 1960s topics as the flower power movement, police brutality, TheBeatles, the generation gap and the growing mass commercialization of pop music. Many fans call it one of his best albums and it's certainly one of his most characteristic.

Its cover is particularly memorable for offering the first SgtPeppersShoutOut with an inside cover spoofing one for TheBeatles’ “''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand''” album, an album that itself was inspired by Zappa’s “''Freak Out!''” (1966) album.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The album criticizes the hippie movement and TheBeatles and therefore is both very dated and a document of its time at the same time.

Apart from this the album also has several instrumental “musique concrete” tracks and songs containing inside jokes about Zappa’s band and friends. According to the liner notes the listener should read the story ''“InThePenalColony”'' by FranzKafka first, before listening to the final track ''“The Chrome Plated Megaphone Of Destiny”''.

** FranzKafka in the liner notes

* HypeBacklash: A key moment that key to the creation of this album was when Zappa went to check out the music scene in San Francisco and came back unimpressed, feeling that the music wasn't as revolutionary as they claimed.

''“We’re Only In It For The Money”'' (1967) is one of FrankZappa’s most famous and popular conceptual albums. A scathing attack on such 1960s topics as the flower power movement, police brutality, TheBeatles, the generation gap and the growing mass commercialization of pop music. Many fans call it one of his best albums and it's certainly one of his most characteristic.

* ProperlyParanoid: The entire album has a very paranoid feeling to it complete with many conspiracy theories and tracks frequently interrupted by snippets of mumbling people.

** ''“What’s The Ugliest Part Of Your Body?”''

* RapeAsComedy: ''“Harry You’re A Beast”''

''“We’re Only In It For The Money”'' (1967) is one of FrankZappa’s most famous and popular conceptual albums. A scathing attack on such 1960s topics as the flower power movement, police brutality, TheBeatles, the generation gap and the growing mass commercialization of pop music.

** ''Music/SergeantPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand'' on the album cover and liner notes

* StageNames: ''“Hi, I’m Jimmy Carl Black and I’m the Indian of the group.”''

Its cover is particularly memorable for spoofing the cover of TheBeatles’ “''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand''” album, an album that itself was inspired by Zappa’s “''Freak Out!''” (1966) album.

The album is TropeNamer for the categories OnlyInItForTheMoney and SgtPeppersShoutOut.

''“We’re Only In It For The Money”'' (1967) is one of Zappa’s most famous and popular conceptual albums. A scathing attack on such 1960s topics as the flower power movement, police brutality, TheBeatles, the generation gap and the growing mass commercialization of pop music.

Its cover is particularly memorable for spoofing the cover of TheBeatles’ “''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand''” album, an album that itself was inspired by FrankZappa’s “''Freak Out!''” (1966) album.

->''"You know, the youth in America today is so wonderful. I'm proud to be part of this gigantic mass deception."''\-- Lyrics from the song '''“Flower Punk”'''.

->''"You know, the youth in America today is so wonderful. I'm proud to be part of this gigantic mass deception."''\
-- Lyrics from the song '''“Flower Punk”'''

->''"Unbind Your Mind. There is no time bo-i-i-i-i-n-g to lick your stamps. And paste them in. Discorporate. And we’ll begin. Freedom! Freedom! Kindly loving! You’ll be absolutely free. Only if you want to be."''\

* CruelAndUnusualPunishment: The person tortured in ''“The Chrome Plated Megaphone Of Destiny”''

* DramaticThunder: On the album cover