Many people have assumed that Zappa was a heavy drug user, given how "different" his music was (whatever that means), and lyrics such as those in this song. I assume most of his fans know that in fact, he had no use for drugs at all (quote found here- a fun compilation, and recommended).
"A drug is not bad. A drug is a chemical compound. The problem comes in when people who take drugs treat them like a license to behave like an asshole."As Darkblack commented on yesterday's Zappadan post, "Remarkable how this and Valley Girl were such big hits... Jazz might not be dead, but Irony may be in need of the crash cart stat."
* Real Frank Zappa Book (1990) by Zappa with Peter Occhiogrosso
No doubt. This was a popular song during the 70's, as people a few years older than me wistfully looked back at the 60's, when they were too young to participate in the events of the time. They never seemed to get that Zappa was mocking the hippies mercilessly.
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I tend to think that FZ was mocking the hippies with a great deal of empathy and (cliche alert) tough love. And maybe a bit of pity.
Mark, I think you're probably right; he was obviously in strong agreement with "the hippies" (a very diverse group, really) on a lot of issues. But two things he disliked intensely were stupidity and the herd mentality. Along with the explicit drug references, I think these two things are what he's really going after in this song.
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