It's always seemed vaguely libertarian but ultimately politically incoherent to me. There is no force on Earth that could get me to engage with his non-instrumental music for more than the time it takes to move the arm on a turntable to the next song, though, So I guess I'll take your word for it.
You’re stuck on labels, but you do you. What you would ultimately find is a progressive and anti-racist through-line within his discography.
I guess I'm only aware of his music seeming to be actively racist with stuff like "Yellow Snow" or "Jewish Princess".... Oh wait there's the cover of "Shiek Yerbouti". That seems a little iffy... But other than that I'm sure he was very anti racist
Yeah, and you said you weren’t interested beyond that, so your outlook on this is incomplete and misinformed.
It's not like I haven't listened to all of his albums! I think Zappa was an incredible composer, but his abilities as satirist, social commentator, and lyricist make the worst episode of dreck like South Park look like the most subtle, hilarious, insightful thing ever made by comparison.
I probably should have included the word, "again" in my statement about refusing to engage with his vocal work. It's not for lack of trying. I just realized there was nothing there worth digging for
That “nothing” is carrying a lot of weight there because, when it comes to the messaging of his music, there is way too much there to just dismiss as nothing.
it's been true for 60 years- many, many smart people who are total music heads can't stand him. I love it, but I can understand the reaction. one thought: he actually didn't want to write lyrics for anything, but thought the marketplace demanded it. so he wrote about stuff he thought was interesting