History Music / WereOnlyInItForTheMoney

** 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.[[note]]Depending on who's telling it, either Verve Records didn't give the Velvets any money because of the presence of Creator/AndyWarhol, or they didn't give Zappa any money. Choose your favorite story, but, apparently, there was something of a feud between Zappa and Music/LouReed as a result. Gail, Zappa's widow, later unsuccessfully objected to the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame choosing Reed to induct Zappa in 1995.[[/note]]

* TimeMarchesOn: 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.
* ToiletHumour: ''Let's Make The Water Turn Black'', about two friends of Zappa who smeared their nose drippings to a window and collected their urine in a jar.

-->-- "'''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 Music/FrankZappa's most famous and popular concept 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. ''We’re Only in It for the Money'' was listed at #297 in Magazine/RollingStone's [[UsefulNotes/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time]]. In 2005, it was among the records selected by the UsefulNotes/NationalRecordingRegistry as "culturally, historically, and aesthetically important".

[[AC: Side One]]

* ConceptAlbum: The album is both an attack on hippies, rock 'n' roll, commercialization of youth subculture, parents, American womanhood, police brutality, conformist squares and ''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand''.

* BlackComedyRape: "Harry You’re A Beast", where a guy named Harry ravages a woman named Madge. Though it is clear that Harry is a dumb asshole.

* BodyHorror: "What's The Ugliest Part of Your Body?" [[spoiler: Answer: your mind]].

''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 Music/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. ''We’re Only in It for the Money'' was listed at #297 in Magazine/RollingStone's [[UsefulNotes/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time]]. In 2005, it was among the records selected by the UsefulNotes/NationalRecordingRegistry as "culturally, historically, and aesthetically important".

'''Personnel'''

* FartsOnFire: "Let's Make The Water Turn Black":

''''

!!! "The Trope-Plated Megaphone of Destiny":

** Music/JimiHendrix on the album cover. And yes, it’s really him, not just some collage cut-out.

''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 Music/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. ''We’re Only in It for the Money'' was listed at #297 in Magazine/RollingStone's [[UsefulNotes/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time]]. In 2005, it was among the records selected by the UsefulNotes/NationalRecordingRegistry as "culturally, historically, and aesthetically important".

[[caption-width-right:320: ''Flower power sucks!'']]

->'''The youth of America today is so wonderful\\
And I'm proud to be part of this gigantic mass deception''"
-->-- '''''Flower Punk'''''

->''Unbind your mind\\

ONLY IF YOU WANT TO BE''
-->-- '''''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 Music/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. "We're Only In It For The Money" was listed at #297 in Magazine/RollingStone's [[UsefulNotes/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time]]. In 2005, it was among the records selected by the UsefulNotes/NationalRecordingRegistry as "culturally, historically, and aesthetically important".

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."

The album is the [[TropeNamers Trope Namer]] for OnlyInItForTheMoney.

** "Who Needs The Peace Corps?" is performed live by Zappa on ''Music/TheBestBandYouNeverHeardInYourLife'' (1991).

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

I will ask the Chamber of Commerce how to get to Haight street,\\

I will ''love'' everyone. I will ''love'' the police as they [[LyricalDissonance kick the shit out of me on the street]]...''

* TheNotRemix: Frank Zappa remixed and re-recorded some parts of ''We're Only In It For The Money'' and ''Cruising with Ruben & the Jets'' in 1984 with New-Wave style instrumentation. Other songs were sped-up, slowed down or had other editing adjustments. 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.

* CensorBox: The collage cut-outs on the album cover have most of the eyes of the (then) living celebrities blackboxed. Zappa also played with this, by even blackboxing the eyes of UsefulNotes/LyndonJohnson and the UsefulNotes/StatueOfLiberty.

''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 Music/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. "We're Only In It For The Money" was listed at #297 in Magazine/RollingStone's [[UsefulNotes/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time]]. It was included in the UsefulNotes/NationalRecordingRegistry in 2005.

''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 Music/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. "We're Only In It For The Money" was listed at #297 in Magazine/RollingStone's [[UsefulNotes/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time]].

When the album went into production, it originally had a different concept and direction. In fact, the entirety of ''Money'', ''Music/CruisingWithRubenAndTheJets'', the dialogue sessions from the reissue of ''Music/LumpyGravy'', and parts of ''Music/UncleMeat'' 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 in the context of late 60s America ([[UsefulNotes/CivilRightsMovement widespread rioting]], TheVietnamWar) the Beatles' emphasis on "love" was [[SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids dangerously naive]]. The cover is particularly memorable for offering the UrExample of the SgtPeppersShoutOut.

-->-- '''''Flower Punk''''''

''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 Music/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. "We're Only In It For The Money" was listed at nr. #297 in Magazine/RollingStone's [[UsefulNotes/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time]].

''''

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Were_Only_In_It_for_the_Money_6380.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: ''Flower power sucks!'']]

* LostForever: The original version of the album. The master tape is essentially irreparable due to the amount of degradation that the tape suffered between 1968 and 1995. Several portions of the dialogue and editing were applied directly to the master tape, which means that it is not possible to undo some of the editing work done to censor the album at all. This is why the 1995 Rykodisc CD, based on the censored stereo vinyl version (as opposed to the heavily censored version), is now considered the default version of the album.

'''''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 Music/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. "We're Only In It For The Money" was listed at nr. #297 in Magazine/RollingStone's [[UsefulNotes/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time]].

-->--'''''Flower Punk''''''

-->--'''''Absolutely Free'''''

** The album cover shows images of UsefulNotes/LyndonJohnson, UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein, Music/LudwigVanBeethoven, blues singer Big Mama Thornton, Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, Creator/RodSerling, Pope Paul III, John Zacherley (best known for his single "Dinner With Drac"), Eric Burdon (Music/TheAnimals), Music/DavidCrosby, Music/ElvisPresley, Creator/NancySinatra, Creator/EdWynn, Creator/LonChaney in Film/ThePhantomOfTheOpera and Max Schreck (best known as Orlock in Film/{{Nosferatu}}), Creator/SoupySales, Creator/ThedaBara and Music/CaptainBeefheart.

'''''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 Music/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, if not his MagnumOpus, and it's certainly one of his most characteristic. "We're Only In It For The Money" was listed at nr. #297 in Magazine/RollingStone's [[UsefulNotes/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time]].

* ReCut: The album received two levels of censoring when it was originally sold, depending on the territory it was released: a censored version and a heavily censored version, which even cut swear words out of reversed portions. Several copies over the years have included songs from different versions on one disc, and a full history of different edits [[http://www.lukpac.org/~handmade/patio/vinylvscds/money.html lies here.]] Supposedly, the monoaural copy of the album on ''The Lumpy Money Project/Object'' is the only time the uncensored album has fully been released, but even that is a very different mix from the original stereo version which fans have grown fond of.

'''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 Music/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, if not his MagnumOpus, and it's certainly one of his most characteristic. "We're Only In It For The Money" was listed at nr. #297 in Magazine/RollingStone's [[UsefulNotes/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time]].

'''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 Music/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, if not his MagnumOpus, and it's certainly one of his most characteristic. "We're Only In It For The Money" was listed at nr. #297 in Magazine/RollingStone's [[Music/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time]].

* CensorBox: The collage cut-outs on the album cover have most of the eyes of the (then) living celebrities blackboxed. Zappa also played with this, by even blackboxing the eyes of UsefulNotes/LyndonJohnson and the Statue of Liberty.

* StatueOfLiberty: Seen on the album cover.

* ScunthorpeProblem: When Zappa went to the Netherlands for their equivalent of the {{Grammy Award}}s, he discovered that they had edited 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''.

'''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 Music/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, if not his MagnumOpus, and it's certainly one of his most characteristic.