The ORIGIN of Frank Zappa's song .......MONTANA
Kellogs
relates to "raising dental floss" and in an imaginary sense, choking
proverbial Salvador Dali-esque chicken - the "white dental floss"
perhaps being a stream of semen ejected, reminiscent of a bad pr0n
movie that many people have long ago forgotten.
Salvador Dali's paintings, very well demonstrate the value of the
imaginary and the surreal.
The SUBSTANCE of the song MONTANA, relates to the theme, also in
the song, that Zappa criticizes the protagonist for being a farmer,
MOVING TO MONTANA, and being a happy laboror.
Clearly, Zappa being very motivated by money in all his business
dealings, shrewed in every sense, such as when he found out Warner
Bros. factories were doing extra production runs in the evening, after
the contracted number of records had been manufactured, just to unload
them into a truck, and dump that production onto the black market,
with no royalties paid on the extra part of the product run and suing
Warner Bros for that behavior, or when he had special "contractor"
agreements with band members to avoid paying benefits, high payroll
taxes or other legal salaried employee costs, for example, decided in
the song MONTANA to underline as noteworthy the fact that only MONTANA
has rejected the "at-will" juridprudence concerning labor laws,
governing company and employee relationships.
In all other states, except perhaps 2 others where the "at will" case
law of the USA regarding labor relations is either mitigated or
rejected outright, MONTANA had progressively moved forward since the
1970's to ban "at-will" unfair labor practices with a more modern
relationship, that requires some minimal motives for a company to
dismiss an employee - tardyism, lack of productivity, etc - which are
protections not existing in the other 48 states, comprising the union,
of the USA.
Zappa, the ultimate social critic, in his song MONTANA, finally
rendered his own social comment on that state's labor progressivism by
composing this song,and inter-twining it with surreal and sub-intended
meanings, suggesting that workers moving to Montana to take advantage
of the little but better labor law protection, will be doing so to
generate a "lonely dental floss" stream of output in their jobs
........or in other words, a lonely "masterbation" on the job, of
little value to their employers.
Again, a very harsh and ascerbic social critique, on the part of Frank
Zappa, about labor legislation as it exists since he came across it
back in the 1970's, when he played some gigs down there, by seeing
his musicians and lighting-technicans and concert new hires had better
labor contracts than merely "at will" employments which the other
states offer.
mike macken
That was the most long winded utter non sense i have read in a long
time.
Strictly Commercial
> That was the most long winded utter non sense i have read in a long
> time.
Well then, you might enjoy Academy Zappa, edited by Ben Watson and
Esther Leslie.
R
ZutboF
miRthkon
(this goes to those who replied as well) definitely helps to be taken
more seriously.
Kellogs' interpretation of Montana may not be precisely what FZ had in
mind when he wrote the tune but I think we're missing the point. We
all know how clever Frank was, and how incredibly acute his sense of
observation was regarding the world around him, particularly when he
was on tour, traveling the globe.
Part of Frank's aesthetic, in my humble opinion, was to embed so many
layers of meaning into his output that a plethora of interpretations,
such as Kellogs', are bound to emerge from discriminate listeners and
concert-goers. That, I believe, was Frank's primary goal. His output
is so vast and complex that there is no way a single, unified meaning
could be derived from any of it, and I don't beleive that was ever
intended in the first place.
It's all right there in the lyrics to the song that never was: 'Think
It Over'. Frank wants his audience to develop critical thinking
skills. To question everything. To consider every side of an
argument. To view an event or an object from 360 degrees. A
relentless (though never truly possible) pursuit of 'objectivity', if
you will.
Ben Watson's book, for the most part, is an exercise in academic
name-dropping and heavy handed, stream of consciousness bullshit.
However, it is one man's honest interpretation of someone's art. It
provides a gateway to things, people, ideas, places, works of art, etc.
that most people these days have never heard of and may never get an
oppurtunity to hear of again as long as they live. That is crucial.
Had I never read 'Poodle Play' I'd never have read Adorno, Marx, Walter
Benjamin, etc.
My own research for my senior thesis in college (on Zappa's
Project/Object) sent me on the most unpredictable path of education and
discovery that forever altered my perception of the universe and my own
place in it. In the end, did I come up with any magical McExplanations
of the inner-workings of the Universe? Fuck no!
But, my critical thinking skills are finely honed and overall
philosophy of life has been illuminated to the point where I am finally
beginning to understand how to read between the lines and perceive the
world around me to the point that if Frank were still alive singing
songs about how we're 'Dumb All Over' he might consider me an
exception... Well, I'd like to think so, though I'm certain there's
much more to learn, and I look forward to it.
Don't knock an interpretation that may seem to come from left field.
Instead: Think It Over.
mike macken
wrote:
at least you made a lot more sense.......Frank always made you think
about his music and statements from various angles.....he remains (to
this day) ahead of his time.
Milhouse Authentico
You should have followed that up with "and I've read Ben Watson!"
--
Milhouse Guidry of the mWo
Sometime king of alt.pro-wrestling.dx
I have to pick up a frickin' pie at nine in the morning.
"I apologize and recognize the validity of your argument."
--"Whit Sterling", in one of the more absurdly unlikely
statements in the history of Usenet.
mWo. It's not just the coolest, it's fa lyfe, so survey says
whether you like it or don't like it, never E-e-e-ver tell
me he did *not* just SMELL what mWo 3:16 reeks of.
Anonymous
news:1141247991.3...@i40g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
>I don't think it's nonsense at all. However, using your spell check
> (this goes to those who replied as well) definitely helps to be taken
> more seriously.
>
> Kellogs' interpretation of Montana may not be precisely what FZ had in
> mind when he wrote the tune but I think we're missing the point. We
> all know how clever Frank was, and how incredibly acute his sense of
> observation was regarding the world around him, particularly when he
> was on tour, traveling the globe.
>
> Part of Frank's aesthetic, in my humble opinion, was to embed so many
> layers of meaning into his output that a plethora of interpretations,
> such as Kellogs', are bound to emerge from discriminate listeners and
> concert-goers. That, I believe, was Frank's primary goal. His output
> is so vast and complex that there is no way a single, unified meaning
> could be derived from any of it, and I don't beleive that was ever
> intended in the first place.
Sometimes he just wanted to entertain. Montana is about dennil floss &
pygmy ponies & fabulous music & making you smile. It irks the shit out of
me when people sit and cerebralate when all that's necessary is to raise
one's fingers and *snat*.
Yesterdays Wafflez
nob...@invalid.org (Anonymous) Wrote:
...Montana is about dennil floss & pygmy ponies & fabulous music &
making you smile. It irks the shit out of me when people sit and
cerebralate when all that's necessary is to raise one's fingers and
*snat*.
I for one....agree.
Y.W.
