Dweezil Zappa

"Don't Eat The Yellow Snow" is likely the best known Frank Zappa song and the lead track from the apostrophe (') album, released March 22, 1974. In 2010, I played the entire apostrophe (') album live on stage with my band, all over the world.

"Don't Eat The Yellow Snow"

Dreamed I was an Eskimo
(Boop-boop did-de-da dum-bum Ba-di-de)
Frozen wind began to blow
(Boop-boop did-de-da dum-bum Ba-di-de)
Under my boots 'n around my toe
(Boop-boop did-de-da dum-bum Ba-di-de)
Frost had bit the ground below
(Boop-boop aiee-ay-ah!)
Was a hundred degrees below zero
(Booh!)
(Boop-boop did-de-da dum-bum Ba-di-de)
And my momma cried:
Boo-hoo hoo-ooo
And my momma cried:
Nanook-a, no no (no no...)
Nanook-a, no no (no no...)
Don't be a naughty Eskimo-wo-oh
(Boop-boop did-de-da dum-bum Ba-di-de)
Save your money: don't go to the show
Well I turned around an' I said:
HO HO
(Boop!)
Well I turned around an' I said:
HO HO
(Boop!)
Well I turned around an' I said:
HO HO
An' the Northern Lites commenced t' glow
An' she said
(Boop-boop ta-da-da bop...)
With a tear in her eye:
WATCH OUT WHERE THE HUSKIES GO
AN' DON'T YOU EAT THAT YELLOW SNOW
WATCH OUT WHERE THE HUSKIES GO
AN' DON'T YOU EAT THAT YELLOW SNOW

"Nanook Rubs It" is very much a movie for your ears. The album version is layered with textures and we recreated them as closely as possible, live on stage. I worked hard to recreate the heavily nuanced mid-range guitar tone on the ripping leads.

"Nanook Rubs It"

Well right about that time, people,
A fur trapper
Who was strictly from commercial
(Strictly Commershil)
Had the unmedicated audacity to jump up from behind my igyaloo
(Peek-a-Boo Woo-ooo-ooo)
And he started in to whippin' on my fav'rite baby seal
With a lead-filled snow shoe...
I said:
With a lead
Lead
Filled
Lead-filled
A lead-filled snow shoe
Snow shoe
He said Peak-a-boo
Peek-a-boo
With a lead
Lead
Filled
Lead-filled
With a lead-filled snow shoe
SNOW SHOE
He said Peak-a-boo.
Peek-a-boo
He went right up side the head of my favorite baby seal
He went whap!
With a lead-filled snow shoe
An' he hit him on the nose 'n he hit him on the fin 'n he...
That got me just about as evil
As an Eskimo boy can be... so I bent down 'n I reached down 'n I scooped down
An' I gathered up a generous mitten full of the deadly...
Yellow snow
The deadly Yellow Snow from right there where the huskies go
Whereupon I proceeded to take that mitten full
Of the deadly Yellow Snow Crystals
And rub it all into his beady little eyes
With a vigorous circular motion
Hitherto unknown to the people on this area,
But destined to take the place of THE MUD SHARK
In your mythology
Here it goes now...
The circular motion... (rub it)...
(Here Fido... Here Fido)
And then, in a fit of anger, I...
I pounced
And I pounced again
Great googly-moogly
I jumped up 'n down on the chest of the...
I injured the fur trapper
Well, he was very upset, as you can understand
And rightly so
Because
The deadly Yellow Snow Crystals
Had deprived him of his sight
And he stood up
And he looked around
And he said:
I can't see
(Do... Do do-do do do do... Yeah!)
I can't see
(Do... Do do-do do do do... Yeah!)
Oh woe is me
(Do... Do do-do do do do... Yeah!)
I can't see
(Do... Do do-do do do do... Well!)
No no
I can't see
No... I...
He took a dog-doo sno-cone
An' stuffed it in my right eye
He took a dog-doo sno-cone
An' stuffed it in my other eye
An' the huskie wee-wee,
I mean the doggie wee-wee
Has blinded me
An' I can't see
Temporarily
Well the fur trapper
Stood there
With his arms outstretched
Across the frozen white wasteland
Trying to figure out what he's gonna do
About his deflicted eyes
And it was at that precise moment that he remembered
An ancient Eskimo legend
Wherein it is written
On whatever it is that they write it on up there
That if anything bad ever happens to your eyes
As a result of some sort of conflict
With anyone named Nanook
The only way you can get it fixed up
Is to go trudgin' across the tundra...
Mile after mile
Trudgin' across the tundra...
Right down to the parish of Saint Alfonzo...

"St. Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast" was my favorite song growing up. While it may sound cartoonish, it's one of the hardest songs I've ever learned to play on guitar.

ST. ALFONZO'S PANCAKE BREAKFAST - LIVE

"St. Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast"

"Father O'Blivion" continues with the narrative while blazing the tempo. This one was always fun to play.

"Father O'Blivion"

"Cosmik Debris" is another very well known Frank Zappa song. When I played it live on stage in 2010, I presented archival performance video footage which included the original performance audio as well. That enabled my father to join me and the band visually as well as audibly on lead vocals and guitar. The live performances from the tour included a mini guitar duel. My solo changed night after night which made the experience feel more like my dad was actually there with me, and I could react to him in the moment.

"Cosmik Debris"

"Exentrifugal Forz" was never performed live by my dad. We played it as close to the record as we could. I had fun playing lead guitar in my dad's style. I did allow myself to improvise but I used my dad's framework and vocabulary as my guide so that I could keep things in context to the original song.

"Excentrifugal Forz"

Apostrophe is the title track to my dad's 1974 album of the same name, apostrophe ('). It's a killer instrumental that originally featured Jack Bruce playing a fuzzed-out bass. My dad created some very cool guitar textures that were clean and dirty at the same time. I did my best to recreate that same texture as well as play in context to the original song. Apostrophe is one of my favorite songs to play live!

Instrumental

"Uncle Remus" has long been a fan favorite song. It's probably because of the amazingly soulful piano intro performed by George Duke. This version is unique because it features Geoge Duke sitting in with my band. He also sings lead vocals, bringing an even more gospel flair to the song.

"Uncle Remus"

"Stink Foot" is the final track on the apostrophe (') album and we played as close to the album version we possibly could. My dad always changed the arrangement for "Stink Foot" for each of his bands, never making any attempt to play the album version. The nuances of the delays on the vocals and the unique envelope filtered guitar solo were important for me to capture and present live.

"Stink-Foot"

In the dark
Where all the fevers grow
Under the water
Where the shark bubbles blow
In the mornin'
By yer radio
Do the walls close in t' suffocate ya
You ain't got no friends . . .
An' all the others: they hate ya
Does the life you been livin' gotta go, hmmm?
Well, lemme straighten you out
About a place I know . . .
(Get yer shoes 'n socks on people,
It's right aroun' the corner!)
Out through the night
An' the whispering breezes
To the place where they keep
The Imaginary Diseases,
Out through the night
An' the whispering breezes
To the place where they keep
The Imaginary Diseases, mmm . . .

This has to be the disease for you
Now scientists call this disease
Bromidrosis
But us regular folks
Who might wear tennis shoes
Or an occasional python boot
Know this exquisite little inconvenience
By the name of:
STINK FOOT
Y'know, my python boot is too tight
I couldn't get it off last night
A week went by, an' now it's July
I finally got it off
An' my girl-friend cry
"You got STINK FOOT!
STINK FOOT, darlin'
Your STINK FOOT puts a hurt on my nose!
STINK FOOT! STINK FOOT! I ain't lyin',
Can you rinse it off, d'you suppose?"
Here Fido . . . Fido . . .
C'mere little puppy . . . bring the slippers
"Arf, arf, arf!" (crash-crumble-bump-bump-bump)
Heh heh heh . . . sick . . .

Well then Fido got up off the floor an' he rolled over
An' he looked me straight in the eye
An' you know what he said?
Once upon a time
Somebody say to me
(This is a dog talkin' now)
What is your Conceptual Continuity?
Well, I told him right then
(Fido said)
It should be easy to see
The crux of the biscuit
Is the Apostrophe(')
Well, you know
The man who was talkin' to the dog
Looked at the dog an' he said: (sort of staring in disbelief)
"You can't say that!"
He said:
"IT DOESN'T, 'n YOU CAN'T!
I WON'T, 'n IT DON'T!
IT HASN'T, IT ISN'T, IT EVEN AIN'T
'N IT SHOULDN'T . . .
IT COULDN'T!"
He told me NO NO NO!
I told him YES YES YES!
I said: "I do it all the time . . .
Ain't this boogie a mess!"
THE POODLE BY-EE-ITES
THE POODLE CHEWS IT
THE POODLE BY-EE-ITES
THE POODLE CHEWS IT
THE POODLE BY-EE-ITES
THE POODLE CHEWS IT
THE POODLE BY-EE-ITES
THE POODLE CHEWS IT
(POO-DLE . . . )
THE POODLE BY-EE-ITES
( . . . BITES)
THE POODLE CHEWS IT
(POO-DLE . . . )
THE POODLE BY-EE-ITES
( . . . BITES)
THE POODLE CHEWS IT
(POO-DLE . . . )
THE POODLE BY-EE-ITES
( . . . BITES)
THE POODLE CHEWS IT
(POO-DLE . . . )
THE POODLE BY-EE-ITES
( . . . BITES)
THE POODLE CHEWS IT
THE POODLE BY-EE-ITES
THE POODLE CHEWS IT
THE POODLE BY-EE-ITES
THE POODLE CHEWS IT
THE POODLE BY-EE-ITES