People who are unfamiliar with Zappa will dismiss this as silly and unimportant. And he probably wanted just that. Zappa was a true musical and social visionary. He was an avid anti-government, anti-bureaucratic, anti-poseur proponent who railed against the “plastic people” in society and politics.
The song is a manifesto against conformity and materialistic culture, with Frank Zappa finally asking, “Go home/and check yourself/you think we’re singing ’bout someone else?”.
During the 1960s, Zappa applied the same set of lyrics to two different pieces: the “Plastic People” recorded for the 1967 studio album Absolutely Free has little to do with the song performed live. The latter was basically Richard Berry’s hit single “Louie Louie” with Zappa’s lyrics stamped over it. He usually acknowledged his “borrowing” on stage, even stating that both songs were about the same thing (as can be heard on “You Can’t Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 1”). The lyrics pushed further into the subject of social conformity hinted at in “Hungry Freaks, Daddy” and “You’re Probably Wondering Why I’m Here” from the Mothers of Invention’s first LP, “Freak Out”. A late-1965 or early-1966 live recording (on Mystery Disc) shows the “Louie Louie” motif seguing into an instrumental section that sounds like an early draft of “Transylvania Boogie.” The studio version is a different thing. It takes the form of a collage of many short musical segments. Throughout the usual verses found in the live version are interspersed bits of dialogue, including the line “A prune is not a vegetable/Cabbage is a vegetable,” which will reappear later on the album in the song “Call Any Vegetable” (this is an early example of Zappa’s conceptual continuity). The “Louie Louie” motif resurfaces only occasionally, the rest (even the melody) has become much more twisted. “Plastic People” was performed only with the original Mothers of Invention, between 1965 and 1969.It lacks some cohesion overall, maybe because Zappa was trying to do too much at the same time.
Stylistically, “Brown Shoes Don’t Make It” uses the same idea (a collage of musical genres) with better results.
He was an accomplished and extremely talented musician and creator/composer. He surrounded himself with truly elite musicians. His later serious jazz talent is worth seeking out if you’re so inclined.
(This article contains verbiage from Francois Couture)
Visits: 196
My bad. I’m not sure how this made it through the editing process with the honkin’ giant paragraph in the middle of it. I usually try to remember to keep them separated and easier for people to read and digest. I break them down into smaller subject-bites and must have missed this one.